{"data":[{"id":513,"title":"Políticas públicas, Género y Derechos Humanos en América Latina","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2014,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-ShareAlike","language":"spa","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"El enfoque de género ha producido verdaderas transformaciones tanto a nivel del conocimiento en las ciencias sociales, incorporando nuevos temas y problemas a partir de la teoría feminista, como a nivel de las acciones de polí","contributors":[{"id":4365,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Silvia","middle_name":"Analía","last_name":"Levín","location":null,"background_text":""},{"id":4366,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Oscar","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Blando","location":null,"background_text":""},{"id":4367,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"María","middle_name":"Alejandra","last_name":"Ingaramo","location":null,"background_text":""}],"subjects":[{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/political-science"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":561,"url":"http://www.asociacionlatin.org/index.php/es/biblioteca","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"LATIn Project"}],"formats":[{"id":968,"type":"PDF","url":"https://mountainscholar.org/handle/20.500.11785/603","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":4258,"first_name":"Diana","last_name":"Galarreta-Aima","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Políticas públicas, Género y Derechos Humanos en América Latina es una colección de artículos académicos dirigido a estudiantes de nivel pregrado avanzado o graduado. Este texto está diseñado para hablantes de español nativos o estudiantes de español muy avanzado. El eje temático principal del libro es discutir los retos para crear políticas estatales en relación a los derechos de la mujer en Argentina. El libro está dividido en 3 grandes temáticas: implementación de políticas públicas de género, los derechos de género dentro del marco constitucional argentino y la agenda de género en las agendas institucionales del Estado. Al final de cada capítulo, se proponen actividades prácticas para desarrollar en clase. El último capítulo del libro es un sumplemento de actividades de discusión en clase sobre los grandes temas desarrollados en el libro. No hay un índice de temas, glosario o palabras clave. El libro está dirigido para estudiantes que ya tienen conocimiento previo sobre las políticas de género y que quieren investigar en mayor detalle los retos de estas políticas en el contexto argentino. El título del libro debería especificar que se trata específicamente de este contexto. En algunas instancias se menciona la región de América Latina, pero todos los capítulos están enfocados en el país de Argentina.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"En general, el libro presenta argumentos sólidos para las tesis que cada capítulo presenta, y provee una robusta bibliografía primaria y secundaria. Cada capítulo presenta su tesis al inicio y divide el tema en subpartes que presentan y apoyan en mayor detalle y con ejemplos las ideas principales del libro. Una teoría subyacente a todo el libro es la de género y todos los capítulos presentan un enfoque crítico del papel del Estado en su tratamiento de las mujeres como ciudadanas de segunda clase.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Este es un libro con un contexto temporal y espacial claro; está anclado en la lucha por los derechos de la mujer en los siglos XX y XXI en la sociedad argentina. Teniendo en cuenta esta especificidad, es un libro que puede permanecer útil con suplementos y adiciones a lo largo del tiempo.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Teniendo en cuenta que la audiencia del libro es un estudiante avanzado de español y más probablemente un estudiante graduado, el libro es claro. Todos los capítulos tienen una estructura similar: introduccion con presentación de la idea principal, desarrollo de ideas secundarias con ejemplos y evidencia, conclusiones y actividades de discusión en el aula. La prosa es a veces complicada e inaccesible para un estudiante de pregrado, pero no para un académico o estudiante de posgrado.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"El marco y postura teórica del libro es consistente en todos los capitulos. Sin embargo, es obvio que han sido escrito por diferentes autores. Se puede distinguir la voz particular del autor o autora de cada capítulo.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Los capítulos de este texto pueden ser asignados de forma independiente. De hecho, no creo que se pueda asignar el libro en su completitud, a menos que la clase trate de específicamente los derechos de la mujer en el siglo XX en Argentina. En ese sentido, la gran especificidad del libro hace que sea difícil de ser adoptado como el libro de texto para una clase. En general, es un libro más teórico que práctico y dirigido más como posibles lecturas para una clase graduada que estudie las políticas sobre los derechos de la mujer en América Latina.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"La organización del libro es clara, pero cada capítulo, si bien tiene cómo punto de partida el mismo tema y el mismo enfoque teórico, funciona independientemente. Sería difícil asignar este libro en forma secuencia, a menos de que, como señalé, sea para una clase enfocada en la teoría de género en la Argentina del siglo XX.","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"Uno de los grandes problemas de este texto es que las actividades prácticas al final de cada capítulo son difíciles de asignar, son muy complejas y la gran mayoría de los enlaces para videos y otros recursos del Internet no funcionan. A veces, las actividades prácticas son más cómo quizzes de lectura enfocados demasiado en el detalle que en los grandes temas del libro. Casi todos los enlaces para los video de YouTube no funcionan, lo que hace las varias preguntas sobre los vídeos inútiles. El último capítulo del libro presenta un compleja actividad de discusión de diferentes temas. Las instrucciones para esta actividad son extremadamente complicadas y solo funcionan si los estudiantes leen el libro completo.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"En general, la gramática y ortografía del libro no presentan mayores problemas. Faltan algunas tildes; hay algunas estructuras sintácticas muy complejas y hay pequeños errores ortográficos.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Este texto es culturalmente apropiado, y de ninguna manera ofensivo; sin embargo, no se mencionan muchos ejemplos de mujeres de grupos minoritarios en Argentina como inmigrantes o indígenas. La mayoría de ejemplos presentados son de mujeres blancas de clase media o media baja. Es cierto que Argentina, a diferencia de otros países de la región de América Latina, es predominantemente blanco y de ascendencia europea, pero ejemplos de otras etnicidades y razas serían una buena adición al texto. Además, si bien el contexto del libro es específicamente el argentino, más ejemplos de otros países de América Latina, especialmente de países andinos o de América Central, enriquecerían culturalmente al libro.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"N/A","created_at":"2020-07-22T10:10:05.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-22T10:10:05.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/politicas-publicas-genero-y-derechos-humanos-en-america-latin","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:12:44.000-06:00"},{"id":465,"title":"Global Women's Issues: Women in the World Today, extended version","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2012,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781622399253","license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"We cannot solve global challenges unless women participate fully in efforts to find solutions. Female participation in the private sector is a crucial economic driver for societies worldwide. Economic security benefits every facet of a woman's life, with positive effects on the health, education and vitality of families. Learn about women who are changing their societies for the better. This book is based on the twelve critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995: The burden of poverty on women, unequal access to education and training, inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services, violence against women, the effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation, inequality in economic structures and policies, inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels, insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women, lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women, stereotyping of women and inequality in women's access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media, gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding of the environment, and persistent discrimination against and violation of the rights of the girl child. This extended version of Global Women's Issues: Women in the World Today includes, for each chapter, a summary, key words, multiple choice questions, discussion questions, essay questions, and a list of additional resources. Copies of the original book are also available in Arabic, Portuguese, and Spanish.","contributors":[{"id":4249,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Janni","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Aragon","location":"University of Victoria","background_text":"Dr. Janni Aragon (BA/MA San Diego State University, MA/PhD UC Riverside) is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Victoria. She has taught courses on American Politics, Political Theory, Gender and Politics, Feminist Theory, Gender and International Relations, Model United Nations Simulation, Internship in Political Science, as well as numerous Women's Studies courses at the University of Victoria and San Diego State University. Her research interests include: Gender and Politics, American Politics, Women and Technology, Third Wave Feminisms, Social Movements, and Transnational Feminism. She has been published in New Political Science, Women's Studies Quarterly, and the International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics. She is currently working on a project focused on pedagogy, popular culture, and technology entitled, \"Feminist Pedagogical Border Crossing: Using Popular Culture to Teach Globalization to the 'Net Gen.'\" Dr. Aragon was the 2011-13 Chair of the Academic Women’s Caucus at UVic. In this capacity, Aragon represents all women faculty and librarians at all equity, diversity, and human rights meetings. She also sits on the Senate in the Learning and Teaching Committee. She also served as the 2010-11 President of the Caucus for Women and Gender Justice for the Western Political Science Association (WPSA). She has served as the Chair of the Gender and Politics section and Teaching, Research, and Professional Development section of regional political science associations. Dr. Aragon and Dr. Kathleen Jones co-coordinated the Feminist Theory Conference at the WPSA in 2009."},{"id":4250,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Mariel","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Miller","location":"University of Victoria","background_text":"Mariel Miller is an Educational Design Specialist in the Department of Technology Integrated Learning. She works with instructors and programs to facilitate learning through designing, developing, and refining online courses. Her research and professional interests include the design and use of online environments to support regulation of learning as a dynamic and social process. Specifically, her SSHRC funded doctoral research centres on leveraging scripting and visualization tools to support teams to regulate collaboration."}],"subjects":[{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/political-science"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":390,"url":"https://open.bccampus.ca/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=47e557eb-f65f-4586-b08f-ae4600504177\u0026contributor=\u0026keyword=\u0026subject=","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","name":"BCcampus"}],"formats":[{"id":674,"type":"Online","url":"https://open.bccampus.ca/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=47e557eb-f65f-4586-b08f-ae4600504177\u0026contributor=\u0026keyword=\u0026subject=","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1655,"type":"PDF","url":"https://open.bccampus.ca/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=47e557eb-f65f-4586-b08f-ae4600504177\u0026contributor=\u0026keyword=\u0026subject=","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1656,"type":"eBook","url":"https://open.bccampus.ca/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=47e557eb-f65f-4586-b08f-ae4600504177\u0026contributor=\u0026keyword=\u0026subject=","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1657,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://opentextbook.docsol.sfu.ca/store/?product=OTB058-02","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":8,"reviews":[{"id":1594,"first_name":"Aimee","last_name":"Richardson","position":"Adjunct Faculty","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a comprehensive overview on an in depth subject.  The author does a nice job of touching on one subject per chapter.  This is perfect for an undergraduate intro class on Global Women's issues since most of the chapters can be an entire semester long course.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"For now the information appears to be accurate.  Things change so quickly in this field that it is hard to remain accurate for most printed texts.  I think this format allows better accuracy for this subject due to the ability to edit and add on information. I also think it is challenging to be unbiased on these issues, the writing of the content in and of itself is biased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I think it is written in a way that necessary updates can be easily added in order for the text to stay relevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I love the style in which this book has been written, the combination of information, statistics, first hand stories and inspiration people in the field is ideal.  It makes it easy to read and understand , even if the information is new..","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"It seems very consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is a perfect length.  Within the chapter you can also break down the subheadings and assign accordingly with your class.However, none of the chapters are so long that they need to be broken down.  It seems quite easy to reorganize.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"It flows very well and is completely logical.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I had no problems with the interface.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Yeah, grammar is not my strength so....  Looked good to me.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text did a terrific job of being culturally relevant and inclusive.  The subject is one that needs to be so it is not surprising that the author brought in stories, examples and facts from several different cultures, SES, race, religion and genders.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1680,"first_name":"Monika","last_name":"Sawhney","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of North Carolina at Charlotte","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I very strongly feel that as far as comprehensiveness is concerned, this book does a good job. I specialize in women's health and primarily work in the area of women and children with a special emphasis on girl child. What I really like about this book is that it covers varied areas related to women, such as education, health, media, and employment. Usually I come across books that focus on one or may 2-3 areas, but this book is different in the sense it provides material of different aspects of teaching or working on women issues.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I would say that material mentioned in this book is more or less accurate. However, more data from various international data bases and other related sources could have supplemented the pictures and stories presented across the book.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Yes I would say the book is relevant and can be used for a longer period of time. Instructors planning to adapt this book will need to supplement information presented in this book along with data and other snippets from online sources.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"One of the features I have liked about this book is the clarity of material being presented. One suggestion I will have for a book of this kind will be to have more stories and interviews from the beneficiaries. This will make the content even stronger and some thing that audiences will be able to relate to.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Overall the book maintain's its consistency. Though for some of the chapters where there are theoretical models available, the same could be added for future editions","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As highlighted through my comments for earlier section, one feature that makes this book stand out is the different themes/disciplines/subject matter it presents in one book. Instructors looking to teach various aspects related to women can use this text just for that specific material they are interested in covering in their class. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As an instructor and some one who is deeply committed to women issues, I like the organization/structure for the information presented in this book. Those looking to have in-class exercises or assignments on specific issues related to women, will benefit if appropriate databases information is presented across the text.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I personally have liked some of the pictures and other graphics presented across the book. As mentioned in my earlier comments, I would prefer if there are interviews and more in-depth stories of real women/beneficiaries of various programs mentioned across this book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not specifically find any grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The fact that this is a text book on Global Women's issue, it has done a good job of bringing examples of women issues from different parts of the planet. This also offers the audience/s to relate to issues women face across the planet and how policy makers, social workers, and public health professionals can learn from successful experiences else where. For example, the implementation of \"Grameen bank\" related programs based on the success it experiences in Bangladesh.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Just include some more databases information for specific issues for audiences that would be interested in working further on specific topics mentioned across the book.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":3155,"first_name":"Marsha","last_name":"Tongel","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Point Park University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is comprehensive and covers in detail the issues affect women globally that emerged from the 4th U.N. World Conference on Women held in \r\nBeijing, China in September of 1995.  The range of issues discussed in the book is extensive.  The new and extended version of this book added a chapter summary, key words, multiple choice questions, discussion questions, essay questions, and a list of additional resources to each chapter.  What  is missing is a subject index at the end of the book. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book accurately reports on the issues from the World Conference of Women and accurately reflects many of the issues that are of concern to women today. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The overall issues that are discussed in the book are still current and relevant concerns of women today. The statistical data, however, that is shared is a bit outdated. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The layout of the book is very easy to read and maneuver.  The addition of actual case studies to support the issue being discussed shows the relevance and impact the issue has had on women as well as how women in various countries have begun to address the issue.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework is consistent from chapter to chapter.  Each chapter begins with an overview as well as a summary and a listing of key terms.  The issue and its importance to women is discussed.  Profiles and projects that are relevant and support each issue follow the discussion.  The chapter ends with various assessments (multiple choice questions, discussion question, essay questions) that can be used as well as additional resources that can be explored. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters are easily readable and each could be considered a separate module.  The material can be taken in sequence or reorganized as desired to meet course needs. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Very clear, easy to follow and to read.  Each chapter follows the same format when addressing each issue.  Text is broken up into segments.  Pictures in each chapter help to support the issue as well as break up consistent text.  ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text has images but they actually support and do not detract from the intent of the book and the issues it discusses. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text refers to issues that affect women globally.  As such, the book introduces the issue from various cultural perspectives of women. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is a great resource book on the global issues affecting women. Although the book provides an overall good discussion of each issue and some cultural perspectives of each issue, it doesn't discuss in any detail some of the underlying conceptual frameworks that affect gender bias and which continue to support bias. ","created_at":"2019-08-31T13:24:46.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-08-31T13:24:46.000-05:00"},{"id":3498,"first_name":"Michele","last_name":"Ren","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"I teach an Intro to Women's and Gender Studies with a subtitle \"Women in the World.\" Finding a text that is truly global -- not just the global north or the global south -- and easy for students to read/comprehend is difficult, likely because covering all women everywhere is an enormous task. I had high hopes for this text, but it is ultimately one of those (like *Half the Sky*) that calls itself global, but focuses mainly on developing nations. When students in an intro course read a text like this that claims to be global, but mostly covers \"problems\" in developing nations, it reinforces their ideas that sexism and sexist oppression are things that happen \"in other countries\" and not here in the United States.  ","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"One of the copyright holders is the U.S. State Department and sources include the CIA. , which may explain why the United States is mostly left out of discussion of issues like \"Violence Against Women\" or \"Women, Girls, and Armed Conflict.\" I like to teach my students that we need to amplify women's voices and understand the lenses through which those voices are filtered. The \"voice\" of an Iraqi refugee filtered through the U.S. State Department, for example, may not be entirely \"authentic.\"  ","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Preface and overview are by Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Vereer; copyright is by, presumably, the first Obama State Department, which would make the text at least 8 years out of date. Updates from Kerry and the four subsequent Trump appointees should be easily obtained, but possibly not desirable. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to navigate, readable, and visually appealing. Key terms are listed immediately after a brief intro to each chapter, giving readers a \"heads up\" in case there is something they might not know.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is both a shared language and structure as you move through the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"While structure and tone are consistent throughout the text, the reading is not necessarily scaffolded. Each of the 12 chapters could stand alone or be read in a different order without any sense of confusion as they do not necessarily refer backward or forward, rather they cover only what's in the chapter title. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text uses a typical, thus easily recognizable, format: About, Intro/Preface, Chapters, Conclusion, Bibliography. While the chapters could stand alone, or be rearranged, the current order is fine. Though some topics like \"Women and Poverty\" (Chapter 1) could be placed closer to others, such as \"Women in the Economy\" (Chapter 6). ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"While browser and/or format (online/PDF/.txt) might create a different experience for different users, I found the online version (using chrome) to be pleasant to navigate. I also opened the text in safari on an iPhone XR and had a similar experience, though the (left) margins in some cases were off a bit.  The ability to increase font size was a nice feature. The editable .txt that I downloaded had some image issues. The first image, for example, seemed to be stretched a bit horizontally. The font changes on the first few pages were also a bit distracting, being an editable text, though, an instructor could easily change that. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"While I did not do a line-by-line edit, the text seemed to be mostly error free, though making decision-making one word seemed an odd choice. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Again, leaving most of the world's white women out of the text, as if violence against them, poverty, health concerns, etc. are not problems in the \"West\" is problematic, as is, filtering the voices and views of women in the developing world through the U.S. government. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-01-13T12:05:32.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-13T12:05:32.000-06:00"},{"id":3576,"first_name":"Jeana","last_name":"Jorgensen","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Butler University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book seems fairly comprehensive in its global scope, though as other reviewers have noted, there is an almost exclusive focus on developing nations and the Global South, which might seem to imply that women in developed nations and the Global North are not still struggling. I do not believe there is an index or glossary, and there definitely should be one. I also did not see any references to the specific issues that Pacific Island/Polynesian women face.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I believe some statistics are verging on outdated, but as far as providing a snapshot of the information within the last decade, this seems well done. Having specific numbers to point to when discussing global women's experiences - such as how one in three women worldwide has experienced abuse, assault, or sexual violence - is incredibly useful when teaching this subject. I like that there are brief author bios at the end of every section, so that students can get a sense of how the author's background might position them to approach any given topic.\r\n\r\nThis is minor, but in the chapter on women in the economy, the profiled activist was from Saudi Arabia, and the author failed to mention the highly restrictive laws that might have had some impact on why so few women were in the workforce (e.g. until the last year or so, it was illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, and I imagine that would make it difficult to get to one's hypothetical job). Small quirks like this omission make me wonder if the content could be framed in a better way.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"As noted above, it would probably be helpful to update some of the statistics and demographic information in the near future. Since it's a somewhat long text, these updates might be difficult to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is very readable and is written in plain language. The use of extensive quotes from personal narratives - when innovators in a given field, or survivors of a particular crisis, are interviewed - helps make the text even more accessible.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Overall the book is consistent; however, there are a couple minor issues that make it apparent that the book (which I read online) was once just a physical version (e.g. a reference to a page number in one of the supplementary sections, which would not exist in the online version). Also, it is unclear to me how the key terms at the top of every chapter were selected; some are names and some are concepts, while some seem drawn from the specific case studies and others seem crucial to understanding the topic at hand. There probably should have been a subject index at the end, too.\r\n\r\nAdditionally, I noticed that in some of the quizzes at the end of each chapter, the answer choices were numbered (1, 2, 3, etc.) but in the answer key they were letters instead (A, B, C, etc.). It's easy enough for the reader to figure out the discrepancy, but that also means it'd be an easy enough fix for the authors or editors.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I believe it would work well to assign a chapter or two at a time, in order to supplement other class materials. Students would not need to have read the preface or the whole rest of the book to get something out of individual chapters, since the chapters do not reference other chapters extensively. It would also be possible to take a more innovative approach to assigning the text, and have students read, for example, all the profiles of women leaders in the book to start a conversation about activism.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"There is consistent organization among the chapters, which is helpful, but there does not seem to be any clear reason as to why the chapters appear in the order that they do (or, further, why women and poverty is its own chapter apart from women in the economy, though I agree that women and poverty definitely needs to be covered extensively in a book like this one).","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I primarily read the book through the online interface, which functioned just fine. Reading it from my computer screen allowed me to see the pictures crisply and in color, and I'm not sure if the other interfaces provide that as easily.