San Antonio College Library

"Thinking Through Material Culture argues that, although material culture forms the bedrock of archaeology, the discipline has barely begun to address how fundamental artifacts are to human cognition and perception. This idea of codependency among mind, action, and matter opens the way for a novel and dynamic approach to all of material culture, both past and present."--Jacket.

In this exhaustive and entertaining study, Alison Lurie shows what the clothes we choose to wear say about us. Approaching clothing from four perspectives -- historical, social logical, psychological, anthropological -- she demonstrates how color, fabric and cut are not mere whims of designers or manufacturers but constitute a vocabulary and grammar as precise and full of subconscious intent as any verbal language: how our clothes announce our sex,...

This work focuses on the culture of Hispanics, the fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S. Reference works on Hispanic culture are few, yet this group is exerting an increasingly stronger influence on all aspects of American life. The project grew out of a series of conferences sponsored by the Instituto de Cooperacion Iberoamericana in Madrid between 1983 and 1990. In one seminar on Hispanic communities in the U.S., participants concluded that there...

"[An] important essay by a philosopher who more convincingly than any other I can think of demonstrates the continuing significance of his vocation in the life of our culture."--Karsten Harries, "The New York Times Book Review With "The Presence of Myth, Kolakowski demonstrates that no matter how hard man strives for purely rational thought, there has always been-and always will be-a reservoir of mythical images that lend "being" and "consciousness"...

"It is difficult to write well even in one language. Yet a rich body of translingual literature - by authors who write in more than one language or in a language other than their primary one - exists, The Translingual Imagination is a pioneering study of the phenomenon." "Opening with an overview of this vast subject, Steven G. Kellman then looks at the differences between ambilinguals - those who write authoritatively in more than one language -...

This handbook seeks to assemble in one place the basic bibliographical data needed to begin the study of most of the major areas of popular culture. Each chapter provides a brief chronological survey of the development of the medium or topic; a critical guide in essay form to the standard reference works, bibliographies, histories, critical studies, and journals; a description of research centers and collections of primary and secondary materials;...

What we don't know about learning could fill a book - and it might be a schoolbook. In a masterful commentary on the possibilities of education, the eminent psychologist Jerome Bruner reveals how education can usher children into their culture, though it often fails to do so. Applying the newly emerging "cultural psychology" to education, Bruner proposes that the mind reaches its full potential only through participation in the culture - not just...