"Searching for a New Paradigm: A Cultural Anthropology Reader" brings together articles that address the polemics surrounding what constitutes an authentic reality of the human experience.
The selected readings provide a variety of perspectives on biological and evolutionary origins, culturally constructed notions of self and others, and the increasing knowledge that the perceived realities represented by theoretical models may not accurately reflect current notions of truth.
The book combines issues of human rights with biology and culture while also exploring colonial historical agendas. This intersection of ideas allows for new insights into subjects that are often taught as separate aspects of anthropology.
Specific topics include the hierarchy of nations, kinship, childhood and social hierarchies, violence in culture and society, and the geographical exploration of the world.
"Searching for a New Paradigm" is well suited to undergraduate and graduate level courses in cultural anthropology and cultural dynamics. It can also serve as a supplemental reader for courses in sociology, history, and political science.
Marcia Mikulak holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of New Mexico. Dr. Mikulak is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Her research interests include human rights, violence, social and cultural constructions of childhood, and rural and urban migration. Dr. Mikulak has extensive applied social action fieldwork experience in human rights in Brazil where she has carried out research in collaboration with street and working children in Minas Gerais, and the indigenous Xukuru in Pernambuco. She has also worked on issues of domestic violence in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Grand Forks, North Dakota. She is a Brazil country specialist for Amnesty International, and her work has appeared in a variety of academic journals that include the Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences and Humanity and Society.