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book is highly relevant - after all, it chronicles the problems that roughly half the world's population faces on a regular basis, to varying degrees of severity. However, I wish the authors had unpacked their use of gendered terms a bit more, since it can come across as essentializing and biologically deterministic to assume that there is a complete overlap between biological womanhood and social womanhood (not that any of these categories are set in stone). I would have also liked to see a little more attention to the struggles of transgender women globally, since in many cases under patriarchy, transmisogyny operates much the same as misogyny.\r\n\r\nI also wonder if it should simply be assumed that this book will contain traumatic and potentially triggering materials given the nature of the topic, or if specific sections should have a brief content note up top (e.g. \"This section contains specific descriptions of sexual violence\"). I understand that we cannot provide trigger warnings for everything our students may encounter in our classrooms or in the world, but given my knowledge of how trauma works, it's often helpful for a student with a trauma history to have a heads-up about whether material will be in roughly that ballpark or not, so the student can prepare and get some self-care lined up, or alternately, decide that it's not a good time (now or possibly ever) to engage with this topic, since flashbacks can be intensely painful and may derail a student's ability to be present enough to learn. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-02-08T16:05:28.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-02-08T16:05:28.000-06:00"},{"id":4428,"first_name":"Arlene","last_name":"Sgoutas","position":"Professor, Gender Women and Sexualities Studies","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text makes explicit that it will cover all the 12 critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing Declaration in 1995, and it does. As noted by other reviewers, focusing primarily on women's experiences in developing nations and the Global South should be made discussed when teaching this text and supplemental materials provided to students. The text also highlights state and non-profit actors within individuals countries to offer successful solutions. Instructors should consider making connections for students between grassroots activism around the globe and their collective solutions. While there are key terms introduced in each chapter, there is no index or glossary.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"As mentioned in other reviews, some of the content is dated and will need a refresh.  I would not say the content is biased; however, it is filtered through a particular lens to fit the overall frame of the book. For example, in the chapter on Women and Poverty, the emphasis on social entrepreneurship and microfinance as the solution without a critique of capitalism . Although there is a discussion question posed related to the market as the most effective means of addressing poverty, it needs further exploration throughout the course.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The overall content is relevant, and the organization of the text is arranged in a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy to implement. The organization of gender according to a female-male binary is problematic, and at times, essentialist. Certain sections could be easily updated to current day issues (i.e., Women and Health to include the differential impact of the COVID crisis and the inequities across the global)","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written with clarity and provides adequate context for the terms used in each chapter.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in its flow and organization. There is predictability in what the reader can expect chapter to chapter and the profiles add a refreshing change to the usual textbook format.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is divided in such a way that an instructor could use smaller reading sections to fit their approach to global women’s issues. I could even see the use of single chapters in courses across the curriculum (i.e., women and the media in a journalism course)","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented as expected and in order of the critical areas of concerns identified by the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I was able to read the book through the online interface in Safari with no significant issues. A minor navigation concern is when you click on a resource link that does not open in a new page.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"As mentioned above, and in another reviewer’s comments, the use of gender in the text as a strict female/male binary should be critiqued in the classroom.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-12-03T12:14:11.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-02-26T15:09:56.000-06:00"},{"id":4482,"first_name":"Debbie","last_name":"Engelen-Eigles","position":"Faculty","institution_name":"Century College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is comprehensive in the range of issues it addresses, but falls short in the coverage of these issues. The main issues one would want to address--education, health, poverty, armed conflict, the environment, power and decision-making, etc.--are for the most part included. However, the text is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, United States Department of State, and this shows in the approach to the subject matter, with what feels like a top down perspective and much weight given to governmental international development efforts.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information presented seems accurate, though as mentioned elsewhere in this review, dated and presenting an incomplete understanding of the issues.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"This is one of the biggest problems with this text. It is woefully out of date--the structure itself is based on the twelve issues of concern emanating from the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference, and frequently mentions the Millennium Development Goals (since replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015). It is also lacking in discussion of some basic theoretical frameworks central to the overarching topic—a transnational perspective highlighting the interconnectedness of North and South (beyond the work of aid organizations); the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding how gendered experience is shaped by factors such as age, ethnicity, religion, family status, disability, race, and social class (though these do receive some consideration); and frameworks like WID (Women in Development) as compared to GAD (Gender and Development) that have guided the international development work germane to so many topics addressed in the text. The best of the “Profile” and “Project” sections describe work at the grassroots and community levels, such as the piece on COMUCAP in Honduras in Chapter 1, highlighting the links between economic independence and women’s increased status in the family, resulting in a reduction in domestic violence. The “Additional Resources” sections at the ends of each chapter often have the most interesting information (in the form of URLs), though the most recent of these are usually 2016. It is unfortunate that when the text was updated in 2017, some new material was added but old information was not refreshed and brought up to date. The sections that make up the chapters are often more superficial than I would like for my students, even at a lower division undergraduate level.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The prose is clear and accessible overall--mostly written like Time magazine.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is fairly consistent throughout. Some discussion and essay questions at the end of the chapters seem to ask for information not covered in the chapters (such as how transgender women are portrayed in the media) or use concepts that need additional background for students to answer in a meaningful way (neoliberalism, non-state actors versus government programming).","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It would be very easy to pull one chapter, or even one section of a chapter, for use to supplement materials on a given topic. Each chapter is made up of a few \"articles\" written by different authors, so each of those chapter sections can function as a stand-alone reading.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization is very straightforward; chapters and the sections within them are clearly delineated.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Both the html and pdf online versions seemed easy enough to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No errors jumped out at me.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"There is no discussion of LGBTQ or disability issues at all. Some end of chapter references are provided for transgender issues, none for disability. As described above, there is little to no attention to transnational connections between North and South. Many of the profiles seem to highlight elite individuals, whether within their own countries or on the world stage.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Given my concerns about dated material and the lack of current theoretical perspectives in gender and women's studies, this text in its entirety would not be a good fit for my own class (Gender in Global Perspective). I might, however, pull a chapter section here and there to supplement other materials. The resource lists at the ends of each chapter and the discussion and essay questions can also be useful references.","created_at":"2020-12-27T16:40:36.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-27T16:40:36.000-06:00"},{"id":4770,"first_name":"Hollie","last_name":"Andrews","position":"RN full time faculty at NECC","institution_name":"Northern Essex Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Covers multiple areas of interest but there is no index or glossary.  There are tons of references though.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Information is good and important subject matter.  Although it is all about women it doesn’t appear to be bias by those who wrote it.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"A little bit older, talks about issues in the 90s but woman's issues are and will always be relevant as we continue to improve equality in education and wages.  It will need to be updated in the future as new things emerge in this educational area.  Updates will be easy to add or replace.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Easy to read and very interesting topics discussed.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Themes stayed consistent throughout text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each section has subsections in it.  Could be broken down easily into lesson planning.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics were organized and presented in an easy manner to comprehend.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Images were clear, no problem navigating the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No errors that I noticed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Focused on many cultures and women’s issues around the world.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I enjoyed this book and learned things about women’s issues in other parts of the world I was not aware of before reading.","created_at":"2021-04-14T12:56:26.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-14T12:56:26.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/global-women-s-issues-women-in-the-world-today-extended-version","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:24:00.000-06:00"},{"id":461,"title":"Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2017,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781945764028","license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This textbook introduces key feminist concepts and analytical frameworks used in the interdisciplinary Women, Gender, Sexualities field. It unpacks the social construction of knowledge and categories of difference, processes and structures of power and inequality, with a focus on gendered labor in the global economy, and the historical development of feminist social movements. The book emphasizes feminist sociological approaches to analyzing structures of power, drawing heavily from empirical feminist research.","contributors":[{"id":4238,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Miliann","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Kang","location":"University of Massachusetts","background_text":"Miliann Kang is associate professor in Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she is also affiliated faculty in Sociology and Asian/Asian American Studies. Her book, The Managed Hand: Race, Gender and the Body in Beauty Service Work (2010, University of California Press) addresses gendered processes and relations in immigrant women’s work focusing on Asian-owned nail salons. It won four awards from the American Sociological Association (Sections on Racial and Ethnic Minorities; Sex and Gender; Race, Gender, and Class; and Asia/Asian America) and the Sara Whaley book prize from the National Women’s Studies Association. She is currently researching work-family issues for Asian American women, and the racial politics of mothering. Her research has been supported by the American Association of University Women, the Ford Foundation, the Institute for Asian American Studies at UMass Boston, the Labor Relations and Research Center at UMass Amherst and the Social Science Research Council. She received her Ph.D. from New York University and her B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University."},{"id":4239,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Donovan","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Lessard","location":null,"background_text":"Donovan Lessard is a researcher and public health evaluator with an MA in sociology and a Graduate Certificate in Advanced Feminist Studies."},{"id":4240,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Laura","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Heston","location":"University of Massachusetts","background_text":"Laura Heston is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at University Massachusetts, Amherst."},{"id":4241,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Sonny","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Nordmarken","location":"University of Massachusetts","background_text":"Sonny Nordmarken is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at University Massachusetts, Amherst."}],"subjects":[{"id":4,"name":"Economics","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HB171.5","visible_textbooks_count":46,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/economics"},{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":387,"url":"http://scholarworks.umass.edu/wost_ed_materials/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-01-02T22:41:43.000-06:00","name":"UMass Amherst"}],"formats":[{"id":666,"type":"PDF","url":"http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":668,"type":"Online","url":"http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":669,"type":"eBook","url":"http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2230,"type":"XML","url":"http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":33,"reviews":[{"id":1593,"first_name":"Kathryn","last_name":"Klement","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Bemidji State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The authors are very comprehensive in their topic coverage.  I particularly like how discussion of intersectionality permeates the text outside of its specific chapter.  I also like how the authors supplemented their text with embedded videos, which heightened the accessibility of some of the material.  One limitation is that there is no glossary, so readers would need to keyword search within the document (and to do that, they'd need to know what they were looking for).","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The authors use sociological and other social science research to back up their work, and provide reference lists for each unit.  It is possible that there are new data that could challenge some of the statements since the text was published, but it's quite current (e.g., using 2015 Census data).  The language is unbiased in that it centers marginalized experiences.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The language used to describe and refer to marginalized identities is current (and explained well).  The units are arranged in reasonable chunks, and the content groups make sense.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is very clear, and speaking to the comprehensiveness of content, covers a large amount of terms and material.  For an introductory text, there are a lot of social science terms, but I think the authors do a good job of explaining them, in addition to providing sources for further information, including videos.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The consistency is great across all sections of the text.  Intersectional perspectives inform all relevant content areas.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters range from 3-6 pages, and often include graphics and/or embedded videos.  The paragraphs are also manageable.  As the chapters are short, they can be assigned individually or in groups.  For some chapters, it will make more sense to have other content explained first (e.g., discussing heteronormativity and gender prior to discussing the U.S. family structure), but most of the content can be read in any order.  Some (including me) might want to start a class with a historical perspective of women's movements, though the authors put this content at the end of the text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The units are organized into groups of topics that make sense.  Due to the modularity of some topics, the order could be arbitrary, but some later topics definitely benefit from the foundation of earlier topics (e.g., race, class, and gender earlier; racialized, gendered, and sexualized labor later).","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text, images, and links are clear and well-formatted.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no spelling or grammar mistakes.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"As I mentioned earlier, the terminology is up-to-date.  The only area I found deficient was a discussion of religious identity.  Religion is mentioned in passing a few times, but does not have its own chapter.  As women comprise the majority of religious adherents, and several major religions have oppressive roots (which have many implications for women and trans folks), I would like to have seen some coverage.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I think the authors provide an excellent introduction to the sociological perspective of women, gender, and sexuality.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1645,"first_name":"Maina C.","last_name":"Singh","position":"Scholar in Residence","institution_name":"School of International Service, American University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"\nThe title of the book itself reflects its wide span of coverage -- from women and gender to more complex debates in Sexuality Studies. It covers each of these areas in great detail providing examples which would be familiar and relevant to students in the US.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":" The content is well-curated with a adequate self-reflexiveness.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"\n I don't believe that the content of this book will become obsolete anytime soon. However,  textbooks such as this one, which provide several examples from contemporary American society and politics may require updates in due course. \n\nShould a future instructor desire to add or substitute examples, I believe that it should be easy to make  modifications. \n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"\nA major strength of this book is its overall clarity and lucidity in  explaining  important concepts. Teaching courses on Gender and Sexuality requires unpacking wide-ranging concepts  like Race, Class , Hegemony and so forth in order to contextualize gender in terms of structural inequalities rooted in colonialism, global production patterns , labor migrations etc. Unit 2 of this book \"Challenging Binary Systems and Constructions of Difference\" provides some excellent and lucid explanations for this project. \n\n ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"\nThe terminology and framework of the book create consistent flow. \nThe book displays a student-centric approach to learning. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The structure of the book enables easy insertion or modifications for future Instructors who may wish to assign only parts of this textbook.\n In fact, for the same reason, this textbook can be productively used for Online Teaching as well, where it would be easy to assign certain sections to any module which may require a discussion of Gender issues. This can be relevant to courses  in Sociology, Area Studies or International Relations. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"From Unit 1 which introduces the subject terrain to Units 4 ( 'Gender and Work in the Global Economy' ) and finally Unit 5 ( 'Historical and Contemporary Feminist Social Movements' ), the book expands its canvas and deepens its critique with a wealth of detail and commentary that is commendable. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"\nThe interface is user-friendly and student-friendly !","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"\nDid not find any significant problems with the grammar.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The text is culturally sensitive but is firmly rooted in a North American context. Thus, ' inclusiveness' of the authors is reflected in the attention that they pay  to examining gender and power as it relates to the underprivileged and  minority groups whether they may be oppressed due to Race, Class or Sexuality. All of this has a North American focus-- even when there is a discussion of \"Gender and Work in the Global Economy\" \n\nTherefore, if an Instructor wishes to offer a course on Gender Studies encompassing a wider transnational canvas, then the examples presented here offer limited possibilities. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"\n\nThe units in this textbook which explain concepts, terms and frameworks related to Gender and Sexuality  are of immense value. However, if OER initiatives are aimed at cost-reduction not only for for students in the US, but also transnationally, then for students of 'Gender and Sexuality Studies' outside the US,  this textbook would have limited value because the debates presented herein are predominantly US-centric. Even the last Unit  which discusses \"Historical and Contemporary Feminist Social Movements\" ,  would have  limited  resonance  for students in the Global South. \nSince OER initiatives also seek to provide cost-free textbooks globally, this is an important  factor to bear in mind.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1685,"first_name":"Stef","last_name":"Woods","position":"Professorial Lecturer","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I was impressed with the book's comprehensiveness. I particularly appreciated the book's discussion of the field of sexuality studies, the binary, media and the importance of language. I also loved how the book incorporated videos. This book would work well for a survey or introductory course in sexuality studies. But, it's comprehensive enough to also be utilized for discrete class topics. And, finally, I liked how each unit had references at the end. That would make it easy for a junior or senior to use the text to provide a clear overview about a topic and then delve into the sources for a research paper.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I regard the text to be accurate. With that said, this is a broad-brush approach to the subject matter. If someone requires an in-depth examination of a topic in sexuality studies, I would then check the sources that the book references for that.\n\nThe section on race could have been strengthened, though. I like the inclusion of scientific racism, But I wish that the authors had discussed: 1) that there is no such thing as a pure genetically homogeneous race; and 2) that there is no genetic basis for race.\n\n","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"With that said, I was surprised that the book didn't reference Stonewall at all. I felt as though Black Lives Matter and the Women's March should have been addressed in the body of the text and not just in photographs. I also wish that there was a discussion on post-feminism. (I don't agree that we live in a post-feminist world, but some people do.) Finally, \n\nI anticipate that students who read this book will appreciate the inclusion of videos and graphs. With that said, I hope that these will be updated. Videos reflect popular culture, which changes with the time. And, the graphs will lose their relevance with each passing year.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book is exceptionally clear. I particularly appreciate the use of bold for key phrases, the definitions in the first unit, and the inclusion of videos and graphs. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found the book to be internally consistent, but also to effectively present points in different contexts. This was evident in the book's discussion of intersectionality and feminism.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I really appreciated how the text was divided. This book could easily be assigned as sub-sections, units or in its entirety.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"It seemed odd to me to have the history unit at the end of the book. To me, it would have made more sense to discuss history in the second or third unit in the book. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I wish that the table of contents had page numbers. But, overall, I thought that the book was easy to navigate and read.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I wasn't reading with eagle-eye editing in mind, but the chapters appear to be grammatically correct.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I appreciated the discussion about intersectionality, but if I'm teaching about race as a social construct or Black Lives Matter, I would assign another resource. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I teach a class entitled Sexuality and Social Media. I also have sections about feminism, gender identity, othering/ableist language and intersectionality in three other classes I teach. I would recommend this book -- or sections of this book -- for an Introduction to Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies class or for other classes that incorporate WGSS concepts and theories into their curricula.I know that students appreciate online resources and how that makes materials more accessible to a larger number of students. I will be assigning portions of this book next semester and letting other instructors in the WGSS program know about it. ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1695,"first_name":"Michelle","last_name":"Buchberger","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Miami University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is brief.  It is 132 pages, covering the following topics:\n1. Critical Introduction to the Field\n2. Theorizing Lived Experiences\n3. Identity Terms\n4. Conceptualizing Structures of Power\n5. Social Constructionism\n6. Intersectionality\n7. Introduction: Binary Systems\n8. Theorizing Sex/Gender/Sexuality\n9. Gender and Sex – Transgender and Intersex\n10. Sexualities\n11. Masculinities\n12. Race\n13. Class\n14. Alternatives to Binary Systems\n15. Introduction: Institutions, Cultures, and Structures\n16. Family\n17. Media\n18. Medicine, Health, and Reproductive Justice\n19. State, Laws, and Prisons\n20. Intersecting Institutions Case Study: The Struggle to End Gendered Violence and Violence\nAgainst Women\n21. Introduction: Gender, Work and Globalization\n22. Gender and Work in the US\n23. Gender and the US Welfare State\n24. Transnational Production and Globalization\n25. Racialized, Gendered, and Sexualized Labor in the Global Economy\n26. Introduction: Feminist Movements\n27. 19th Century Feminist Movements\n28. Early to Late 20th Century Feminist Movements\n29. Third Wave and Queer Feminist Movements\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found no errors in the book; neither spelling/grammar not content.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is up to date, including YouTube videos - all links worked when I tested them.  ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is written in a clear, accessible style.  There are several illustrations in the text.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are consistent.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The units are very short, and chunked into  29 pieces. This would be easy to add as supplementary readings if used with another more comprehensive text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book flows very effectively.  Key words are bolded and clearly explained the first time they appear.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"No problems with hyperlinks or distortion.  Some of the images are a bit grainy, but are still viewable on a computer screen. Distorted when printed.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors that I found.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Nothing offensive.  The book is almost exclusively US focussed.  Sections on Global and Transnational aspects of feminism are very brief.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This 132 page volume was written by four UMASS professors.  It is a well-produced and well-presented work, albeit rather brief and focused (as the authors themselves admit) on a sociological perspective.  It was created specifically to counter the increasing cost of textbooks in the field, and the contents, if brief, cover significant topics in the field of Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies.  ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1779,"first_name":"Janice","last_name":"Okoomian","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Rhode Island College","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"A number of important concepts are not covered or are only mentioned in passing -- the role of religion, for instance, in constructing ideologies of gender.  More detail is needed to explain the many concepts presented.  Examples need to be more robust and vibrant in order to illustrate concepts.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Generally, the content is accurate, but as all of the authors are sociologists, there is an inherent bias in its single disciplinary perspective. ","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Some examples will need to be updated.  