by Brian M. Howell (Author), Jenell Paris (Author)

What is the role of culture in human experience? How do we study it? This introductory cultural anthropology textbook helps readers explore and understand this crucial discipline from a Christian perspective. The third edition adds student engagement activities and has been thoroughly updated and revised throughout.

This successful textbook covers standard topics in cultural anthropology with special attention given to Christian concerns, such as cultural relativism, missions, and scriptural reflection. It represents the authors' years of experience in the classroom (more than forty years combined) and offers a fresh, contemporary approach. Each chapter includes objectives, text boxes, terms, and discussion questions, and plentiful figures, photos, and sidebars are sprinkled throughout the text.

Updated ancillary support materials and teaching aids are available through Baker Academic's textbook eSources, including a test bank, chapter slide-deck presentations, chapter outlines, chapter-specific engagement activities, and flashcards.

Back Jacket

"An essential exploration of anthropology"

What is the role of culture in human experience? This concise yet thorough introduction to cultural anthropology helps readers explore and understand this crucial issue from a Christian perspective. Now revised and updated throughout, this new edition covers standard topics in cultural anthropology with special attention given to cultural relativism, missions, and scriptural reflection.

"The third edition of Introducing Cultural Anthropology provides an essential exploration of anthropology as a field of study. The text's structure is academic in nature while remaining accessible to its audience as it links insights from anthropology with biblical principles and Scripture. The inclusion of new 'Your Turn' interactive activities, which are coupled with the vignettes in each chapter, will help the anthropological concepts and terms discussed within the text to come alive and be relatable to readers."
--Katrina T. Greene, Biola University

"The latest edition of Introducing Cultural Anthropology has arrived at just the right cultural moment. In a world rife with ideological thinking and in-group bias, Howell and Paris offer a wealth of insight that acquaints the reader with the breadth and intricacies of human institutions and culture and presents new ways of understanding self and neighbor in our shared world. Their writing is intelligent and accessible, and it features Christian analysis that is never preachy or pedantic. A really wonderful book!"
--Matthew S. Vos, Covenant College

"A cogent, up-to-date, and well-crafted survey of the field. Students are challenged to think anthropologically about the human condition and to comprehend the important contribution the discipline makes to faithful Christian witness. This text is an invaluable resource for students who are committed to advancing the public good through the diverse vocations they pursue beyond the classroom."
--James G. Huff Jr., Wheaton College

Author Biography

Brian M. Howell (PhD, Washington University in St. Louis) served as professor of anthropology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, for twenty-five years. He regularly taught on global Christianity, wrote and edited several books on short-term mission work, and served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Asian Christianity. In 2026 he joined Alpha School, a private K-8 academy in Chicago, as the dean of parents.

Jenell Paris (PhD, American University) is professor of anthropology at Messiah University. She serves on editorial boards for On Knowing Humanity: Anthropological Ethnography and Analysis Through the Eyes of Christian Faith and the Journal of Sociology and Christianity.