"The Germans are an enigma not only to the rest of the world
but also to themselves." So Greg Nees begins this comprehensive analysis
of German culture as Americans encounter it. It is a culture Americans tend to
see as similar to their own until they experience it in some depth in Germany
or in the company of Germans elsewhere.
"Germany: Unraveling an Enigma is a concise guide for any teacher who
needs a course outline to teach topics in German culture in order to prepare
students for a study abroad program or an internship in Germany."
- Kerstin Somerholter, University of
Texas at Austin, Die Unterrichtspraxis Review
For nearly three decades
"Japanese Culture" has garnered high praise as an accurate and well-written
introduction to Japanese history and culture. This widely used undergraduate
text is now available in a new edition. Thoroughly updated, the fourth edition
includes expanded sections on numerous topics, among which are samurai values,
Zen Buddhism, the tea ceremony, Confucianism in the Tokugawa period, the story
of the forty-seven ronin, Mito scholarship in the early nineteenth century, and
mass culture and comics in contemporary times.
Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and
Footwear through the Ages provides a broad overview of costume traditions of
diverse cultures from prehistoric times to the present day. The five-volume set
explores various items of human decoration and adornment, ranging from togas to
turbans,necklaces to tennis shoes, and discusses why
and how they were created,the people who made them, and
their uses. More than just a description of what people wore and why, this set
also describes how clothing, headwear, body decorations, and footwear reflect
different cultural, religious, and societal beliefs.
Volume 1 covers the ancient world, including prehistoric man and the
ancient cultures of
Egypt,
Mesopotamia,
India,
Greece, and
Rome. Key issues covered in this volume
include the early use of animal skins as garments, the introduction of fabric
as the primary human body covering, and the development of distinct cultural
traditions for draped and fitted garments.
Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food
By Andrew F. Smith
Eating junk food and fast food is a great all-American passion. American kids and grownups love their candy bars, Big Macs and supersized fries, Doritos, Twinkies, and Good Humor ice cream bars. The disastrous health effects from the enormous appetite for these processed fat- and sugar-loaded foods are well publicized now. This was particularly dramatically evidenced by Super Size Me (2004), filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's 30-day all-McDonald's diet in which his liver suffered the same poisoning as if he had been on an extended alcohol binge. Through increased globalization, American popular food culture is being increasingly emulated elsewhere in the world, such as China, with the potential for similar disastrous consequences. This A-to-Z reference is the first to focus on the junk food and fast food phenomena from a multitude of angles in addition to health and diet concerns. More than 250 essay entries objectively explore the scope of the topics to illuminate the American way through products, corporations and entrepreneurs, social history, popular culture, organizations, issues, politics, commercialism and consumerism, and much more.
What do Madonna, Ray Charles, Mount Rushmore, suburbia, the banjo, and the Ford Mustang have in common? Whether we adore, ignore, or deplore them, they all influence our culture, and color the way America is perceived by the world.
This A-to-Z collection of essays explores more than one hundred people, places, and phenomena that have taken on iconic status in American culture.