For instance, there is a new class action suit against Walmart, which is not mentioned in the vignette about Walmart.  Gender expression and sexuality terminology will also need to be updated soon.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"The book is written clearly but would not be accessible for many students, who will find it dry and boring.  I attribute this to the density of theoretical concepts, which are presented one after another without sufficient examples or images. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This is an area of strength for this book.  Terminology and framework are internally consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is divided into logical chunks, and I could easily see assigning a module of a few pages as a single reading. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization makes sense and is easy to follow.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Navigation was easy and images were not distorted.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Impeccable written expression.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"Although the authors themselves observe that racial difference cannot be reduced to white/black distinctions, it reproduces the very reductive racial discourse it objects to.  While African American women are well represented in the text, there is a curious absence of representation of other racial or ethnic groups in the text and especially in the images.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"Like many introductory textbooks in the field, this one is written by sociologists.  The authors regard the fact that they are all sociologists, \"as both a strength and weakness of the text, as it provides a strong sociological approach but does not cover the entire range of work in the field.” (7)  I believe it to be much more of a weakness than a strength, however, because when introductory texts are written from a single disciplinary perspective it skews and impoverishes students' understanding of GWSS. It would be necessary to balance the text with readings from other disciplines -- history, literary studies, art history, religion, philosophy, anthropology, and all the rest -- in order to provide a more accurate representation of the field.\n\nIn addition, the concept-heavy text would be heavy going for many of today's students.  It reads more like an extended glossary than anything else.   To make the text more engaging, there should many many more examples, vignettes, stories, scenarios, and exercises to help students understand concepts and engage in learning how to apply them.  The pictures are particularly problematic.  There are too few of them, some of them are boring (law books with a gavel), while others are irrelevant (pouring wine into a decanter).  The layout of the textbook is also not engaging -- very text dense, with too little attention paid to document design.\n.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1842,"first_name":"Vicki","last_name":"McGarvey","position":"Learning \u0026 Information Services Manager","institution_name":"Staffordshire University ","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a clear and concise introduction, to women, gender and sexuality. It provides a theoretical context and examines the various societal issues and constructs that shape individual beliefs. The book focuses on work and the economy, culture, historical and contemporary movements, as well as the construction of binary systems, but not in isolation, it argues that the overlapping of systems reinforces beliefs.   \n\nGiven the comprehensiveness of the book, an interactive index and particularly a glossary would be helpful, as readers may find this a useful reference resource whilst reading, especially for keeping track of some of the acronyms and at a later date as a refresher for some of the terminology used within the subject.\n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"It is written from an American perspective, so many of the illustrations reflect this, however, it would be of value for \nthose that are researching the subject from a comparative perspective. Furthermore, the units on “Theoretical \nFrameworks and Concepts” “Binary Systems and Constructions of Difference” have generic observations that could be integrated within most introductory courses on the subject.  \n\nThe book is structured into Units with images and cleverly incorporates multimedia.  It is a good starting point for readers who want to undertake further research, and the incorporated references will help with this.  \n\n","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Given the nature of the subject keeping the content up-to-date may be a bit of a challenge, with respect to providing recent illustrations within the areas covered, and as terminology change. However, the historical observations will still remain relevant. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is clear and concise give the complexity of the subject areas. The inclusion of images and multimedia helps to consolidate the observations and the arguments within the text. Terminology and theory are necessary to explain the overlapping systems identified within the book, but these are written in a straightforward manner although a glossary would also help here. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Despite there being several authors of this book the text remains consistent throughout. The division into units and chapters within the units helps to pace the reader and would also help any teacher who would like to repurpose any aspect and integrate into their learning materials. The terminology is illustrated with real life examples which also assists understanding. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of the book is one if its strengths. Given that this can be a complex subject, as it refers to social theory, history, medicine and science the structure and the pacing helps the reader to digest this. The visuals and multimedia also break up the text. The writing is consistent and clear throughout and the units and chapters are not to onerous or large which is important in an introductory text.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book flows well, and the Units interrelate but can equally standalone. The theoretical start frames the subject well, before moving into the societal and historical units. The clear text is written within a critical context.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The PDF format is not interactive, but it is possible to search the text.  The units and the chapters, however, help with the navigation. There was no issue navigating to the videos, and images rendered well and clearly captioned, including the creative commons licence. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I could not see any errors with the book. One of the strengths of this book is its accessibly writing style throughout. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book is written in an inclusive way, the illustrations are also representative, although from an American perspective which is not particularly clear in the title and the introduction. However, the theoretical overviews could be usefully integrated within any teaching within the area. The subject matter is presented from a cross cultural perspective, including, observations about race, class, globalisation,social activism and justice and the intersections between these in developing individual beliefs. Possibly a Unit comparing with another country/countires or some comparative examples within the text would be of help, and an extra dimension to some of the arguments presented.    ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The title clearly states that this is an introduction to women gender and sexuality studies which is clearly is. It opens the door to the subject and the lively writing style would help the reader to look further into the subject, and possibly more complex work. Apart from theoretical observation, it is very much from an American perspective which could be made a little bit clearer, but nevertheless given that it is not too lengthy and well set out it would be of useful to any reader studying or interested in the subject. ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1897,"first_name":"Milton","last_name":"Wendland","position":"Instructional Faculty II","institution_name":"University of South Florida","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text provides a broad overview of key concepts, although some that would seem to me foundational are missing (e.g., patriarchy, kyriarchy, Title IX, internalized racism/homophobia/misogyny, etc). Intersectionality is woven in throughout, deeply enough for students to get a sense of its breadth, application, and usefulness but not so much or so deeply that the entire text is reduced to being a text on intersectionality. Due to its brevity, there are some large areas and topics that are not included but this is easily addressed by adding material of one’s own to the course. A glossary and an index would be helpful; searching the text works but for some terms can be time-consuming and misleading.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I didn’t see any factual or definitional inaccuracies, but because this is an introductory text (and introductory-lite, at that) some topics do get glossed a tad briefly – race, among them. One large issue that needs to be addressed is how the text asserts that “Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies (WGSS) is an interdisciplinary field.” That’s factually and conceptually inaccurate; these are three separate fields that have their own histories, approaches, and critical debates even as they share common subjects and methods. They need to be addressed separately, at least in passing, so as not to be confused in the minds of students. And, as with any text written by authors trained in specific disciplines, this text is deeply indebted to sociological thinking and only rarely explicitly includes other disciplinary approaches and methods. This could suggest to students that the fields of women’s studies, gender studies, and sexuality studies are the provenance of sociology only. While the instructor could easily add material to round out the text, it would be nice to have some of this in the text already. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"While some of the statistics and data are already starting to show their age, the brevity and organization of the text makes it easy for the authors to update. I would think a yearly update could be accomplished with relative ease. The links worked but would need to be checked. Of course in areas like those covered in the text, the landscape of law and political culture can change rapidly but I think any instructor would easily be able to add in relevant/current material with ease.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is definitely chockful of concepts and terms that might be overwhelming on their own, but the brevity of the book suggests that it is designed to skeleton or frame a course and not be the sole or only text in the course. For that reason – and because the authors have chunked the text into units and sub-chapters – the relative density should be manageable, even for the first-semester college student.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Some texts with multiple authors reveal themselves as different units and chapters feel different and don’t flow. This text flows well. Terms and concepts are standard throughout and the writing style is consistent. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I appreciate the way this text is chunked into units and chapters that I believe I could assign in almost any order and that I could break up or group together to fit my course needs. The modularity or chunking also makes it easy for an instructor to insert additional introductory, supplementary, reinforcing, or mastery material of any type (e.g., readings, assignments, documentaries, group projects, discussion questions, etc). ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text flows well. It’s more common to see a chapter on feminist and its history at the beginning of a text but because of the modularity of the book, it is easy to change the order. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"One small issue is that the font-size of the attributions and captions is too large and distracting, especially when it is only an attribution. Some are oddly placed (e.g., page 26). ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I reviewed this text for content and not closely for composition issues like grammar and punctuation. That said, I didn’t notice any errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I didn’t see anything blatantly or directly insensitive or offensive. However, because of its brevity, the text sometimes glosses perhaps a tad lightly. For example, race is addressed and covered but I was left wondering if my students would leave the text with a more nuanced understanding of race or not. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2008,"first_name":"Elijah","last_name":"Edelman","position":"Assistant Professor ","institution_name":"Rhode Island College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is distinctly more comprehensive in scope and content when contrasted to the unfortunately majority of current texts framed around gender studies. The text goes to great lengths to disrupt and unpack dominant discourses on gender and, importantly, integrates this approach into the writing itself (for example, the authors refer to an individual as 'female-assigned' rather than 'female,' which provides excellent modeling for students). Of note, and a distinction from many 'gender, sex, sexuality' readers, this text weaves in many of the socio-political implications of ideologies (for example, the prison industrial complex, multi-national corporations, etc) around gender and sexuality, rather than simply providing definitions or presenting gender, sex or sexuality as enclosed systems. \nWhile the text does a truly excellent job unpacking gender with multiple frameworks, sex essentialism across disciplines, and feminist histories, we see far less on sexuality to the degree that it is perhaps misleading to describe this text as an introduction to women, gender, sexuality studies. I would frame this book as extremely comprehensive with regard to contemporary gender studies and feminist studies, but as having, in contrast, very little content on critical sexuality studies.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"It is perhaps unfair or not entirely feasible for a social scientist, such as myself, to attempt to describe the accuracy or degrees of bias on topics that social scientists, such as myself, acknowledge are inherently subjective and require contextualization in time, place, and language. That said, working within the same north Atlantic, anglo-phone and time frame as the production of this text, I would describe this text as 'accurate and unbiased' in the sense that it acknowledges the 'messiness' and extreme variability in lived experiences of gender.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I would describe this book as very much 'up-to-date' on gender studies and I would envision it as remaining viable as up-to-date for at least several years. Due to the rapidly evolving language used around gender (particularly trans studies) and emerging forms of identity, this text (in addition to every single text intended for the instruction of gender studies) will need to be updated with a degree of frequency to remain as up-to-date as it is now. However, the text is sectioned in ways that updates could be made with relative ease. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is impressively accessible in fields known for jargon while also not overly simplifying importantly complex concepts. The prose is not overly 'conversational' nor is it as obtuse as likely this very review. This texts provides a clear means for students working at the introductory level to learn about gender critically without wading through oceans of words. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"As a text that approaches and makes use of multiple frameworks in a field that is composed of multiple frameworks, the book remains internally consistent in that approach. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I would describe this text's modularity as being as one of it's defining and most valuable characteristics. One could easily use only the first several chapters or even the later sections focusing on the history of feminist movements at no deficit to the concepts in the selected sections. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I find the organization and flow of the text to be clear, intuitive, and in line with how a course on gender studies might flow across a semester. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text does not appear to have any distorted images or text nor is it unclear at any point how to get from one point in the text to another. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors in my reading of the text. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"My comment here is best split into two comments based on context/approach and framed as an anthropologist reviewing a text written by sociologists:\n1) If we approach this text as being produced by and for those who are specifically focused on or in US or North Atlantic formations of gender, sex, and itinerant features of race, social class, and experience then it is fair to say this text is 'culturally relevant.' \n2) If we approach this text from a cross-cultural or anthropological approach, or in non-US or North Atlantic contexts, I would not describe this text as being 'culturally relevant' in that it is overwhelmingly focused on US/North Atlantic understandings, experiences, histories, and conceptual frameworks. \nIn other words, this text is appropriate for getting at a very geographically and linguistically-fixed (US/North Atlantic and written English) discussion of gender. This text would not be appropriate for courses or students approaching concepts of gender, sexuality and itinerant concepts of race and class outside of US/North Atlantic and Anglophone contexts. \nFinally, the authors do make note of their disciplinary approach (sociology) as well as limitations this produces in the introduction of the text and so my comment here is less an evaluation of the authors or the text and more a statement echoing the authors' noted focus/limitations of the text. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"My only comment of concern--which is a critique that can be generalized to most, if not all, texts intended for an undergraduate audience--are the limited use of citations when discussing terms, concepts, or ideas that the authors did not themselves develop. To be clear, the authors do engage, discuss, and cite far more theorists than a general reader (including a clear and well-placed list of references at the end of each chapter) and this contributes significantly to the overall quality of the book.  Moreover, to provide the level of citations needed or expected of, say, a journal article would likely result in a diminished quality of clarity, which runs counter to the goal of the text. However, as an example of a concept or claim that would benefit from a citation, on page 20 the authors write \"...racial categories are different in Brazil, where many individuals with African ancestry are considered to be white.\"  Brazilian scholars on race (see Santos et al 2009) or Brazilians who have African ancestry and are racialized as distinctly not white may not agree with this statement, nor is it clear how or who is the basis for this particular claim. In short, those adopting this text (and even those not adopting this text) should remind students how and why citations are used.","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2093,"first_name":"Mindy","last_name":"Stokes","position":"College Instructor","institution_name":"Clatsop Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is great to use with undergraduate students who just beginning their college careers. It includes a historical analysis of the women's movements as well as the issues facing women today. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text includes historical data as well as data about our current state of affairs. Newer theories such as Intersectionality are included. Gender identity is covered as well. This is important because these issues are in the news and popular culture right now. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to read. Videos are included. This is a good book for college students beginning their academic career. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent with its language. It discusses issues relevant today and uses language younger generations will be familiar with. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is broken into smaller sections that can be assigned at different times during the term. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is organized effectively. It details the history of feminist movements at the beginning and moves along from there talking about relevant topics of today such as non-binary genders, intersectionality, and body shaming. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is easy to read as a PDF. It has youtube videos inserted thoughout giving the reader a visual snapshot of the theoretical topic discussed. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text doesn't contain grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is culturally relevant. It is suited for a younger audience, using language of today's world. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2324,"first_name":"Rebecca","last_name":"Tolley","position":"Professor","institution_name":"East Tennessee State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The authors' note that their intent with this textbook was creating an intersectional, interdisciplinary, anchoring reference text to be used in concert with other assigned readings, for that reason, it is not comprehensive in terms of fulfilling all my needs in an intro to women's studies textbook. Further, they state they are all sociologists, thus the textbook reflects a sociological bias or perspective. There is no index. Each unit includes a list of references. Key terms are bolded and defined within the text, but are not collected within each unit or at the front or back matter in glossary form. There is no mention of Title IX or VAWA, which I find disturbing. And only key leaders (the standards like Anthony and Stanton) are mentioned, and only briefly in the last unit which looks at historical feminist movements.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Would give a five except that there is a sociological bias. No errors other than omissions, which I mention in the note on comprehensiveness.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I found it most relevant. Updates should be easy to incorporate.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The text is okay. I didn't find it as engaging or inviting as other textbooks. I have doubts that my first and second year students will find it accessible. There is adequate context for some jargon/technical terminology used...(see my note on text's consistency), but I've encountered terms/concepts within this OER that I have not encountered in teaching from various textbooks in the discipline for seven years, that I would not introduce to my intro level students.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"No complaints about the terminology and framework, other than there are terms and concepts used within this book that likely correlate with curriculum outcomes of U Mass Amherst, but do not correlate with my local outcomes. Since the text has a sociological bias, I assume that these terms I'm unfamiliar with are from that discipline. If I used this textbook in my class, I'd instruct students to ignore the several sections covering terms I'd not hold them responsible for learning.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Perfectly modular, easily divisible. It is formatted like a printed textbook, meaning that the pagination alternates from top left to top right. Perhaps more consistent pagination (like in APA formatting of an article/paper) would make assigning page number ranges easier. It's not a major problem, but a minor inconvenience. I know how some students struggle to decode information, so making things as simple and consistent as possible for users is best.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The choices the authors made in organizing the content is logical and clear. It is not a deterrent to teaching this material. In my experience with several Intro to Women's Studies textbooks, authors' often order the information in different, but progressives ways that introduced readers to the concepts, philosophies, issues, and trends in the discipline while also building upon knowledge gained from earlier units/chapters. Many of the paragraphs seem quite dense and lengthy. Chunking them smaller may help reading and engagement. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The entire text is a .pdf, which makes navigation a simple matter of paging/scrolling up or paging/scrolling down. I'm unaware of how or whether navigation anchors can be implemented with pdf, but having navigation links that return one to the TOC or to the top of the unit, would save time and make browsing for information easier. Images and charts are generally okay, though there is minor pixellation with one or two images. It is not an image-heavy text, so this is not a major concern. YouTube videos embedded within the textbook open and display with no problems.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors so glaring that I noticed. It appears to be well copy-edited.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Highly culturally sensitive. One of its strengths is section 3 of Unit 1, which provides identity terms. For example, it posits \"people of color\" against \"colored people\" and explains what each term means, to whom it refers, and why or why not a person would choose to use those words, or to NOT choose to use the terms. It does this with at least four or five other identity groups and suggests using terms that persons claiming those identities recognize and advocate using for themselves.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is ok. As an OER, it does a good job of introducing the majority of key concepts, philosophies and issues within the discipline. No one textbook can cover all the material that a professor deems essential, unless she creates it herself. ","created_at":"2018-10-04T16:00:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-10-04T16:00:58.000-05:00"},{"id":2406,"first_name":"Elizabeth","last_name":"Losh","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"VIVA / William and Mary","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text does a serviceable job citing key terms in an introductory course (essentialism, biological determinism, androcentrism, the gender binary, compulsory heterosexuality, heteronormativity, intersectionality, cult of domesticity, male gaze, medicalization, eugenics, first wave/second wave/third wave, identity politics, etc.)\r\n\r\nIn particular, the glossary in chapter three performs important work to help students use appropriate language, so that students are not stigmatized after the gaffe of using \ta prejudicial term in an introductory course. Unfortunately, given its overview approach that emphasizes keywords, this textbook often truncates any discussion about why there might be controversy in the first place. This approach may also set a didactic tone that emphasizes correctness and thus discourages challenges. In other words, this textbook could use more extended examples like its discussion of the controversy about “person-first” language, which might serve as a useful class discussion point for a dialogic exchange. \r\n\r\nOften this textbook feels more like an outline than a textbook.  Some chapters are only a paragraph in length! Other topics whiz by without adequate elaboration. For example, in chapter four the important key term of “privilege” is glossed over too rapidly. A Creative Commons image of a sign-waving protestor on Flickr highlighting the phrase “privilege is when you think something is not a problem because it is not a problem to you personally” seems too pat for such a difficult talking point for undergraduates who tend to be sensitive and fear accusations from their peers. The equally important term “ally” is not presented at all. And in chapter five the quick parallelism between gender and race used to explain the term “social constructionism” might need more explanation given complex feelings that students might have about the Rachel Dolezal case or Instagrammers who make themselves appear Black. Given how the term “appropriation” is often an important one for these discussions, its absence is also noteworthy.  \r\n\r\nMore case studies, stories, or extended examples would greatly improve readability. For example, the authors’ discussion of the history of the term “heterosexual” (and its early associations with deviance and the pursuit of sexual pleasure than reproduction) is useful for de-naturalizing heterosexuality. Although the section on women’s liberation movements offers some extended examples, it is strangely selective, especially given the textbook’s commitment to offering intersectional perspectives.\r\n\r\n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"As others have pointed out the text may be limited by the disciplinary expertise of its authors who are all sociologists who bring sociological perspectives but lack training comparable to the “biologists, anthropologists, sociologists, historians, chemists, engineers, economists and researchers from just about any identifiable department” lauded in the introduction. Thus an analysis of social structures might be more likely to be privileged over issues of representation or performance in this textbook or draw upon philosophical questions about how epistemology, ontology, or metaphysics may inform discussions of gender and sexuality.\r\n\r\nThe absence of humanities perspectives might be particularly important for courses that explore questions about gender and media or sexuality and media from an aesthetic or cultural literacy perspective. For example, Judith Butler’s name appears only once without any other explanation, and other feminists who use examples from novels or films – like Sara Ahmed – are not cited at all. \r\n\r\n","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"As someone who studies digital culture, I was much less impressed with the cultural relevance of this textbook than other reviewers. Linking to the game Spent is an interesting move, but other free online games could be even more relevant examples of conversation starters about gender and sexuality. The chapter on media focuses on somewhat conventional examples from mainstream culture (Disney movies, sexist advertisements curated by Jean Kilbourne, etc.) and would be less useful for courses using queer cinema, queer games, or other non-heteronormative media texts.