William A. Haviland
Dr. William A. Haviland is Professor Emeritus at the University of Vermont, where he founded the Department of Anthropology and taught for thirty-two years. He holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. He has carried out original research in archaeology in Guatemala and Vermont; ethnography in Maine and Vermont; and physical anthropology in Guatemala. This work has been the basis of numerous publications in various national and international books and journals, as well as in media intended for the general public. His books include The Original Vermonters, co-authored with Marjorie Power, and a technical monograph on ancient Maya settlement. He also served as consultant for the award-winning telecourse, Faces of Culture, and is co-editor of the series Tikal Reports, published by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Besides his teaching and writing, Dr. Haviland has lectured to numerous professional as well as non-professional audiences in Canada, Mexico, Lesotho, South Africa, and Spain, as well as in the United States. A staunch supporter of indigenous rights, he served as expert witness for the Missisquoi Abenakis of Vermont in an important court case over aboriginal fishing rights. Awards received by Dr. Haviland include being named University Scholar by the Graduate School of the University of Vermont in 1990; a Certificate of Appreciation from the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, St. Francis/Sokoki Band in 1996; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for Research on Vermont in 2006. Now retired from teaching, he continues his research, writing, and lecturing from the coast of Maine. His most recent book is At the Place of the Lobsters and Crabs (2009).
Harald E.L. Prins
Dr. Harald E.L. Prins is a University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University. Academically trained at half a dozen Dutch and US universities, he previously taught at Radboud University (Netherlands), Bowdoin College and Colby College in Maine, and was a Visiting Professor at the University of Lund, Sweden. Also ranked Distinguished University Teaching Scholar, he has received numerous honors for his outstanding academic teaching, including the Presidential Award in 1999, Carnegie Professor of the Year for Kansas in 2006, and most recently the AAA/Oxford University Press Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching of Anthropology in 2010. His fieldwork focuses on indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere and he has long served as an advocacy anthropologist on land claims and other native rights. His numerous publications appear in seven languages and his books include The Mi'kmaq: Resistance, Accommodation, and Cultural Survival (1996). Dr. Prins was a key expert witness in the US Senate and Canadian courts. Also trained in filmmaking, he was President of the Society for Visual Anthropology, and co-produced award winning documentaries. He was the Visual Anthropology Editor of the American Anthropologist, Principal Investigator for the US National Park Service, and a Research Associate at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
Dana Walrath
Dr. Dana Walrath is Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Vermont and a Women's Studies-affiliated faculty member. She earned her PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and is a medical and biological anthropologist with principal interests in biocultural aspects of reproduction; the cultural context founded and directed an innovative educational program at the University of Vermont's College of Medicine that brings anthropological theory and practice to first-year medical students. Before joining the faculty at the University of Vermont in 2000, she taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Templeton Foundation. Dr. Walrath's publications have appeared in Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, and American Journal of Physical Anthropology. An active member of the Council on the Anthropology of Reproduction, she has also served on a national committee to develop women's health-care learning objectives for medical education and works locally to improve health care for refugees and immigrants.
Bunny McBride
Bunny McBride (MA Columbia University, 1980)is an award-winning author specializing in cultural anthropology, indigenous peoples, international tourism, and nature conservation issues. Published in dozens of national and international print media, she has reported from Africa, Europe, China, and the Indian Ocean. Highly rated as a teacher, she served as visiting anthropology faculty at Principia College, the Salt Institute for Documentary Field Studies, and since 1996 as adjunct lecturer of anthropology at Kansas State University. McBride's many publications include Women of the Dawn (1999), Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in Paris (1995), Indians in Eden (with Prins, 2009), and The Audubon Field Guide to African Wildlife (coauthor). Honors include a special commendation from the Maine state legislature for significant contributions to Native women's history (1999). A community activist and researcher for the Aroostook Band of Micmacs (1981-1991), McBride assisted this Maine Indian community in its successful efforts to reclaim lands, gain tribal status, and revitalize cultural traditions. In recent years, she served as co-principal investigator for a National Park Service ethnography project and curated several museum exhibits, including "Journeys West: The David & Peggy Rockefeller American Indian Art Collection." Her latest exhibit, "Indians and Rusticators," profiles 19th-century tourism and Indian art. Currently, she serves as vice president of the Women's World Summit Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is completing a collection of essays.

Filled with current examples, THE ESSENCE OF ANTHROPOLOGY brings to life anthropology's key concepts and their great relevance to today's complex world. You'll learn about the varied ways culture helps humans adapt to face the challenges of existence, the connection between human culture and human biology, and the impact of globalization on peoples and cultures around the world. Furthermore, the book is packed with learning tools that demonstrate major concepts, offer interesting examples of anthropology's relevance to daily life, and guide your study to help you retain what you read.

1. The Essence of Anthropology.
2. Biology and Evolution.
3. Living Primates.
4. Human Evolution.
5. The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals.
6. The Emergence of Cities and States.
7. Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism.
8. The Characteristics of Culture.
9. Language and Communication.
10. Social Identity, Personality, and Gender.
11. Subsistence and Exchange.
12. Sex, Marriage, and Family.
13. Kinship and Other Methods of Grouping.
14. Politics, Power, and Violence.
15. Spirituality, Religion, and the Supernatural.
16. Global Changes and the Role of Anthropology.