Oxford University Press

John Monaghan

Peter Just

Professor John Monaghan

Associate Professor of Anthropology Peter Just

"If you want to know what anthropology is, look at what anthropologists do," write the authors of Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction. This engaging overview of the field combines an accessible account of some of the discipline's guiding principles and methodology with abundant examples and illustrations of anthropologists at work. Peter Just and John Monaghan begin by discussing anthropology's most important contributions to modern thought: its investigation of culture as a distinctively human characteristic, its doctrine of cultural relativism, and its methodology of fieldwork and ethnography. Drawing on examples from their own fieldwork in Indonesia and Mesoamerica, they examine specific ways in which social and cultural anthropology have advanced our understanding of human society and culture. Including an assessment of anthropology's present position, and a look forward to its likely future, Social and Cultural Anthropology will make fascinating reading for anyone curious about this social science. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction

Drawing on their own research in Indonesia and Mexico, the authors examine ways in which anthropology has advanced humans' understanding of their society and culture, as well as provide an accessible account of the big questions that have concerned anthropologists.

Social and Cultural Anthropology

If you want to know what anthropology is, look at what anthropologists do. This Very Short Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology combines an accessible account of some of the disciplines guiding principles and methodology with abundant examples and illustrations of anthropologists at work. Peter Just and John Monaghan begin by discussing anthropologys most important contributions to modern thought: its investigation of culture as a distinctively human characteristic, its doctrine of cultural relativism, and its methodology of fieldwork and ethnography. They then examine specific ways in which social and cultural anthropology have advanced our understanding of human society and culture, drawing on examples from their own fieldwork. The book ends with an assessment of anthropologys present position, and a look forward to its likely future. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

In this book, John Monaghan explores the culture of the Mixtecs, today one of the largest Native American groups in Mexico. Focusing on the community of Santiago Nuyoo, located in the mountainous Mixteca Alta region, he describes Nuyooteco marriage practices, gift exchange, kinship systems, land tenure, cosmology, ritual, and feasting.

Exchange, Sacrifice, and Revelation in Mixtec Society

The Covenants with Earth and Rain

Marianna Bosch

Yves Chevallard

Francisco Javier García

This book presents the main research veins developed within the framework of the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic (ATD), a paradigm that originated in French didactics of mathematics. While a great number of publications on ATD are available in French and Spanish, Working with the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic in Mathematics Education is the first directed at English-speaking international audiences. Written and edited by leading researchers in ATD, the book covers all aspects of ATD theory and practice, including teaching applications. The chapters feature the most relevant and recent investigations presented at the 6th international conference on the ATD, offering a unique opportunity for an international audience interested in the study of mathematics teaching and learning to keep in touch with advances in educational research. The book is divided into four sections and the contributions explore key topics such as: The core concept of ‘praxeology’, including its development and functionalities The need for new teaching praxeologies in the paradigm of questioning the world The impact of ATD on the teaching profession and the education of teachers This is the second volume in the New Perspectives on Research in Mathematics Education. This comprehensive casebook is an indispensable resource for researchers, teachers and graduate students around the world.

A Comprehensive Casebook

Working with the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic in Mathematics Education

Jonathan M. Borwein

Luc Trouche

This book is an exploration of tools and mathematics and issues in mathematics education related to tool use. The book has five parts. The first part reflects on doing a mathematical task with different tools, followed by a mathematician's account of tool use in his work. The second considers prehistory and history: tools in the development from ape to human; tools and mathematics in the ancient world; tools for calculating; and tools in mathematics instruction. The third part opens with a broad review of technology and intellectual trends, circa 1970, and continues with three case studies of approaches in mathematics education and the place of tools in these approaches. The fourth part considers issues related to mathematics instructions: curriculum, assessment and policy; the calculator debate; mathematics in the real world; and teachers' use of technology. The final part looks to the future: task and tool design and new forms of activity via connectivity and computer games.

John Monaghan

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