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"Even though many young feminists are learning about feminism from online video channels and digital microcelebrities, relying on YouTube videos to provide key explanations undermines the clarity of the textbook. Embedded videos that aren’t dependent on external links might be preferable, as might more context for how a video should be watched and deconstructed. Many of these videos might actually confuse issues rather than simplify them, because the textbook tends to lack any explanation of who the vloggers are, what they represent, and the kinds of online performances they are known for. For example, Anita Sarkeesian’s work is presented as a mere vehicle for the Bechdel Test without introducing her profile as a target of GamerGate and a noted feminist critic of popular digital games. Similarly Franchesca Ramsey’s video about intersectionality, which leads to a broken link page, is inserted without unpacking the larger project of MTV’s Decoded. A key concept like intersectionality (and why white feminists might approach equal pay, criminalizing harassment, or reproductive rights differently from feminists of color) remains mysterious without the video link. Perhaps Kimberlé Crenshaw’s TED talk might be a more durable digital artifact in an online archive. \r\n\r\nTopics that the authors don’t rely exclusively on a video to explain – such as the differences between micro, meso, and macro/global levels of analysis – were consequently more decipherable to readers and easier to apply in practice to examples that might be raised in class discussion. Unfortunately other topics that are described at an equal level of detail, such as scientific racism, are not clearly tied to the central topic of gender and sexuality, although the work of Patricia Hill Collins is used as a bridge.\r\n","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"There are points at which the textbook doesn’t seem to live up to its own feminist principles. It was difficult not to miss the irony of YouTube ads that played before the assigned content that often objectified women’s bodies and interrupted the consistency of the pedagogical experience.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"Because the chapters were so short and undeveloped, it was difficult to imagine assigning a chapter in isolation. More modules about Latinx feminism or feminism from specific regions would be helpful for courses addressing global or transnational feminisms or feminisms that resist the Black/White binary. Modules about specific media platforms (broadcast television, print magazines, cinema, etc.) would also be helpful for courses that address representations of gender and sexuality.\r\n","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Elements in the text often appear as listed rather than linked ideas, so that it was difficult to compare and contrast different approaches to the study of gender or sexuality in ways that might facilitate class discussion. Even when an interesting juxtaposition is suggested – such as the difference between “reproductive rights” and “reproductive justice” in the section on institutions – it is not adequately developed so that students can bring questions and comments to class.\r\n\r\nThe organization is designed so that the first section of the book covers core concepts, the second section of the book is devoted to binary categories as a form of structural critique, the third section of the book is devoted to institutions, including “family, marriage, media, medicine, law, education, the state, and work,” the forth section of the book covers “gender and work in the global economy,” and the fifth section is about “historical and contemporary feminist movements.” Placing the historical section last may be counterintuitive for many who write syllabi for introductory courses. \r\n\r\n","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Having to navigate back to the modules each time a video is watched may be counterproductive for comprehension.\r\n\r\nAlthough the textbook implies that media and visual images are important, they are only sprinkled sparsely through the pdf, which does not even include the cover image. The Creative Commons images selected often serve to demonstrate or illustrate a point rather than serve a potential objects of analysis for homework or in-class discussion. Some images (wine being decanted or books and a gavel) function more like clip art. Some of the images are at very low resolution and would have never been approved by a textbook art department, because they appear pixilated. On the other hand, for instructors who want to be able to update the curriculum easily with materials from the web or current events, this minimalism might be preferable.\r\n\r\n\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"As others have pointed out, proofreading of the volume ensures a professional presentation of the authors’ language.\r\n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Because this textbook foregrounds cultural sensitivity, this was not an issue, although the section on third wave feminism was not well organized and content might soon seem dated.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"\r\nBecause of its skeletal structure, this OER textbook would not be desirable for courses taught by faculty outside of GSWS departments or those without knowledge of feminist research communities. For example, graduate teaching assistants would probably need more guidance running classes with this textbook as a blueprint. As a tool to facilitate class discussion, it may often also be too rudimentary in telling too few stories or developing too few case studies to reconstitute essential fractures or tensions in contemporary feminist thought or robust talking points that students could bring to class without the lesson plan of the instructor.\r\n\r\nThe authors acknowledge that the textbook grows out of a single course (with a hierarchical professor/teaching assistant relationship that might tend to reproduce a single channel of knowledge) rather than the kind of cross-institutional interdisciplinary dialogue that characterizes WGS professional associations. \r\n\r\n","created_at":"2018-11-25T23:09:05.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-25T23:09:05.000-06:00"},{"id":2613,"first_name":"Jessica","last_name":"Davidson","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"As an Introductory text, it covers essential points such as introduction to the field and discussion of key theory, challenging binary systems and looking at difference (sex/gender/sexuality system and race and class) and institutions, culture, and structures.\r\nDespite its position as an introductory text, the final two units have a more specialized focus: one covers gender and work in the global market and the final unit is dedicated to feminist social movements (serves as the history/narrative of 19thc., 20thc, and third wave movements). \r\nIt is a bit unclear why the last two units have their unique focus- gender and work in the global market, and feminist social movements.  While both topics undoubtedly are important elements of the discipline, it is not evident why they are chosen as opposed to other central themes in the field, for example, women and health or women and politics.  The unit on women and the global market seems a more advanced case study of the broader concepts established effectively in the first units.  It is a departure from the slower paced incremental presentation of key concepts in earlier units.\r\nThere is neither an index nor a glossary.\r\nAt times, the text leans towards a sociology-centric conception of the field.  It is unclear what advantage this discipline-specific approach offers especially considering the fundamentally interdisciplinary nature of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.   \r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"To the best of my ability to assess, the content is accurate and error-free.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text seems well positioned and up-to-date with opening photos of the Black Lives Matter March and the 2017 Women’s March in DC.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text explains potentially complicated and confusing terms in a sensible and logical way that avoids alienating readers through too much jargon. The discussion in unit 1 of “identity terms” is particularly good.  It introduces many new concepts/language in a simplified and comprehensible way, i.e. “people of color,” “non-binary,” “pansexual,” and “Intersectionality.”\r\nIn unit III, the ubiquitous academic term “institution” is very well defined and applicable to disciplines outside of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.\r\n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text consistently uses the same terms and definitions throughout the units.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text seems to lend itself to breaking up material into shorter readings.  Units have brief introduction followed by several pages of text for each section within the unit.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text is organized into 5 larger units that contain between 4-8 chapters/sections depending on the unit and a reference section at the end of each unit.  The organization seems clearly laid out and explained.\r\nUnit 2 reads a bit choppy.  While terms are well defined, there is little integration of them into the next section, or into a larger narrative that is emphasized throughout the unit.\r\n","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text effectively allows the reader to navigate easily from section to section without problems.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is written in a consistent and smooth style without grammatical errors or unclear prose.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The text presents an unclear balance of US content and global content.  It  leans towards a US focus especially in the final unit on feminist movements, which only covers the history of these movements in the United States.  In the Third Wave feminism section there are few references to movements outside of the US. \r\nHowever, within the context of the US, the unit on feminist movements is impressively inclusive.   The authors present a full picture the first wave of feminist movements in the US, including discussion of white and black activists.\r\n","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":" While it is not the intent of the textbook to include primary sources and/or excerpts from key contributors to the field, an inclusion of one or two for each until would serve to exemplify the interdisciplinary nature of the field and encourage application of terms and concepts to the relevant readings.","created_at":"2019-03-04T21:48:49.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-03-04T21:48:49.000-06:00"},{"id":2891,"first_name":"Stina","last_name":"Soderling","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"As several reviewers have noted, this is not a comprehensive textbook. This, however, is not necessarily a weakness. The text provides definitions of important terms, and an introduction to some key topics and concepts. It can easily be supplemented with other sources in order to provide a more comprehensive introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Considering that there are varying views between institutions, and even individual instructors, of what an introductory WGSS course should cover, the flexibility that a minimalist textbook, paired with other materials, offers can be a benefit rather than a flaw.\r\nAgain, as other reviewers have pointed out, the sociological training of all of the authors mean that other common approaches to WGSS are not adequately represented.\r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Yes, the content is accurate and error-free. In the field of WGSS, “unbiased” is not necessarily the most relevant category. The text does have a feminist bias, and this is a good thing.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date. Because much terminology related to gender changes rather quickly, the book will most likely need updating every few years, but this would be the case for any textbook in the field.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The language is overall clear; however, brevity of the book at times comes at the expense of clarity and accessibility. For example, the chapter “Identity Terms” aims to define terms people use to identify themselves, such as “cis-gender” or “person of color.” The descriptions are accurate, but they do not provide much context. I can imagine using this chapter as a reference guide for students, but not as a tool for teaching the meaning of these terms.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes, the book is consistent in its terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is divided into five units, each made up of approximately five chapters. The chapters are all short, and can be assigned for one class session, even with the addition of other materials. The units could be assigned in a different order than how the book is organized, as each unit stands on its own. Individual chapters could also be assigned in a different order.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The two first units of the book are largely devoted to defining terms and concepts. While I can see the reasons behind this – giving students a common vocabulary for the course – it creates a disembodied feeling. The book ends with a unit on feminist history, which strikes me as a better starting point, giving students some basis for why they should care about all the terminology. But, as mentioned above, the units could easily be rearranged to fit the teaching approach of any given instructor or course.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Yes, the text is free of significant interface issues. It would be helpful if the table of contents at the beginning of the text were hyperlinked.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The authors have taken care to write a text that is culturally sensitive and not offensive. The text is consistently written from an intersectional perspective.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The text contains links to several YouTube videos. While these often contain useful content, YouTube videos are not accessible in terms of closed captioning.","created_at":"2019-05-07T12:15:26.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-07T12:15:26.000-05:00"},{"id":3027,"first_name":"Kirsten","last_name":"Olsen","position":"Sociology Instructor","institution_name":"Anoka-Ramsey Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Assuming that an instructor is looking for a basic introductory book, this book will likely work quite well.  It briefly introduces many concepts in an accessible way but does not provide much depth or detail.  So many textbooks are too in-depth for a 1000-level course, and this might fill a niche for instructors looking for a very basic introductory book so that they can tailor the course (additional readings, activities, assignments, etc.) to their specific course objectives.  I think it would be difficult to use this book if you are new to teaching and do not have the background knowledge or resources to supplement it effectively.  However, this book would like likely work for seasoned professors who have been teaching gender studies for quite some time.  As a sociologist, I wish there was a bit more sociological theory in the textbook, but then the audience would likely be too narrow.  I also wish the book would have included the educational system as a social institution and incorporated Title IX and sex education as topics.  There is no glossary, no index, and no list key terms at the end of each unit, all of which I think are helpful for first year students.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"My only concern is that some students may see the Huffington Post citations, immediately dismiss the course content, and stop learning.  On the other hand, there are many topics in gender and sexuality courses that challenge students, so this may not be much of an issue in the grand scheme of things.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Material seems to be quite up-to-date and easy to change in future editions.  I recommend adding gender non-conforming, matrix of domination, and femininities to the next version.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written at an appropriate level for first year college students who do not have a background in sociology or gender and sexuality studies.  ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Like many introductory textbooks, this textbook effectively incorporates key terms by bolding them.  However, there is a lack of consistency in how clear the definitions are.  Sometimes the definitions are very clear, whereas the meanings of some key terms were more subtly integrated into the text.  I assume this would be frustrating for students.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is broken up into sections that are so small that it will almost surely keep students’ attention.  On the flip side, such short sections can make the textbook seem choppy, especially if you are comparing it to traditional printed textbooks.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Many textbooks only talk about feminisms at the end of the textbook.  I like that this textbook briefly introduces students to feminisms in Unit I and then goes into further detail in Unit V.  The main thing that I would change is to add a Unit Summary or ‘Bringing it All Together’ section at the end of each unit.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I mainly reviewed a printed copy of the text because I retain more information that way.  Luckily my college will print a paper for students at very low cost.  As a result, I only looked at some of the charts and links online. However, the amount of material for each section makes the online reading tolerable, and that means a lot coming from someone like me who hates reading online.  If the chapters were extensive, it would be too cumbersome to read the online version.  Given the brevity of the text, the online version would work fairly well. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I only noticed one error.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book does a decent job of explaining that terminology, identities, content, and perspectives will continue to evolve.  Examples are relatively diverse throughout the textbook, but the textbook could benefit from more diversity related to age and religious affiliation.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-06-28T13:35:09.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-06-28T13:35:09.000-05:00"},{"id":3125,"first_name":"Karen","last_name":"Scarpella","position":"Part-time faculty","institution_name":"Aims Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook is designed to be a simple and structured outline for a course. It is “comprehensive” in that it covers many of the standard topics. The depth of each section is superficial. The benefit of this is that it is a nice outline to add additional materials as each instructor prefers.\r\n\r\nTerms are presented in bold with an accessible explanation and definition. However, there is not a glossary or index. The table of contents provides an outline of subjects covered.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Content accuracy appears to be acceptable. However, an unbiased and conservative counter-view is not presented. For example, the section on transgender does not present the argument that this is not believed to be legitimate by some.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content is presented in a way that will easily be updated as information changes over time.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Possibly the most positive critique is that this text is written in clear, concise, and accessible language for undergraduate students reading this kind of material for the first time.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is no evidence that this was written by multiple authors. The tenor and voice remain consistent throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook and its sections are divided into smaller subunits that appear to be easily consumed without intimidating lengths for undergrad students. The sections would seem to be flexible and able to be moved around to suit individual instructors and course objectives.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The textbook is organized in a similar fashion to other contemporary Introduction to Women’s Studies textbooks. However, it continues to pose the issue that students may grow impatient while waiting to get to Women’s historical challenges and accomplishments.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The textbook seems easily used and has unbroken links in the online version. The section forwarding is located at the bottom of the page and initially difficult to see.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. They did a nice job of integrating and highlighting the experiences and impact of black women in our history. However, the book could be further improved by including more examples and history of other marginalized groups.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-07-29T10:47:53.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-29T10:47:53.000-05:00"},{"id":3557,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Hastings","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text addresses the majority of topic areas covered in an introductory course in Women's and Gender Studies.  Key words and concepts were clearly identified in bold font. Headings were mostly descriptive. At times, I wasn't sure what content might follow a particular heading, but all content was ultimately found to be relevant and easily comprehensible.  Embedded videos will be appreciated by students. The units largely aligned with other texts I have used in class and covered the main overarching topics including social structures and institutions, matrices of power, work, gender roles, women's bodies, health, and historical movements.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Material seemed accurate throughout. Chapters were objectively written. Language was inclusive and free of bias. I saw nothing that prompted me to question whether information was accurately reported or represented. A reference section follows each of the five units, and citations are included throughout the text. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content was up to date. The discipline is one in which rapid social change impacts the material covered year to year. Terms become outdated, new court decisions come down, and current events impact how we approach content in the classroom. I have used several printed texts for an introductory Women's \u0026 Gender Studies course that seemed out of date in sections. An advantage of an electronic text (that I had not fully considered before) is the ability to update rather easily, rather than having to wait for a new edition to be printed. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This was a particular area of strength for this text. The language was exceptionally straightforward, and as noted above, bolded font helps the reader identify key concepts and flag ideas for further study. The section dealing with third wave and queer feminist movements was particularly clear in comparison with other texts I have used. Likewise, the section titled Racialized, Gendered, and Sexualized labor in the Global Economy, did a good job of explaining ideas that can be difficult for undergraduate students to grasp. This section was brief--possibly too brief--but it offered the basics that instructors can use as a springboard to link with other resources. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book was consistent throughout. Ideas built upon one another. Unit I serves as a sound introduction to the remaining units and offers a \"view at 30,000 feet\" to help the reader prepare to view the terrain below in closer detail. No inconsistencies were noted in terms of the information provided or the ideas discussed.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Reading sections are short and can be completed in one sitting. When reading the text online, the menu on the left hand side of the screen is easily navigable. In online format, there are no page numbers, so instructors may need to rely on headings to direct students to assigned passages. The downloadable pdf version of the text does have page numbers, and the videos are easily accessible, though watching them is not as streamlined as when reading the book online. Switching back and forth between the two formats was not difficult especially with two screens.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is organized in a manner similar to other women's and gender studies texts I have used. The book lends itself well to asynchronous or hybrid courses that are often organized by modules, and would easily map onto a five module online format. Intuitively, one might expect to find the section on historical movements first rather than last, but my experience is that most textbooks in the discipline structure material placing historical information last. Once students are introduced to key topics in the field and invited to consider the impact of social structures and systems of power on women's lives, then they are more equipped to look at social movements and individual figures who responded to the forces in their particular historical context. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Embedded videos are engaging and images are clear and colorful. Pages are formatted well throughout. The book can be downloaded or read online. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were noted. The text flowed well. Sentence structure was engaging. Content was easily gleaned in read-through.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text used inclusive language throughout. Images and examples used helped the book avoid relying exclusively on a Eurocentric perspective. No offensive  or culturally insensitive language was noted. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I am planning to use this book in my class next fall. I will supplement with additional material, particularly writings by women that reflect their lived experiences. However, I was pleased this book offers a solid foundation that will help ground students in the key concepts that sometimes get lost in lengthier texts. ","created_at":"2020-01-31T14:39:23.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-31T14:39:23.000-06:00"},{"id":3670,"first_name":"Christiana","last_name":"Paradis","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Susquehanna University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"I thought that this is a good introduction to a textbook, but it would be helpful if it was a bit more comprehensive. There is no mention of the fourth \"wave\" of feminism, nor the impacts on the labor rights movement and anti-lynching movements that directly impacted the first and second waves. I thought each of the topics introduced in the third section was helpful, but not as comprehensive as they could be. You would need to assign a variety of supplemental readings in addition to this text to meet your benchmarks for this course.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Overall the information provided was concise and accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I think the text is definitely relevant and content is mostly up to date, but there are sections that could be more up to date in regards to changing legislation under our current presidential leadership and ever evolving understanding of gender and sexuality issues within the LGBTQ+ community.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Text was clear and straight forward.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Consistent section to section in terms of language. The beginning of the text had more opportunity for video links and hyperlinks which seem to taper off as the text moves forward.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It would be very easy to assign pieces of text from this book.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The topics seem slightly out of order to me. The first and second sections are perfectly in line, but the change to focusing on the workplace and other feminist issues and then circling back to feminist history seems a bit awkward. If I was assigning readings from the text I would assign section I, II, IV, and III.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Several charts are distorted. Some of the image choices seem very odd to me. I loved the beginning of the text where it was broken up via recommended videos, I would prefer that remain throughout rather than transition to photos that didn't always coincide with context of the text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Text was well written.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text wasn't culturally insensitive, but I felt that some of the image choices could have been more appropriate and culturally relevant.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"If I can find all my supplemental readings online I would consider switching to this open text, but would like to see it expanded and organized a bit better.","created_at":"2020-03-20T13:51:10.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-03-20T13:51:10.000-05:00"},{"id":3728,"first_name":"Kristi","last_name":"Fondren","position":"Professor and Chair","institution_name":"Marshall University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text appears to cover necessary content for an introductory level course in women, gender, and sexuality studies. Key terms are embedded within the chapters and in bold font which makes them easily identifiable for the reader. Examples are then provided. The text begins with key terms and perspectives before moving on to inclusion and intersectionality and pluralities regarding identity, the impact of institutions and structures on identity, work and the economy - in the U.S. and abroad, and ends with historical and more recent social movements.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content of the text appears to be accurate in terms of its content and coverage of material. I did not notice any content errors upon my first reading. Text is unbiased and inclusive in its coverage of content and identities.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Given that it's been a few years since I've taught our sex and gender course, I appreciate that the text is up-to-date, particularly recognizing multiple gender identities and pluralities compared to older versions of similar textbooks. As society continues to transform, the text, as written, appears to be set up in a way that would be easy to update.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The tone of the text is scholarly, with references cited and provided, yet accessible to an audience outside of academia. Students will appreciate how succinct and straightforward the chapters are written.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is easy to navigate. Chapters are organized in the same manner (i.e., key terms in bold font, full references at the end) which will make it friendly to use. The text does not jump all over the place which is nice. The textbook as a whole is organized in a way that makes sense, beginning with key terms and perspectives, moving to identities and institutions, and ending with social movements.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I appreciate how the text is written in such a way that it is direct and to the point. Key terms are defined and supported with examples. There are visuals for each reading and in nearly all, if not all, chapters a video component. Text could be used in the order that the material is presented or it allows itself to be used as supplemental material to other readings.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook is will organized. Material is presented in a logical, clear fashion. If anything, I initially thought it odd the work and the economy had its own chapter; however, since nearly everyone has experience with this institution, I do find the chapter appropriate for the text.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I had no problems with navigation and found the pdf version to be very easy to navigate. Images and charts were clear as were the video components, though one was initially unavailable. However, I was able to access it at a later time.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors. Text is well-written.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found the text to be inclusive of not only gender identities and pluralities, but inclusive when it comes to discussing race, ethnicity, and cultural backgrounds.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I plan to use this book as a supplement to research monographs. I find that non-majors who take our upper level sex and gender class could benefit from a textbook that provides key terminology. Our majors generally do not need something like that; however, this text would be a good resource for them as well. I would recommend it, but not require it. Since it's easily accessible to them, I imagine all would appreciate having this text as a point of reference.","created_at":"2020-04-17T09:34:15.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-04-17T09:34:15.000-05:00"},{"id":3953,"first_name":"Nishant","last_name":"Upadhyay","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Colorado Boulder","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is by far the most comprehensive intro to WGS text I have seen. Most texts are outdated and rely on older feminist writings with very little contemporary content. I like the way themes are introduced and organized - would work quite well for intro classes. Key words and concepts are well-defined and would be accessible to most students. As an intro text, it does a good job of introducing key sites of feminist engagement and critiques - from the family to state to medical complex to prison industrial complex to sweatshops. It exposes students to wide range of conversations. Many of these conversations will have to complimented with other external sources, but the text provides a key foundation. The text is intersectional from the first section itself, unlike the last text I used where intersectionality came on page 465. However, I would suggest naming black feminists and feminisms right when intersectionality is introduced first. As the authors note, the text heavily lies on sociology. Given how interdisciplinary WGS is, I think it does need more interdisciplinary content.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Overall the content is accurate. I like the use of videos, and suggest more videos as we go further along in the text. More examples are needed, but perhaps they can be added as supplementary materials by the instructors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Unlike most intro to WGS texts, this text brings in trans and disability as key analytics and seeks to be as updated as possible with language and terminology. This is highly commendable. Disability Studies and Trans Studies are rapidly changing and re-defining Gender and Feminist Studies, and most conventional text books have failed to keep up with the interventions made by these fields. More importantly, both fields are engaged as foundational to WGS not as an after-thought.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"For a text with limited number of pages, it's impressive that it remains so clear and sharp throughout. The authors introduce very complex ideas in accessible ways - probably the biggest highlight of the book. The text introduce terms like postcolonial, decoloniality, and homonationalism, which is quite remarkable. I assume these terms may still be very difficult for students but I appreciate that they are introduced in the text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework and format is very consistent, which makes the text more accessible and easy to navigate.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is one of the strongest aspects of the text. It's neatly organized and easy to navigate. Different chapters can be assigned on their own without the need to use the entire text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I am impressed by the organization and flow of the text. The text engages with many complicated ideas yet its easy to access and navigate.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I liked the options of engaging with the text on multiple platforms. They are easy to switch and allows for a smooth reading and viewing.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Well-edited throughout.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"While the text is not necessarily insensitive or offensive, it is very specific to the US context with very limited engagement with the global south (even though it does focus on the global south). It does a good job in centering African American/Black feminisms - which is much much needed in most WGS textbooks. However, there is no engagement with Indigenous feminists and questions of settler colonialism and Indigenous decolonization. Furthermore, experiences and works of other women of color and immigrant women, specifically Chicana and Muslim women, are glaringly absent from the text. More generally, colonialism and imperialism needs to be centered more. Lastly, points around Brazilians not being considered Latinx in the US and experiences of Black folks in Brazil is not contextualized thoroughly and needs more complex engagement.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-06-11T15:40:30.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-11T15:40:30.000-05:00"},{"id":4139,"first_name":"Charlotte","last_name":"Haller","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Worcester State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is definitely geared to an introductory level.  Each chapter is very, very short (as in a page or so).  The number of topics covered work well for an introductory class, though, and the shortness is a benefit for faculty who want to incorporate a range of other kinds of readings.  The textbook alone would not provide sufficient material to teach a class (which is good, in my opinion, because we shouldn't rely on textbooks like that).","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"There were no errors that I detected in the textbook.  The material is presented in an appropriate, matter-of-fact way.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Because this textbook has an \"Attribution\" license (\"This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials.\"), I am planning in future courses to have students add to and adapt the textbook to reflect their current concerns and understandings.  There were a couple of places in the textbook where I found the use of a particular sociological jargon (for instance, SNAF - Standard North American Family) to be jarring and giving a sense of a common use of a term that isn't commonly used.  In the future, I might just delete that reference so that students can focus on the many helpful definitions and commonly-used terms in WGSS.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This is a real strength of the textbook.  I really appreciate how the authors really slow down and explain unfamiliar terms or concepts clearly and concisely.  This is a textbook that is clearly grounded in the teaching of Introduction to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and is presented in a way that is understandable and useful for undergraduates without a lot of background in the subject.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The organization is very clear and well-organized.  The terms used are consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each section is very short and could be easily reorganized to reflect the course structure.  In fact, faculty used to a more conventional textbook, where chapters build on one another and there is an effort at narrative continuity might find this textbook overly choppy, but that is clearly the intention as it allows the textbook to be chopped up and re-ordered relatively easily.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Given the short chapters, and the clear subheadings and framework, this is a textbook that is very easy to navigate and understand the general flow and organization.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The online reading interface is a little clunky, but once you get used to it, it's fine.  Because of the modularity, sometimes when you click from the drop-down menu to a new section, the page will be blank, but you need to click an arrow at the bottom left to get to the next page that has text.  The online version has hyperlinks, which consistently worked well.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"This is a U.S.-centric text, though there are some attempts at broader global contextualization.  Widening the lens could be great project either for students or a faculty member using this text as a launching-off point.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I used this text in an Intro to WGSS class before I fully understood OER resources.  I found it to be, as expected, a helpful textbook that got students oriented to concepts that we then covered more in depth in class.  Now that I have participated in an (excellent) training on OER, I better understand how valuable this kind of textbook is, have a great appreciation for the chosen format, and am excited in the future to use it to support not just free textbooks for students, but actual open pedagogy and engagement with students to create a textbook that works for them and reflects them.","created_at":"2020-06-29T14:32:27.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-29T14:32:27.000-05:00"},{"id":4263,"first_name":"Mikkilynn","last_name":"Olmsted","position":"Senior Lecturer","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Units I and II are comprehensive yet easy-to-follow glossary-heavy chapters on gender and women's studies. I especially like the multimedia examples. The latter chapters, most especially Unit III and Unit IV, are less comprehensive. The presentation on gendered and interpersonal violence was based on outdated research, even for the e-book's 2017 publication date. Supplemental materials would be needed to cover the more specific subsections presented in Unit IV's survey of \"gender and the economy.\"","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"On the whole, this publication offers insightful interpretations of gender studies. Students will benefit from the intersectional, multiple-perspectives presented in each unit as that represents today's academic field and today's social justice movements. The presentation on, interpersonal violence, gender assault, and rape survivors within the US criminal justice systems needs updating.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The world has changed quite a bit since 2017; yet, I would feel confident in assigning all of Units I and II and sections of the other units along with supplemental materials that discuss gender studies and social justice movements in 2020. There appears an unusual emphasis on the George Bush administration, which dates the materials.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The beginning of the e-book employs introductory language and vocabulary easy for students to understand and memorize. With each unit, the amount of academic discourse increases. The last unit presents most similarly to an upper-level academic seminar paper. This gradual increase in complexity may fit nicely with a gradual increase in rigor over a semester.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The terminology fits the field, although I would have liked to see additional terms such as Black Lives Matter and sex trafficking.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Unit III and Unit IV could be their own publications. The number of topics covered in these two units results in superficial summary for some and in near misrepresentation for others. I would prefer emphasis on smaller chapters for each of the subjects or expanding the whole e-book to more fully present these subjects.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Introducing key vocabulary and theory makes sense for Units I and II. Unit V, a historical review of feminism, appears too late. There are multiple reminder references to the previous units, in fact, which would be unnecessary if history was presented earlier.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no navigational or interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I saw no grammar errors of note.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This is a grand plus of this publication - it is intersectional and post-colonial. Several transnational feminist scholars' ideas appear in the latter units.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This is a solid resource to cover the basic components of gender studies and the history of feminism. I would recommend assigning it as required reading during the early days of an introductory women's and gender studies course.","created_at":"2020-07-24T14:33:41.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-24T14:33:41.000-05:00"},{"id":4294,"first_name":"Erin","last_name":"Boyce","position":"Full Time Faculty","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers a lot of information, minimally. This is sufficient because it is an introduction book and gives students a good base and framework and has been relatively easy to supplement with some more in depth resources.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not come across any information that I feel is inaccurate or misrepresented. It is a book related to Women and Gender issues, to it is difficult to say it is unbiased; however, I think this is expected and reasonable based on the content.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The course this book is being used for had not used a text book previously, this introductory text is current, easily readable, and could be easily updated with more relevant external resources as time moves on.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is very straightforward; however, in it's effort to be succinct and to the point, some context can be lost. It requires a strong course agenda to supplement the chapters with more in depth readings.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book is clear in its intention from beginnnig to end.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is divided up well. I jumped around in how it's implemented in my course and didn't use it from start to finish, but met the needs of each module it was applicable to.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"As noted before, the organization was different than the course was designed, but each chapter does stand alone making it easy to reorganize to meet the course agenda.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues, all links and external resources were working. Easy to open, access, and search for content.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"None that I observed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book takes an intersectional perspective that is very inclusive of many races, ethnicities, and gender backgrounds.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am excited to implement this Fall in my classes and look forward to getting feedback from my students on their thoughts on how it affected thier learning.","created_at":"2020-08-09T14:27:17.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-08-09T14:27:17.000-05:00"},{"id":4407,"first_name":"Francesca","last_name":"Calamita","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Virginia","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"For an intro level, this is an ideal book,  however it requires other materials to be added for the class. It is good also if you teach a class for two depts, such as a cross-listed course, with easy and quick explanations students who are not majoring/minoring in WGS might need to consult.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not find any errors. I would therefore say it is very accurate and relevant.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Some basic ideas will be considered at the base of the discipline also in the future, yet updates will become necessary with time,","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clear, immediate and easy to read.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"It is very consistent too.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It is easy to follow. It depends on how you will organise your course, you might need to go back and forward but in general it is well organised and the material is easy to find.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Well organised and easy to consult.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I didn't come across any particular issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Great, I did not find any mistakes.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"It is a good starting point for basic WGS topics, yet strongly anchored in the US-context, so it  might benefits from transnational references in the future.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I think I will use it this spring to help students in a cross-listed class to review some basic topics. We might suggest some transnational references.","created_at":"2020-11-28T04:13:53.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-11-28T04:13:53.000-06:00"},{"id":4447,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Miller","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is quite comprehension, but it lacks depth and case studies to help students understand the significance of and context for terms introduced. It needs to be supplemented with more detailed work on ideas introduced. It does what it does very well, but instructors should expect to use this text as a foundation they must build on to give students a comprehensive introduction to the field.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Definitions are accurate and accessible. They provide an essential vocabulary for thinking about and discussing gender and sexuality.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The textbook introduces students to key words and ideas that may be expanded on and changed in the future, but will remain a necessary component of any introductory course in the field.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is well written with accessible prose.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is written and formatted consistently to help readers follow the material presented.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text can be used flexibly to meet the needs of different courses and course designs. I also see this used in introductory sociology courses, perhaps even introductory literature courses; although not in its entirety. The text does a very good job introducing key ideas that can be used to shape conversations.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Key words and ideas are clustered in a logical format that will allow instructors to pair excerpts with more in depth studies and/or cultural texts to elucidate context and significance.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I found the text easy to navigate. Links to outside sources seem to work and add interest. They can be assigned for homework or introduced in class to prompt discussion.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't identify any grammatical issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is inclusive of racial and ethnic differences. Multiple gender and sexual identities are identified and discussed accurately. Disability terminology is also introduced.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I think this is a significant resource for instructors teaching introductory gender and sexuality studies courses. It will also be useful for those teaching sociology, literature, and other cultural texts.","created_at":"2020-12-13T11:23:01.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-13T11:23:01.000-06:00"},{"id":33365,"first_name":"Erin","last_name":"Mysogland","position":"Adjunct Lecturer","institution_name":"Pace University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is excellent for an entry level course in women and gender studies.  Unit I clearly and succinctly lays out key terms and theories.  Terms continue to be defined throughout the text and are bolded for accessibility.  If anything, the text is a bit heavy on definitions and could have included more in-depth case studies to support readers in applying the terms.  That being said, additional resources could easily supplement where real life examples are lacking.  Terms and theories are defined in such a way that would be inviting to both first-year students as well as students with more experience in the field.  For instance, the discussion of the terms “disabled people” vs. “people with disabilities” can show students how terminology is not stagnant and is informed by lived experiences.  The text’s discussion of “assemblage” could similarly allow for nuanced conversations about the benefits and shortcomings of the framework of intersectionality.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content reflects up to date research and although it draws most heavily on sociology, it takes an interdisciplinary approach to define identity terms and apply them to social institutions, power structures, and feminist movements.  References are included after every unit.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text not only reflects recent research but offers references to popular culture that make the text inviting.  Videos and other embedded external resources serve to support the presentation of this content in a contemporary manner.  However, the clear explanations provided with all theory and cultural references will allow the text to be relevant for years to come.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to follow and is free from unnecessary jargon.  All terms are well defined and are accessible across different levels of familiarity with the field.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in its use of intersectionality as a framework.  The text introduces and applies the work of feminist scholars throughout, allowing for a consistent exploration and application of intersectional feminist scholarship and praxis.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Clear organization and consistent use of well-defined key terminology allows the text to be read in its entirety or in smaller segments.  While the text flows  from one section to the next, progressing from definitions to analysis of institutions and social movements, sections can easily stand on their own.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text progresses logically, beginning with definitions and ending with a historical analysis of feminist movements that applies many key ideas from the text.  A brief conclusion at the end of the text may have aided readers in reviewing main ideas, but the text remains strong because of the clarity and organization throughout.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is easy to navigate digitally and the imbedded images, videos, and links all function.  While some images serve to enhance the text, others do not add to the written content.  For instance, the image of convict leasing included in the section on the prison system introduced a complex practice without providing the necessary context in the text.  Nevertheless, the text’s interface is free from issues that may challenge reader’s comprehension.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not identify any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"By adopting an intersectional lens from the start the text is able to model inclusivity and cultural sensitivity.  In fact, it serves as a model for accessible intersectional scholarship.  That being said, the text draws heavily on the US context.  At times the US focus serves to limit the presentation of key ideas.  For instance, the section that chronicles the social construction of race did not offer a recognition of the role that European colonialism and global capitalism played in constructing ideas including scientific racism and ideas about black pathology, as described in the text.  There are bright spots in the text’s international analysis, including a multilevel analysis of maquiladoras along the US-Mexico border.  Used in conjunction with external resources that adopt more of an international focus, these instances of international analysis present in the text are certainly adequate for introducing students to global applications of theory from the field of women and gender studies.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-08-11T13:01:07.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-08-11T13:01:07.000-05:00"},{"id":33375,"first_name":"Emily","last_name":"Westkaemper","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text’s emphasis on intersectionality helps make it comprehensive. Although focused over all on U.S. examples, the text refers to global contexts and examples as well. The text draws from multiple disciplines. Rather than isolating terms in a glossary, this textbook provides narrative definitions, with much of the text focused on explaining terms. I think this would be an especially useful format for online learning and for students who will be using e-books. There is not an index, but the unit subheading titles function to help locate topics, and the search tool in the e-book can help with locating topics. Some of the examples brought up to illustrate terms are covered with very brief descriptions, and introductory-level students might not understand the context behind these examples without doing further research.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text presents its information accurately.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text’s explanation that terminology and practices are contested and evolve (such as in the Identity Terms section) is an important point. Readers could consider how scholarly approaches can change over time and can vary based on context. Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is a field in which new theories, methodological developments, and information can emerge quickly. The structure of providing definitions of core concepts while acknowledging that approaches can vary is a useful one that could make the text relevant over a long period of time. It’s possible that new terms and frameworks will become important in the field, and instructors could ask students to think about how recent events and recent scholarship are relevant to the material in the textbook. Drafting new material to supplement this text could be an assignment.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found the writing very clear and think it would be readable for introductory students. This clarity in descriptions of theory and terms is very useful.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is coherent. I thought it could be beneficial to have some further explanation of the logic behind the topic organization and order. This could help provide further insight on the underlying frameworks. Some of the examples presented as sidebars are shorter and structured differently than others.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The length of text for each section of the e-book is a good length that does not seem too long for reading online. Some of the practices for referencing other sections of the text (referring to a page number where the topic was previously covered) aren’t directly relevant for reading in the e-book format, where page numbers aren’t visible. However, the search function can help with locating the topics.\r\n\r\nIf an instructor wanted to assign components of the text in a different order than they appear, the syllabus would likely need to include links to each section as well as to the section of references at the end of each unit. I thought it could have been useful for references to appear directly on each unit subsection.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The table of contents and search function make topics easy to locate, but it could be beneficial to have some further explanation of the logic behind the topic organization and selection of topics for the units. I think the decisions to begin the text with a section on theoretical frameworks and to end the text with a section on activism were sound.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The arrow icons used to advance through successive sections are consistent throughout the text, making it easy to page through the sections. It is useful that the contents menu and the search bar remain in place in the banner at the top of each e-book section. Some readers would likely appreciate the opportunity provided to save the full text as a pdf.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The writing and grammar are successful.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text applies an intersectional approach and includes diverse examples. The examples draw heavily from the U.S. context, and many other textbooks in the field have that same emphasis. It could be useful to include more examples from outside the U.S.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Further explanation would be useful in some parts of the textbook narrative. For example, in the 19th Century Feminist Movements section of Unit V, there is some summary of a subject analyzed in recent scholarship on the history of gender: evidence that white activists deployed stereotypes and distorted a Sojourner Truth speech in publicizing a printed version of the text. While this textbook explains that “white suffragists dramatically changed [the speech’s] content and title,” some further explanation would be useful to clarify for readers who have not studied this subject what the nature of those changes were and what they suggest about histories of biases, privileges, and oppressions. In the brief explanation provided, a reader might not understand this overarching significance. While brevity of the textbook could be positive for many instructors who will want to combine this text with more detailed, full essays and primary sources, it would be useful to have more explanation of some of the examples that are included. The “Social Construction of Heterosexuality” section is a sidebar that, comparatively, includes further detail in the form of historical context, but I thought that some brief additional explanation of James Kiernan’s career and positionality would help.\r\n\r\nTo encourage readers to seek further information, it could also be useful to provide more references within the text. In the “Theorizing Lived Experiences” section of Unit I there is a sidebar about maquiladoras to illustrate “How Macro Structures Impact People.” The explanations given for this example could provide an opportunity for readers to do some of their own analysis; however, no sources are provided, and the references listed at the end of the unit don’t give a clear indication of where the information on that topic could be found. Similarly, in the description of the “one-drop rule” as an example of social constructionism, providing more citations could help students understand the topic and help them conduct further research. \r\n\r\nThe brevity of this text could be beneficial in many instructional settings when a professor has additional readings to go in depth on topics; but the structure of this text doesn’t provide clear indication to readers, for some of the topics, of sources that would be most beneficial for further research.\r\n\r\nIf an instructor wanted students to read basic definitions of terms on a particular topic, this is a text that could be easily excerpted: there would not be a need for students to read whole units or the whole book in order to understand individual pages/ subsections, and this could be very useful for many courses. The topics covered in this text could become the basis for further research and analysis by students, giving a lot of possibilities for students to identify topics that interest them.","created_at":"2021-08-22T17:08:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-08-22T17:08:37.000-05:00"},{"id":33512,"first_name":"April","last_name":"Terry","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Fort Hays State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers an array of issues related to women, gender, and sexuality. I appreciate a focus on the criminalization of women throughout different political movements (e.g., War on Drugs) as well as global national and global issues. I believe to further understand women, gender, and sexuality, the text could include a focus on place/space; specifically, the text could be more comprehensive with information pertaining to women, gender, and viewpoints on sexuality in rural areas--further dissecting differences based on geography.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not uncover any information that seemed inaccurate or biased. The text accurately portrayed the research from a historical through modern perspective.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I believe the text does a nice job of providing a foundation, or starting point, for many of the topic areas. Stated another way, I view this text as a source that can start a class conversation but not provide students the opportunity to delve more deeply into the content. I perceive this as a strength and area for improvement--the strength being the information provided is brief and relevant which will result in a longer \"shelf-life\" but also not detailed enough to provide a 16-week semester course full of discussion.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to follow and navigate. The wording is written appropriately for an undergraduate student.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text retains a consistent tone and framework throughout each of the five units. The contributors provide terminology in bold, consistently, and maintain a a similar framework throughout each of the units.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I believe this is a major strength of the text. The units are easy to read and locate. Key terms and points are clearly identified and each unit has an obvious beginning and end with references provided after each unit (for additional assigned readings).","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"While I do believe the organization makes sense, unit 4 is specific to gender and work in a global economy whereas the rest of the text speaks about women, gender, and sexuality from a broader context. Perhaps this unit would make more sense at the end of the text as more of a \"special issue/topic\" within the theme of the text. As a standalone unit, it seems specific given the nature of the text and possible use of the text.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text provides mostly images outside of the provided text. Images are clear and easy to see with references to accompany each. I do wonder about accessibility issues and individuals who may rely on screen readers to interpret the text and images.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not uncover any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text provides a unit with a focus on culture, specifically. In addition to this unit, culture is noted in many other units as a byproduct of the topic itself--it would be difficult to speak about gender norms without referencing culture, for example.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I appreciate this text for use as a conversation-starter but feel it is short in nature and would require supplemental readings as well. If contributors were interested, I think this text could benefit from additional sub-topics related to women, gender, and sexuality.","created_at":"2021-12-08T11:30:36.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-08T11:30:36.000-06:00"},{"id":33881,"first_name":"Sydney","last_name":"Hart","position":"Professor","institution_name":"City Colleges of Chicago","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This short text (135 pages) can easily be paired with a reader or selected articles and videos. The authors acknowledge that it is an introduction which briefly covers most of the topics and concepts typically taught in a WGSS course. The authors are sociologists and the book maintains a sociological perspective throughout, making it ideal for an interdisciplinary (WGSS) course or a disciplinary (sociology) course. It is missing a few ideas that I would have liked, for example West and Zimmerman's \"Doing Gender\" which was a foundational article in the discipline, a discussion of the \"Other,\" Collins'  notion of \"controlling images,\" and Hoschchild's \"second shift.\" A brief survey of the three main sociological theories (Conflict, Structural Functionalism, and Symbolic Interactionism) would have been helpful for a sociology course but distracting for a WGSS course; it does do a great job with essential sociological terms. I would have also like to have seen a little more emphasis on the historical constructions of gender and sexuality and a little more on queer theory. I was thrilled, however, to see many concepts like multiple masculinities included. Finally, the text is fully intersectional along the lines of race, gender, sexuality, social/economic class, and ability/disability.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is highly accurate and more up-to-date than I expected given it was published in 2017. It takes a broad approach yet still manages to include some nuanced discussion of critical ideas. I was also very happy with the depth and breadth of authors included.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"A lot has happened in the world of WGSS, sociology of sex and gender, and the world since this book was written, including the probable and devastating loss of Roe v. Wade. Policy changes have affected many areas of life, but are easily brought in with outside readings or lecture. Additional identity-describing vocabulary has been coined, but why we need this vocabulary is carefully explained in the text. The text includes foundational concepts that allow instructors to frame more current changes. I was happily surprised by the currency of this 5-year old (as of this writing) text.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Like many textbooks that are charged with covering a breadth of material in a short space, this one sometimes reads like a glorified dictionary. It is clear and, with the possible exception of the two different ways of describing \"structure\" and \"social structure,\" I think my community college students will find it highly accessible.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book maintains a sociological framework and an intersectional focus in all of its five units. The tone and style are consistent throughout the text, making it easy and accessible to read.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text has five short units ranging from 16-26 pages each. The brevity of the text provides ample opportunity for instructors to assign additional reading/video materials for discussion and to devote class time to learning activities, bringing in current events, expanding and renewing concepts, and adding ideas, information, and new ways of understanding. The brevity may present a challenge to professors who focus their teaching only on text-supported lecture.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The five units flow easily and logically from grounding the student in the discipline, to deconstructing hegemonic (binary) ideas about gender and sexuality, to examining inequalities overall, in specific institutions, and in a more fully realized focus on work. Ending the text on the history of feminist social movements allows the book to leave students with a sense of hope.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The online version was perfect, but lacked page numbers. The pdf included page numbers, but some of the charts were not as easy to read. The video links were fine in both versions.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors, although I was not reading to proofread.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Representation can always be improved but this text does an excellent job of being inclusive in its examples and in its citations.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"There are benefits and drawbacks to a very short text. Be prepared to supplement.","created_at":"2022-05-27T08:10:24.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-05-27T08:10:24.000-05:00"},{"id":34870,"first_name":"Meredith","last_name":"Clark-Wiltz","position":"Professor and Hon. Roger D. Branigin Chair","institution_name":"Franklin College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"In just over 100 or so pages, this brief textbook offers a solid introduction to the field of women, gender, and sexuality studies in a format that is accessible to undergraduate students. Primarily featuring the work of sociologists, it provides clear and accessible explanations to central concepts, terms, and frameworks that are used across multiple disciplines. The text, subdivided into five units, focuses on foundational concepts (social constructionism, intersectionality, etc.); constructed categories of identity and their social meaning; institutions and culture; labor and the economy; and social movements--past and present.  It is a good introduction, but it will allows for substantial supplementation with other readings and materials.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The text provides accurate, though select, introductory information about the field of women, gender, and sexuality studies. It is increasingly difficult in current times to update materials to reflect so many of the uncertainties and policy changes related to this field of study. For instance, the text could be updated to include recent Supreme Court decisions regarding abortion access and affirmative action. However, the brevity of the text does permit for the assigning of more recent pieces that focus on the more contemporary issues relevant to the course.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"As a field so closely connected to contemporary issues and society, this text provides a good option for providing students general information that can be enhanced with discussion of contemporary issues. For instance, the section on \"Racialized, Gendered, and Sexualized Labor in the Global Economy,\" could be augmented by inclusion of new studies on the gendered impact of the pandemic on employment.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is clearly written and includes short videos and pictures which make it more engaging. Terms and concepts are defined in ways that students should be able to understand.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text provides a consistent approach to the course materials. The first two units offer primarily foundational concepts and terminology. They are followed by two units that reveal how those concepts work within various structures or settings (institutions, culture, systems). Finally, students receive a brief and general history of social movements that have advanced feminist or other relevant causes.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is well-organized. The availability of both online and downloaded versions of the text increase access for students. Including page numbers in the table of contents and removing links connected to unit headings that do not lead to additional information would help with navigation.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"While I assigned the history of the text before I assigned the units on institutions and on the economy, it makes sense that others might prefer the existing order. The structure allows for assignment of units in any order or interspersed with other materials and readings.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book's interface was easy to navigate. The videos and images appeared as they should. The only minor item would be removing links to unit headings that only lead to another page containing that unit heading. It really doesn't pose an issue to student access or understanding.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book did not contain grammatical or typographical errors in a way that was noticeable or impeded student understanding. Overall, the textbook provided clear introduction to the field of women, gender, and sexuality studies.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book includes a diversity of women's lived experiences and provides framing feminist concepts such as intersectionality. It strives to have students consider privilege, systems of oppression, and diversity of experience.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2024-01-23T15:25:38.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-01-23T15:25:38.000-06:00"},{"id":34920,"first_name":"Melvina","last_name":"Khalfani","position":"Community Faculty","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text offers a comprehensive introductory guide to key concepts and topics relevant to Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.  Helpful historical context is offered to guide students' understandings of the social and political relevance of core concepts and terms.  This makes a wonderful complementary text when paired with other instructor videos and articles that discuss similar topics in greater detail.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and incorporates important shifts within the field over the last decade.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text delves into current political movements well and situates the current landscape in the greater context of feminist history and scholarship.  It is up to date when considering its publication year.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The clarity of this text is useful for students who lack a basic familiarity with GWSS topics.  The explanations for core terms are very accessible.  This offers a helpful primer for students at the start of the semester.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The frameworks and language deployed through the text are consistent and clear.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is broken down into five units, with each unit further broken down into several sections related to important subtopics.  This makes the text easy to assign in sections and pair with other course materials that delve into the subtopics with more depth.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization makes sense.  The text helpfully walks readers through each core topic, which builds upon previous sections.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is easy to navigate.  All depictions and page layouts are accessible.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors to note.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text makes a strong effort to offer inclusive materials relevant to a diverse student audience.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2024-03-05T17:42:44.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-03-05T17:42:44.000-06:00"},{"id":35115,"first_name":"Ingrid","last_name":"Castro","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook does an excellent job of overviewing elements of Intro to WGSS for a lower-level introductory course. That said, the material needs to be supplemented with an additional text for a course given that coverage of topics is sparse, as the textbook is quite short. I used a feminist reader that contributed a variety readings from diverse viewpoints.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is quite accurate, though it is on the short side, so that one does not get much detail regarding its content.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The themes and trends in the book are still very relevant for a student in an Introduction to WGSS course, but it will need to be updated in the next few years.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text writing is clear, well-written, and jargon-free.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The authors lay out the book in such a way that they maintain consistency throughout. Good highlighting of concepts.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"When I teach this text, I jump around quite a bit because some of their organization is different than I would have done. The chapters are split into multiple sections, so moving around the content throughout a course is easy for students and instructors.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"As already stated, I did find myself reorganizing the textbook to meet the flow of the course throughout the semester. That said, I always do that with readers, including the supplementary text I used, so this textbook fit my typical course organization work.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text was easy to navigate, and links allowed one to jump around content with ease.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This Intro WGSS book is written by a variety of intersectional scholars so it presented topics and content with an eye toward inclusivity.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2024-06-13T18:39:22.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-06-13T18:39:22.000-05:00"},{"id":35466,"first_name":"Kae","last_name":"Bradley","position":"Academic Program Director","institution_name":"Marshall University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook provides a strong foundational overview suitable for an introductory Women’s Studies course. It covers a broad range of concepts—such as sexism, racism, genderism, classism, and ableism—offering brief definitions that serve as entry points for further discussion. While it lacks in-depth theoretical explorations or case studies, this is appropriate for its purpose as a 101-level resource. However, the book could benefit from additional content addressing global women's issues, as it focuses heavily on the Western context.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The textbook maintains a high level of accuracy by referencing external sources, including current case studies (e.g., Walmart and gendered labor dynamics). The use of hyperlinks to online content allows the book to stay up to date and self-refreshing. That said, reliance on external media does pose a risk—if a link becomes inactive, the integrity of that part of the material could be compromised. One unit appears to adapt content from a guest lecture that was not directly accessible; providing a direct source or transcript would enhance transparency. A few areas of the textbook would be strengthened by including citations or data. The statement that men of color benefit less from the “glass escalator” than white men reflects important social science findings, but lacks supporting evidence in the text. Including references or suggested readings would validate this claim while still keeping the textbook concise and beginner-friendly.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This textbook is highly relevant for modern classroom discussions. It ties fundamental gender and social concepts to contemporary examples and encourages students to connect what they learn to current events. The inclusion of real-world cases and rhetorical questions supports this goal by stimulating class engagement and critical thinking. The use of examples like Walmart resonates with typical undergraduate audiences and fosters relatability.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book maintains an accessible, matter-of-fact tone when introducing complex ideas, using clear definitions and consistent language. However, in some instances, clarity would benefit from supporting evidence. For example, when discussing the concept of the “glass escalator,” the book states that men of color do not benefit from it to the same extent as white men. This is a crucial intersectional point but would be more effective if accompanied by examples or links to relevant studies to deepen student understanding.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book maintains consistency in language, terminology, and formatting throughout. Key terms are consistently defined and used in the same manner across different units. The complexity of content remains steady from start to finish, which supports flexibility in teaching order and pacing. Repetition of key terms, such as \"glass escalator,\" in multiple units reinforces understanding without being redundant.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"One of the textbook’s strongest features is its modular structure. Each unit stands alone effectively, allowing instructors to reorder units as needed to align with course themes or teaching strategies. This flexibility is especially useful for custom course design and class discussions.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book’s internal organization supports logical flow and teaching adaptability. Each unit begins by defining terminology and clearly establishing the scope of discussion. While the default order may not represent a linear progression of difficulty, this non-hierarchical structure encourages thematic teaching. The consistent use of formatting elements—such as bolded terms followed by definitions—adds to the organized presentation.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The textbook interface is clean and user-friendly. Images are center-justified and always accompanied by clear captions and sources, avoiding visual clutter. Topics are divided cleanly, with no confusing page layouts or orphaned graphics. The visual simplicity contributes to a more accessible reading experience, especially for students using the book in digital form.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The textbook demonstrates strong grammatical quality, with consistent and correct use of language throughout. Sentence structures are clear, punctuation is appropriate, and transitions between ideas are smooth, facilitating comprehension and readability.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"While the textbook covers a variety of social identities, its cultural scope is predominantly Western. It would be strengthened by incorporating perspectives and case studies from non-Western contexts. Including international figures—such as Queen Elizabeth II, Angela Merkel, or Aung San Suu Kyi—could provide a more global understanding of women's roles and movements worldwide. Adding chapters or sections on women’s struggles and leadership in different regions would enrich classroom discussions and broaden students’ cultural awareness.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2025-05-05T08:29:57.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-05-05T08:29:57.000-05:00"},{"id":35482,"first_name":"Donna","last_name":"Thompson","position":"Faculty, Women's, Gender, \u0026 Ethnic Studies","institution_name":"Chandler-Gilbert Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text provides a comprehensive and engaging introduction to the discipline. Key concepts are highlighted and discussed in a way that connects them not only to the field as a whole but also to students' lived experience. While some areas may not be dealt with deeply, all threshold concepts of the field are touched upon to some extent. This allows an instructor to shape the broader course content around topics of interest to that particular class. While there is no traditional index or glossary, the search tool allows readers to locate topics.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Information is accurate, logically presented, and appropriately cited. Each unit provides a reference list which allows the content to be verified in multiple sources.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book effectively conveys the history and growth of gender studies. The final unit on Third Wave and Queer Feminist Movements leaves space and the option to update/expand into more recent social movements and their connections to feminism. The discussion of feminist praxis could be expanded and connected to contemporary global movements.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text guides readers through a discussion of important concepts and frameworks without making the language overly theoretical in nature.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Units are consistent in tone, voice, and structure. This provides for added readability and coherence.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is broken into manageable units and sections, which are content-rich but not overwhelming for introductory-level students. It is readable, accessible, processible, and interpretable for students at many levels of learning.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"There is consistency in how information is presented which allows students and faculty to follow the train of thought and connections between ideas. The references section at the end of each unit provides an easy and effective way for students to research other topics in an in-depth fashion. Although the authors have selected an order for the book, it is easy to tackle the units in a different order to suit the needs of one's course outcomes and schedule.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text provides several ways to read the content, both online and as a download. These options meet the needs of fully online students and make it useful as a tool for in-person classes.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is well-written and includes in-text citations for source material.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book presents images and content from a variety of cultures and eras. The inclusion of videos as well as text provides students with multiple ways to access information.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I have used this text for online sections of Introduction to Women and Gender Studies and have found that students find it interesting and comprehensible (i.e, they actually read it).  It provides a broad overview of the field, but is not so specialized that one must follow a particular course outline or focus.","created_at":"2025-05-16T19:30:53.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-05-16T19:30:53.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/introduction-to-women-gender-sexuality-studies","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:09:02.000-06:00"},{"id":597,"title":"Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Employment Discrimination","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2017,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"This Chapter will address the current protections that are available to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT”) individuals who allege they have been victims of employment discrimination. The Chapter's primary focus will be on federal statutory law, particularly Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although the focus here is on federal law, Appendix I to this Chapter lists the states that protect individuals from public and/or private discrimination under state laws. This topic is explored in four parts: (1) a brief overview of congressional efforts to enact a statute to protect individuals from employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity; (2) discusses Title VII and sexual orientation; (3) discusses ways in which recent courts have handled sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII; and (4) similarly examines early judicial treatment of claims brought by individuals alleging discrimination on the basis of their gender identity and/or expression and explores how the law has developed in this area as well.","contributors":[{"id":4661,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Matthew","middle_name":"William","last_name":"Green","location":null,"background_text":"Matthew W. Green Jr. is an associate professor of law at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Professor Green has taught courses in employment discrimination, employment Law, disability law and a seminar on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. His scholarship focuses on employment discrimination, sexual orientation and the law and workplace retaliation. He earned his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law and LL.M. from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar."}],"subjects":[{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"}],"publishers":[{"id":576,"url":"https://www.cali.org/","year":2017,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:41.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-11-15T02:13:34.000-06:00","name":"CALI's eLangdell® Press"}],"formats":[{"id":999,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.cali.org/sites/default/files/Nov2017-LGBT-Employment-Discrimination.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1000,"type":"eBook","url":"https://www.cali.org/sites/default/files/SexualOrientationDiscriminationGreen-EPUB2-2017Nov27.epub","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1876,"type":"MS Word","url":"https://www.cali.org/sites/default/files/Nov2017-LGBT-Employment-Discrimination.docx","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":34685,"first_name":"Rhonda","last_name":"Italiano","position":"Professor","institution_name":"North Hennepin Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The author does a great job of explaining the subject of employment protections for those who identify as LGBTQ+","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As a professor of Gender \u0026 Women's Studies, I am not able to say whether the attorney/author is error-free and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Green provides an impressive explanation of the history in this area of the law.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"There was some technical jargon that could be challenging for anyone who is not familiar with legalese.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Green was very consistent is his use of terminology.  He used the same framework throughout the chapter.  It was very easy to follow.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This is difficult to say, since I was reading a chapter, rather than an entire textbook.  The chapter was self-contained.  However, it is difficult to know how it would fit within the context of the entire book.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is well-organized in 4 easy-to-understand sections.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text was simple to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text was very well-written.  I didn't notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Green did a fantastic job in this area.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The author of this textbook chapter pieced together several relevant examples of employment discrimination regarding members of the LGBTQ+ community.  The chapter is comprehensive and impressive.","created_at":"2023-10-05T11:36:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-10-05T11:36:40.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-employment-discrimination","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:12:50.000-06:00"},{"id":500,"title":"Histoires d'Avenirs: Science-fiction pour le cours de français niveaux intermédiaire et avancé","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2017,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781387180639","license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"fre","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"Histoires d'Avenirs est un manuel basé sur neuf nouvelles de science fiction française qui s'adresse à un public d'apprenants étrangers (de niveaux intermédiaire et avancé) mais aussi à un public natif voulant approfondir ses connaissances de la science-fiction moderne - après un chapitre préliminaire qui rappelle les bases historiques du genre. Le manuel propose une approche holistique (stylistique, linguistique, et interculturelle) et sollicite une pensée critique au travers d'activités de lecture, interprétation, conversation, recherche et présentations, dans un double objectif : développer les compétences en français sur des sujets contemporains au travers de la fiction; et faire découvrir la science-fiction française et francophone aux apprenants étrangers. Additional short stories are available at PDXScholar.","contributors":[{"id":4319,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Annabelle","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Dolidon","location":"Portland State University","background_text":"Annabelle Dolidon received her Ph.D. from UC Davis in 20th-and- 21st century French and Francophone literature, with a designated emphasis in Feminist and Critical Theory. She received her master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in French Studies. Dr. Dolidon specializes in post-WWII novels, and has interests in Film Studies and Queer Theory as well as language teaching. She is currently the coordinator of the First-Year French language program at PSU, and teaches courses in French language and literature. Her research explores prose literature by French women such as Monique Wittig, Jocelyne François and Marie Darrieussecq, developing close-text analysis of their novels and studying their approach to gender difference, temporality and the act of writing. Her first article, on the movie The Girl, co-written by Monique Wittig, was published in the Summer edition of the The Feminist Review (2009). Her future projects take new directions based on former research, and include a study of representations of rural France in literature and films."},{"id":4320,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Stéphanie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Roulon","location":"Portland State University","background_text":"Stéphanie Roulon is a French native. She holds a Masters degree in Foreign Language and Literature and a graduate certificate in translation from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She also studied French Applied Linguistics at Pennsylvania State University. In France, she graduated from the Université-Pantheon Assas (Paris II) where she earned a Maîtrise en droit des affaires. Her interests are new technologies as tools for communication and language learning \u0026 teaching, multiliteracies, French for specific purposes and language pedagogy. At PSU she has been teaching a variety of undergraduate classes including, Creative Writing in French, Advanced Grammar through the exploration of genres."}],"subjects":[{"id":31,"name":"Languages","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"P51","visible_textbooks_count":123,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/languages"},{"id":6,"name":"Humanities","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":null,"visible_textbooks_count":418,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/humanities"},{"id":33,"name":"Literature, Rhetoric, and Poetry","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"PE1408","visible_textbooks_count":124,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/literature-rhetoric-and-poetry"},{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"}],"publishers":[{"id":440,"url":"http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/pdxopen/15/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","name":"Portland State University Library"}],"formats":[{"id":757,"type":"PDF","url":"https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/pdxopen/15/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1085,"type":"Online","url":"https://content.library.pdx.edu/files/PDXScholar/french-manual/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":4460,"first_name":"Elizabeth B.","last_name":"Hall","position":"Assistant Professor, General Faculty","institution_name":"University of Virginia","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook provides good coverage of the subject, including an overview of science fiction in France, thematic vocabulary and grammar in context, many prompts for written and oral production. The only downside is that there is no index or glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is accurate, error-free, and unbiased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Many of the texts and films are referenced but not included in the text, which means that instructors will be able to use different versions or formats or provide the texts to students as an ancillary reader. This allows the possibility of updating the texts and questions easily. The arrangement of chapters is well-structured such that units could be updated or even exchanged for revised sections easily. However, there are many links to online sources that are broken including some that are critical to the chapters. These should be updated.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is mainly clear and accessible. Chapters 1-9 are all clear and targeted to intermediate to advanced students of French,. The Introduction parts II-IV do not fit the tone of the textbook; they read more like dissertation chapters. They may provide some context of the topic for instructor but they do not fit the rest of the textbook.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Relatively consistent overall, but the style of the chapters vary a bit, as if they were written by different people. Some are clear and easy to move through (chapter 1), while others use terminology that is inconsistent with the level of the rest of the textbook (for example ch. 4). All chapters use the same titles for sections except the \"chapitre préliminaire\" which has a completely different format. The terminology varies a bit from chapter to chapter, some chapters asking \"Questions de compréhension\" and others just listing comprehension questions under the header \"histoire.\"","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text could easily be taught in smaller units or in a different order. It could be used as a supplement or main text for a variety of courses, including conversation, composition or any bridge course leading students from language courses to advanced classes in literature and cultural studies.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Some chapters that appear later in the textbook seem to review more elemental grammatical structures, such as pronouns, possessive adjectives and past tenses in ch. 6. This might be better earlier in the textbook, although the authors point out that the chapters can be taught in any order. Chapter 8 also contains a prompt comparing the text in ch. 8 to one in chapter 9, which students would not have read yet if they are progressing chronologically through the textbook as it is laid out.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"There are multiple issues here. The lettering and numbering systems vary from chapter to chapter. Often there are no numbers or letters at all for the questions, which is not ideal for a class or for assigning homework. The numbering sets change from chapter to chapter, sometimes 1.a. b. etc. and sometimes 1. i. ii. etc. Some questions are listed in bullet points (which vary in symbol from chapter to chapter), and often there is just a list of questions without indentation. The lack of numbering or lettering is problematic when teaching from a textbook - it is important to be able to indicated exactly which question is being discussed or is assigned for work. The other main problem in the interface is that many of the links are broken, making it difficult to navigate and to do activities depending on those links. As stated earlier, the chapitre préliminaire does not fit with the format of the other chapters, and also has some problems with its numbering system, including for example a part IV preceding a text (although the questions posed need to be answered during or after reading), followed by parts I, II, and III that are sections of the text itself, and finally a IV that includes reading comprehension questions.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is well written with no grammatical errors that I found. There are a few typographical errors including capitalization of the section header \"L'existentialisme est un humanisme de...\"","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Histoires d'avenirs provides an excellent range of short stories by men and women from around the Francophone world as well as contextualization of some lesser-known science fiction stories with more canonical texts from various centuries such as those by Rousseau, Verne, and Sartre.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Histoires d'Avenir: Science-fiction pour le cours de français niveaux intermédiaire et avancé is an interesting textbook that would be fun to use in a conversation, composition or another bridge course between language and literature/culture classes. Students will love reading the francophone science-fiction stories, working with chapter themes and engaging in the creative and analytical activities. Each chapter introduces new vocabulary, grammar in context, thematic activities, and gives a range of oral, written, and creative prompts for students to develop interpretive, presentational, and interpersonal skills. The visual images are well-chosen, and the science-fiction short stories are a novel way to get students interested in relevant and contemporary topics. The textbook includes some imaginative activities that students will really enjoy such as creating a new robot, debating nuclear energy, and writing about the possibility of the end of mortality.","created_at":"2020-12-14T19:50:16.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-14T19:50:16.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/histoires-d-avenirs-science-fiction-pour-le-cours-de-francais-niveaux-intermediaire-et-avance","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:10:18.000-06:00"},{"id":464,"title":"Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology","edition_statement":"Second Edition","volume":null,"copyright_year":2020,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"We are delighted to bring to you this novel textbook, a collection of chapters on the essential topics in cultural anthropology. Different from other introductory textbooks, this book is an edited volume with each chapter written by a different author. Each author has written from their experiences working as an anthropologist and that personal touch makes for an accessible introduction to cultural anthropology. Our approach to cultural anthropology is holistic. We see the interconnectedness of cultural practices and, in all of the chapters, we emphasize the comparison of cultures and the ways of life of different peoples. We start with Laura Nader’s observation that cultural differences need not be seen as a problem. In our complicated world of increasing migration, nationalism, and climate challenges, cultural diversity might actually be the source of conflict resolution and new approaches to ensuring a healthier world. Indeed, as Katie Nelson reminds us, anthropology exposes the familiarity in the ideas and practices of others that seem bizarre. Robert Borofsky advocates for anthropology’s ability to empower people and facilitate good. Borofsky calls on anthropologists to engage with a wider public to bring our incredible stories and important insights to helping resolve the most critical issues we face in the world today. This book brings Nader, Nelson, Borofsky, and many others together to demonstrate that our anthropological understandings can help all of us to improve the lives of people the world over. We need you, as students, to see the possibilities. As instructors, we want to help you easily share anthropological knowledge and understanding. We want all readers to be inspired by the intensely personal writings of the anthropologists who contribute to this volume.","contributors":[{"id":4245,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Nina","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Brown","location":"Community College of Baltimore County","background_text":""},{"id":4246,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Thomas","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Mcllwraith","location":"University of Guelph","background_text":""},{"id":6699,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Laura","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Tubelle de González","location":"San Diego Miramar College","background_text":""}],"subjects":[{"id":40,"name":"Anthropology","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"GN25","visible_textbooks_count":9,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/anthropology"},{"id":46,"name":"Cultural \u0026 Ethnic Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HM621","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/cultural-ethnic-studies"},{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":51,"name":"Religion","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"BL1","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/religion"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":404,"url":"https://perspectives.americananthro.org/","year":2023,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-11-29T13:28:37.000-06:00","name":"American Anthropological Association"}],"formats":[{"id":692,"type":"PDF","url":"https://perspectives.americananthro.org/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1710,"type":"eBook","url":"https://perspectives.americananthro.org/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3884,"type":"Online","url":"https://pressbooks.pub/perspectives/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3885,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.amazon.com/Perspectives-Open-Invitation-Cultural-Anthropology/dp/193130355X","price":{"cents":6900,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":18,"reviews":[{"id":1888,"first_name":"Alcira","last_name":"Forero-Pena","position":"Adjunct Assistant Professor","institution_name":"LaGuardia Community College of The City University of New York","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Very few times I have come across a more comprehensive textbook. The 18 chapters cover major topics in Cultural Anthropology ranging from a very critical introduction by Laura Nader on what this discipline has historically been about, its uniqueness within the social sciences to a thought provoking chapter on Public Anthropology by the distinguished scholar Robert Borofsky. Every chapter includes useful sections such as the Learning Objectives at the beginning and the Discussion Questions at the end. Besides, for every theme the students will find excellent material in the form of photography as well as links to websites with scholarly and other sources where both students and instructors would be able to expand or go deeper into a subject. The use of notes is also pertinent and to the point.\n\nOther key feature present in each chapter is a variety of case studies that would support the students' understanding of anthropological concepts, theories, the historical and social context, and the role of the ethnographer or anthropologist within and outside academia. Also, there is no scarcity of websites for students to get hold of documentaries, other audio-visual and written material to facilitate their grasp of the subject. The Glossary at the end of each chapter also contributes to make this textbook a very user friendly one.\n\nI would hardly find a more comprehensive presentation and discussion of all the subjects included in the textbook. Another illustration of my point is Chapter 10 on the complexity of sexuality and gender coordinated by Carol Mukhopadhyay, which in my opinion goes beyond undergraduate level so the instructor has plenty of possible entries to these subjects.\n\nI am adopting the textbook with no reservations whatsoever and I am glad that my students in the Community College I am teaching will not have to pay for it","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"From the chapters I read I found accurate presentation and discussion of themes backed by Notes and Bibliography to credit the sources.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"One of the qualities I found in the textbook is the treatment and inclusion of the \"classic\" works in Cultural Anthropology as well as a wide array of works by contemporary practitioners and authors. I can see how the textbook will stand the test of time. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"By and large, the language used by the authors is clear and they provide explanations and illustrations to make their point(s) clear.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Every chapter of the textbook is consistent with an overall pattern that I am sure the editors where very careful about.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Perhaps the second edition should work to achieve better modularity. Taken into account that each of the 18 chapters is written by different author(s), I can explain why some sections (blocks) could be better organized.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"There is a logic presentation of each chapter with a general introduction to the subject followed by the intricacies, both conceptual and ethnographic of the theme. I really appreciate the inclusion of case studies with very interesting and current perspective.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not find a particular problem related to interface issues. The images are clear and well chosen and the display of links to websites or other sources is correct.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical error in the several chapters that I reviewed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"One of the main reasons that drew me to the textbook is the cultural relevance of the theoretical, methodological, and ethical aspects of the material presented. I will be very happy with the exposure my students will have to main tenets of Cultural Anthropology with careful and inclusive choices of language and illustrations of concepts and case studies that incorporate up to date material.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I am going to adopt the textbook and I would like to keep in touch because, after all, it is in the actual experience that we learn and appreciate a textbook.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2015,"first_name":"David","last_name":"Beriss","position":"Associate Professor of Anthropology","institution_name":"University of New Orleans","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"All basic cultural anthropology texts strive to be comprehensive. This is hard to do, given that our discipline aspires to be a science of humanity itself – to be comprehensive is to cover holistically nearly every aspect of human life (or at least, all aspects that relate to society and culture). That is hard to do in one book, especially if there is only one author. As a collection of individual essays, this book succeeds in ways other cannot. Each individual essay is the work of an anthropologist with expertise in that specific area, so that each chapter is mostly comprehensive in its own terms. The book covers all the areas that standard textbooks cover (culture, language, kinship, gender, economics, etc.). It goes beyond those areas, however, with chapters on sustainability, performance, media, medicine, and public anthropology. And it has some excellent interviews and resources that can liven up the readings for students. It is a remarkable resource that I will draw on in upcoming classes.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Each chapter has an individual author and each other seems to have done their best to provide an accurate set of insights into the history, theories, and methods of the particular part of anthropology they study. That said, there is always room for other anthropologists to disagree, to assert alternative ideas, or contradictory evidence. Within the usual framework of our discipline, this is a very accurate representation of cultural anthropology.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This is a very up-to-date representation of cultural anthropology as of early 2018. Many of the chapters should remain relevant for quite some time. It might be helpful in the long run to add or change some of the interviews, as new anthropologists with interesting insights become available. Also, some of the links to videos in various chapters already appear to be broken. They may still be available with some searching, but that is a bit of an issue.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The chapters are mostly written in a style that should be easily accessible to undergraduates. Jargon and technical terms are explained and each chapter has a list of keywords and definitions, which is very helpful.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The format of each chapter is the same, with learning objectives, the text, highlighted terms and concepts, questions for study, a glossary, a an author bio, bibliography (often very helpful!), notes.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is designed so that an instructor can easily assign individual chapters without needing the entire book. This is a great feature for teaching.That said, I would not recommend breaking up the chapters into smaller sections.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The flow of the book replicates the style of most cultural anthropology textbooks, except for the extra material (interviews, etc.) at the end.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I used the Apple Ibook reader and it seems fine.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar and editing were excellent.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This is a cultural anthropology introductory textbook. It covers quite a lot of ground in terms of different cultures, social structures, etc. People may be offended when confronted with the full range of human thinking, activity, etc. This is the kind of book people need to read if they want to learn about humanity and think critically about their own culture and society. If they are not prepared to be shaken out of their own insensitivity, they should not read this book. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am quite happy to have read this and look forward to incorporating parts of it in my next intro cultural anthropology class.","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2058,"first_name":"Víctor M","last_name":"Torres-Vélez","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Hostos Community College, CUNY","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Content wise the book is comprehensive and it addresses each one of the major themes/topics that an introductory cultural anthropology course needs to cover. The order of the topics follows a logical progression, from the simple to the complex, that allows a proper introduction to anthropology’s key ideas.\n\nThe review was done on the PDF version of the book, which is my preferred reading format for students and myself. I prefer PDFs because they retain all the formatting layout of the original printed versions, which allows for proper page citations and referencing of passages when discussing it. The chapters layout on, Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology, indeed reproduces what you will expected in a printed version. However, the PDF version was lacking a Table of Content, and an effective index and or global glossary. In order to view the table of content you have to go the online version of the book, a rather unnecessary step. Although there is not a global glossary, individual chapters have, after the conclusion, useful chapter glossaries and discussion questions.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This book is meant as an introduction to cultural anthropology and as such is a survey of the key concepts and debates that makes up the discipline across time. The book is accurate on its representation of the multiplicity of approaches the discipline is known for.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Both the overall structure of the book as well as the organization of each individual chapter makes this book relevant, up-to-date and easily modifiable. This is particularly true of the well organized chapter structure. From the outset you have clearly stated learning objectives. Each chapter is highly modular, broken down in smaller sections with clear headings. Key concepts are in bold. Well placed images further expand on concepts discussed. At the end of each chapter succinct conclusions accompanied by discussion questions and a chapter glossary just make of this book a joy to read for the students. \n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Even when the book is a collaboration of multiple authors, I found remarkably consistent the writing style. Particularly how clear and clean the prose was. The editors did a great job in keeping the writing consistent across the board.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Anthropology is a discipline with a multiplicity of approaches, theoretical and otherwise. Emphasis on what is relevant when addressing a topic vary greatly depending on the viewpoint. However, what makes this text interesting is how the editors made sure the structure of the chapters remained consistent regardless of the disciplinary approach.\n","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"While some of the chapters could have use a little more modularity, the majority of the chapter are modular, well structure and clear.\n","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Both the overall structure of the book as well as the organization of each individual chapter makes this book relevant, up-to-date and easily modifiable. This is particularly true of the well organized chapter structure. Content wise the book is comprehensive and it addresses each one of the major themes/topics that an introductory cultural anthropology course needs to cover. The order of the topics follows a logical progression, from the simple to the complex, that allows a proper introduction to anthropology’s key ideas.\n","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"On the PDF version, other than lacking a table of content and a global glossary, the book is flawless in its typesetting, layout, and overall organizational structure.\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Superbly written. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I cannot wait to use parts of this book in many of my classes.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This book was a pleasure to review.","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2194,"first_name":"Jason","last_name":"James","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Mary Washington","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text as a whole is very comprehensive, as are the individual chapters.  With one exception the text covers all of the topics I include in my introductory course in cultural anthropology.  The one topic missing in my view is social class and the cultural dimensions of inequality, particularly the concepts of cultural and social capital as well as resistance.  Anthropological approaches influenced my Marx and Marxist thinking could receive more attention.   Chapters on language, politics, and economics do address the issue to some extent, but my ideal text would include a more extensive treatment of this topic.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I find the text to be quite accurate on the whole.  I found very few mischaracterizations of ideas or situations.  In a couple of instances very brief reference was made to an interpretation that is highly speculative.  This is a bit dangerous in my view given that many students in introductory courses may be skeptical of anthropology's validity.  In a case like this it is better to leave a very questionable point out, or to provide more information about the issue to allow students and instructors to discuss the matter in more detail.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text does a nice job overall of using both \"classic\" anthropological ideas and examples/case studies as well as very recent examples.  The inclusion of examples with which students will likely be familiar is very important to demonstrating the relevance of cultural anthropology to issues students are likely to see as close to \"home.\"  At the same time, such examples can easily become less relevant in a fairly short time.  Although it is a decidedly important area of interest and one most students would be aware of, Donald Trump's presidency received a bit too much attention.  And although Islamic State is a very important example for political anthropology, the extent of that treatment is a bit out of proportion in comparison to other chapters' case studies.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"By and large the chapters are very clearly written and seem to be \"pitched\" at the right level.  Some parts of the first three introductory chapters (anthropology, culture, research methods) struck me as a bit too elementary, but all of the topical chapters were clearly written.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is reasonably consistent, especially considering that each chapter was written by different authors, often multiple ones.  The use of multiple authors makes it unavoidable that as a whole it is not as consistent as a book by a single author would be, but again, the consistency is very good given that fact.  The consistent format is helpful.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I could imagine assigning individual chapters of the text, so I would rate the modularity as good.  With some exceptions, individual chapters and sections are of reasonable length.  The chapter on gender in particular struck me as quite long — perhaps finding a way to create two chapters would have been helpful.  Given that the text lends itself to possibly assigning individual chapters, it would be helpful if it were offered not just with the entire text as a pdf file, but also as individual chapters, or on a site where students could select individual chapters to read.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The overall organization works well.  The one thing that struck me as less than ideal was the degree of overlap between the first three chapters.  This is understandably challenging: the discipline, its central concept, and its methods are all very closely intertwined, so it is challenging to separate those topics from one another and discuss them effectively in distinct chapters without too much overlap.  That said, I could imagine my students finding some of the material/chapters repetitive.  Repetition is not always bad, and the editors note that the overlap can be used to highlight the centrality of holism, but I think some additional editing to reduce some of the overlap in the early chapters would be welcome.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is generally user-friendly.  I appreciate the inclusion of live links to videos and other materials.  As noted above, the single pdf file that I used is a bit cumbersome if one is doing anything other than reading all of the chapters in order.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not identify any significant problems with grammar.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The variety of examples is impressive.  This is no doubt one advantage of having many authors.  The nature of the examples and commentary in some cases make the chapters less than ideal in my view.  This may depend on the student population with which one works.  In my view cultural anthropology meshes closely with what broadly counts as a \"liberal\" perspective, and it certainly does so in my case.  In many parts of this text that connection is also evident.  That said, I work to balance that with the awareness that many students find it easy to dismiss the findings and perspectives of the discipline as simply \"liberal opinion.\"  Here too the number and nature of references to Donald Trump certainly make the text timely, and I welcome that, in part because I support engaged anthropology.  At the same time, in my particular case the need to be strategic in order to not alienate too many students is also important.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I appreciate the work of the editors and authors to make a strong open source introductory text in cultural anthropology available.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2739,"first_name":"Jessica","last_name":"Park","position":"Professor ","institution_name":"College of Marin","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Overall the content is quite comprehensive. Introductory courses like cultural anthropology are taught as a survey course, covering a lot of material at a basic level. As such, these classes are quite broad. Perspectives does an excellent job of covering the content offered in most cultural anthropology courses. Many of the chapters present the standard topics found in most cultural anthropology textbooks, however Perspectives adds content not often found in many cultural anthropology texts (culture/sustainability, seeing like an anthropologist, media and public anthropology). This makes Perspectives more comprehensive than most cultural anthropology textbooks out there today and provides great flexibility in what chapters, topics and content the instructor wants to use. This is an excellent textbook.\r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Perspectives provides very accurate content within the topics/institutions presented in each chapter as well as the overall methods and perspectives used to study humans through an \"anthropological\" lens. \r\n","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Perspectives presents a very current outlook of cultural anthropology, especially with the recent nature of the additional interactive links/material. Though this text provides many formative and historical examples, I think the contemporary examples of anthropological work are valuable to the students as it exemplifies how anthropological concepts can be used to study our world today. And, as most of the academic content in each chapter is similar to other cultural anthropology textbooks, I think the basic content of this textbook will remain relevant for many years. However, some of the current examples and interactive material could loose relevance over time. Maybe newer culturally relevant examples could replace the older examples when the authors update the textbook. Overall, this is a very strong text and I can see using it in my courses for many years.\r\n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found Perspectives to be a very clear and approachable text. The language style use by the authors is appropriate to students at an undergraduate level. The discipline/topical terms are all clearly identified (bolded) and defined, followed by a chapter glossary at the end of each chapter. I also think that the additional interactive content, links to maps, videos etc., not only enhances the experience of this text but helps to provide clarification and concrete examples of material discussed in each chapter. \r\n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found the each chapter to be quite consistent. Even though a different individual authors each chapter, the language style and approach to the material are very similar to each other. It reads like a text that has a single author, but benefits from the perspectives and knowledge of several different academics', each who have relevant experience in the topic they author. Also, the consistency in the layout and organization makes this a very accessible text to read and navigate.\r\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I found the modularity of the text to be quite good. I found a copy of this text at http://perspectives.americananthro.org. This site allowed me to access and download each chapter individually.  This creates a lot of flexibility in which chapters can be assigned to students. Moreover it increases the usefulness of the text for me because it can easily be incorporated into course management systems like Canvas (or others) which is a great feature for anyone who teaches online. I LOVE this aspect. As for the chapters, each is well divided into readable sections of content via headings. As a text, I believe that Perspectives is flexible enough to allow instructors to tailor the book to their courses and content.\r\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book has excellent organization, structure and flow. The first thing I noticed is that the chapter content is similar to o other cultural anthropology textbooks I have used and is organized in a similar fashion. Each chapter starts with a set of learning objectives followed by clear subject headings throughout the text making the material very easy to follow. Like most texts, the important terms for each topic are bolded and defined throughout the chapter. Finally the chapters wrap up with an overall conclusion, discussion and chapter glossary of all of the important terms from the chapter. Mimicking the traditional structure of a book chapter makes the transition to reading this in an online format much easier. As I have stated the content is similar to that of most introductory cultural anthropology books. As such it allows for a lot of flexibility in coverage of topics. Also I was able to find a version of the text at http://perspectives.americananthro.org that allowed me to access each chapter individually. This would increase the flexibility of use for this textbook and again, is great for the modularity aspect of this text.\r\n","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I reviewed the PDF version of Perspectives. I prefer the PDF because it retains an original textbook style formatting and seems more stable across multiple devices (like computers and mobile devices) than other online formats. I did not encounter any navigational issues. The text and each chapter is very well organized and extremely consistent in its layout. The regularity in the lay out makes it very easy for the reader to navigate each chapter. The photos were clear and well placed. I REALLY loved interactive links interspersed throughout the text. These links make for a much more interactive and dynamic experience that I think students will love.\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is very well edited.  I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Cultural anthropology is a comprehensive discipline that covers many aspects of humans and our life-ways. Some topics such as race and gender may push some individuals out of their comfort zones, but I believe this is an important aspect of college and learning about the diversity in what it means to be human. Anthropologists aim to be both culturally relativistic and holistic in their approach to studying humans.  I think perspectives does an excellent job of applying these concepts.  No aspect of this text is insensitive or offensive. The authors were comprehensive and inclusive in their use of cultural examples and language.\r\n","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is an excellent textbook. I had a lot of fun exploring each chapter and I am very excited to use this text in my classes!\r\n","created_at":"2019-04-06T16:33:28.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-06T16:33:28.000-05:00"},{"id":3334,"first_name":" Nikki","last_name":" Manning","position":"Instructor of Anthropology/Archaeology","institution_name":"TRAILS","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I particularly appreciate the highlighted terms within the text and the glossary associated with each chapter. This is a useful tool for those with a verbal/linguistic style of learning and I have found for newcomers to a particular subject. While I am not a big fan of traditional testing that employs the use of defining terms or multiple choice, it does make the student creation of a study guide more simplistic. I would like to see the discussion questions at the end of chapters be a bit broader in scope in order to help students form a more comprehensive understanding of the chapter. \r\n\r\nI appreciate that the introductory chapter brings forward many of the original thinkers and practitioners of Anthropology right in the very beginning. It provides a foundation of early/classic anthropological readings for any student so inclined to delve a bit deeper than the textbook. I particularly appreciate that anthropology, as described in the introduction, is a discipline that transcends the science/humanities divide.\r\n\r\nThere are two topics that I would like to see included that I cover a great deal in my class discussions – Human Migration and Cultural Heritage and its Conservation. Not only is migration not a new human behavior but it is a complex human behavior in terms of motivation, patterns, politics, economics, and cultural diversity. It is also a current topic of anthropological concern and relevance. Chapter 14 on “Performance” (not a fan of the title) touches on intangible heritage without necessarily calling it that but teaching anthropology students early about the concept of cultural heritage – a very difficult term to truly and completely define – and getting them to start thinking in that direction is imperative. Why discuss culture if we don’t think of it in terms of heritage that should be understood, respected, and protected?\r\n\r\nWhile the introduction does explain that in most academic settings the field of Anthropology has a four subfield approach and even touches on some specialization within Anthropology, it is very heavily reliant on ethnographic research and methods as examples, leaving out physical anthropology and forensics, and archaeology. I realize this is a book about cultural anthropology specifically but would like to see a little more about the other subfields at least in the Introduction. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"While I am not an expert of details in terms of all examples used in the text, I do not find any glaring inaccuracies or errors in the general anthropological text. I have a few bias concerns. For example, the section in Chapter 7 (Political Anthropology) on the U.S. Prison System pushes the boundary between presenting information and promoting opinion. While I do not disagree with the argument presented, this seems to be more appropriate for a journal article or a type of “text box” call-out (as I refer to in the “Relevance Longevity” review section below). ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"On a positive note, Chapter 5 (Subsistence) is one of the chapters (along with the chapters on Culture and Sustainability and Media Anthropology) that provides content that can be most relevant to current times and events while still reaching back in time to explain the different modes of subsistence and how those have evolved over time and how globalization has impacted subsistence. \r\n\r\nUnfortunately, some sections throughout the text (for example: some references to Donald Trump) read more like current events articles than academic textbook, especially an introductory text. Other language usage hinders the texts longevity as well. “Over the past [two] years” and “recently” are two examples. The discussion in the political anthropology chapter about ISIS and the formation of state is fascinating. It is not often that a current generation has the ability to see something like this taking shape before their very eyes but perhaps restructuring the format a bit would be helpful. For example, the reference to Abu Bakral-Baghdadi is extremely relevant to the topic but he has been killed since the text was written. The suggestion is to make it less “current events” and more “just the facts.”\r\n\r\nI like the “Text Boxes” in the Gender \u0026 Sexuality chapter (Chapter 10) because it employs a means of incorporating very current information as examples but they are easily interchangeable and updatable without having to affect the main body of the text other than to perhaps change the Text Box number in the text. As an aside, the “Text Boxes” are more reader-friendly and break up the main body of the text to keep it from being to monotonous.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The language and tone of the text is academic without overuse of technical jargon. The necessary anthropological terms that would be unfamiliar to beginner students are highlighted within the text and the glossary associated with each chapter. Learning objectives are a plus.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Understandably, the byproduct of an edited volume, there are some framework inconsistencies that could be addressed. The learning objectives, glossaries, discussion questions, video and hyperlink call-outs, and special text boxes, all contribute to a smooth consistency throughout. However, two of the chapters have activities which give students the opportunity to “hit the ground running” as young anthropologists by not just reading about anthropology but by doing it. Chapter 4 (Language) incorporates the “Try This” activities and Chapter 10 (Gender \u0026 Sexuality) has a list of Activities to choose from at the end of the chapter. It would be interesting to see more of this in other chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As an open and dissected text, the modularity is great. I would definitely use many of these chapters in a course of mine.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"While some repetition in terms and glossary are a good way to reinforce concepts, there is a little bit of disjointedness from having multiple authors cover some of the same topics within the text that makes it less reinforcement and more overly repetitious. For example, Chapters 2 and 3 discuss “armchair” and “off the veranda” ethnographic methods when it is really only needed in Chapter 3 about field methods in Anthropology. Chapter 1 also uses the same example from Chapter 2 to discuss the four field approach and holism. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The incorporation of links to videos and other readings is very useful.\r\n\r\nThere are a few errors in chapter organization between the Table of Contents, the digital chapter sections, and the PDF version of the text. This involves the chapters Health and Medicine, Anthropology in Practice, Media Anthropology, and Public Anthropology.\r\n\r\nI had a very difficult time reading the Public Anthropology chapter. The plethora of bold type-face is extremely distracting although it is meant to help make some points clearer. I also take issue with the author encouraging the students to skip and skim using the bold type. While this is an invaluable skill later in college and particularly graduate school, I would not encourage my freshman or sophomore students to engage in this practice with an introductory textbook.\r\n\r\nInterview sections in the teaching resources appendix are awesome! More of these would be welcome. Students in an introductory Anthropology course are often in the process of deciding if Anthropology is for them and being able to make life and career applications are important. Maybe there could be one of these for each chapter, an interview with someone who specializes in that chapter’s topic.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any glaring grammatical issues.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The chapter of Anthropology in Practice encourages students to check their bias at the door by at least acknowledging that it exists and affects the research. This is very important – perhaps include a brief discussion on this in the introductory chapters, as well. I appreciate that ethics conversations are important and present along with subjectivity and objectivity, cultural relativism, and activism presented as a debate for students to think about.\r\n\r\nIn the first chapter, there is a section on plasticity that has a few references that are questionable. First, “After all, Navajo means people and many groups think they are superior to others” and second, a reference to the “Islamic scarf.”  I am not entirely sure what is attempting to be conveyed there but it could be misconstrued as offensive when I suspect it is much more a sentence structure issue. (That section on plasticity has multiple sentence structure issues.)\r\n\r\nIn Chapter 2, in trying to explain the pitfalls of ethnocentrism, talking about “going native” as an actual anthropological term and not part of our anthropological dark past basically perpetuates the concept of “Other” and could be avoided.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I would definitely use this book, especially certain chapters of it, in my classes and would recommend it to others. I am actually looking forward to using it and appreciated the opportunity to review it.","created_at":"2019-11-29T18:34:37.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-29T18:34:37.000-06:00"},{"id":4309,"first_name":"Hilary","last_name":"Morland","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Community College of Aurora","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is an edited volume of chapters written by different authors.  It covers the history, theoretical framework, and methodology of anthropology and includes individual chapters on important topics and concepts in contemporary cultural anthropology.\r\n\r\nThere is a Table of Contents for the entire book. Each chapter includes its own glossary and bibliography. However, there is no index or search function and it might be difficult to locate a particular topic by chapter or page number. \r\n\r\nThe range of topics within cultural anthropology is immense and it would be nearly impossible to produce a textbook that covers EVERYTHING. \r\n\r\nI would like to see a chapter about human evolution; while this subject falls within the purview of biological anthropology,  one could argue that students must understand the evolutionary history of humans as a species in order to fully understand the significance of contemporary human cultural variation.  I also would like to see one or more chapters explore classic ethnographies about indigenous cultures that no longer exist as they did when they were documented by anthropologists. Often, these peoples are mentioned to illustrate a concept but I believe there would be value to students at the introductory level in studying lost and changing cultures in depth.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not notice any errors in content or obvious sources of bias.  Anthropologists by definition attempt to be unbiased in their presentations.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Perspectives is in its second edition, updated in 2020. The textbook is designed to be a living document that can be used in part or in whole and easily updated. The editors have included a Teaching \u0026 Learning Resources section, and invite instructors to contribute to the collection.  \r\n\r\nPerspectives includes chapters on contemporary topics such as Globalization, Media Anthropology, Public Anthropology, and Environmental Anthropology and the Anthropocene. Presumably, the events of 2020 will merit revision and updating of some chapters (e.g., race and ethnicity, medical anthropology, globalization) and/or the addition of brand new chapters discussing the anthropological perspective on these events.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Accessibility is one of the most attractive features of Perspectives. This is not a typical anthropology textbook, crammed with dense text, sidebars, boxes, diagrams, and charts. One of the major strengths of this textbook is the writing style.  Although each chapter has a different author, the style is remarkably consistent across chapters.  Each chapter is written in a highly engaging style. Each author weaves their own personal and professional experiences into their academic treatment of the topic. Terms are explained well in the text and also defined in a glossary at the end of each chapter.  Photos, occasional diagrams, links to external content, and mini-bios of the author are used to enhance the presentation of the material. There is so much here for students to relate to in the material and in the authors' experiences of being anthropologists. Each chapter is enjoyable and easy to read.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is consistency across chapters. The focus of each chapter is to discuss cultural variation among contemporary human groups using examples and case studies from the anthropological literature. Each author discusses the history of anthropological studies on the main topic, defines important terminology, and explains relevant concepts. Each chapter includes a set of Learning Objectives at the start and a list of Discussion Questions, glossary of terms, and bibliography at the end. There is some overlap of discussion about basic concepts across chapters, particularly in the opening section, and this repetition should reinforce important concepts for students.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The list of chapters and content should align well with any syllabus for a typical introductory cultural anthropology class. It would be equally effective to use the entire book or to pick and choose individual chapters according to the particular emphasis of the syllabus. \r\n\r\nThe textbook landing page is well organized with a list of chapter titles and authors clearly presented. Chapters are numbered once downloaded, and page numbers and/or subheadings would allow parts of chapters to be assigned for reading. \r\n\r\nThere are a variety of options for accessing the material. Students can download individual chapters or the entire book or read the material directly online through a browser. There are options for pdf format or for print format. \r\n\r\nThere is an excellent set of teaching and learning resources available for download, including an instructor’s manual with questions, activities, reading, films, and other resources, powerpoint presentations, and test bank (available only to instructors).","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion.  There are chapters on the history, methodology, and theoretical framework of anthropology and chapters on various topics of interest within the field.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text contains a variety of photos, diagrams, and links to external content.  I did not experience any interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors in any of the chapters.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"N/A.  Anthropology is by definition the study of different races, ethnicities, identities, cultures, and backgrounds and the concept of cultural relativism  (defined in the text as “the idea that we should seek to understand another person’s beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own”) is the cornerstone of our field.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I would highly recommend Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology for any introductory course on any college campus.  Perspectives is designed to facilitate effective teaching of introductory cultural anthropology, whether remote or face to face.  The material is well organized and accessible, and presented in an engaging, interesting, easy to read manner. Helpful instructor resources are provided on the website. Adopting Perspectives in an introductory cultural anthropology class would surely enrich the experience of both student and instructor.","created_at":"2020-08-12T14:56:55.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-08-12T14:56:55.000-05:00"},{"id":4535,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Haynes-Clark","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Rogue Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook offer a holistic approach to the broad field of cultural anthropology which includes an overview of special topics that should be included in any introductory course, as well as a focus on issues that are especially relevant to contemporary anthropological study such as globalization, sustainability, climate change, the role of media, the influence of culture on identity and applied anthropology.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not notice any inaccuracies or errors in the chapters that I reviewed. Because this text is an edited volume, a collection of chapters written by different authors, a wide variety of perspectives contributes to an approach that is as unbiased as possible.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Unique as an introductory textbook, many chapters present topics are particularly cutting edge in the field of cultural anthropology and would be of great interest to today's student searching for relevancy in the subject matter. One such topic would include the section on applied anthropology and the use of media in anthropology to advocate for young people's interests in hip hop in Peru. The use of such methodology as photovoice and other participant-driven methods demonstrates to students that anthropology offers a fresh, dynamic, and even empowering approach to understanding cultural diversity.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Each chapter included highlighted key terms, a glossary, and fascinating case studies and photographs that illustrate the concepts using examples from practicing anthropologists.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is consistency in the way the chapters are organized, each chapter beginning with a list of Learning Objectives which are included as subtitles of sections throughout the chapter. Each section contains relevant key terms that highlighted and defined in a glossary at the end of each chapter. Main concepts are illustrated through case studies describing the work of practicing anthropologists.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text can be easily divided into smaller sections that could be rearranged by an instructor based on individual curriculum. For example, there are many examples of applied anthropology throughout the text that illustrate the relevance of anthropological study in addressing social issues that stem from climate change, health issues, and the global impacts of neoliberalism.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook is organized in a logical way, beginning with foundational concepts, methodology, and theory, and then moving on to areas of special study within the larger field of cultural anthropology.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not notice any significant interface or navigation issues. All images headings, links, images and text seem clear and formatted correctly.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical issues in the chapters that I reviewed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"As this is a cultural anthropology textbook, the aim of this book is to present cultural diversity with exceptional sensitivity to inclusion in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, belief, ability, and other backgrounds. I feel this text provides a wide variety of examples of diversity, acknowledging the importance of broad representation in pursuit of an unbiased approach to cross-cultural understanding.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I would recommend this textbook for all students who are interested in social science and its growing relevance in understanding a rapidly changing world. This book highlights the relevance of the anthropological perspective in resolving many of the complications that we are experiencing in our complex social lives. A greater understanding of cultural diversity and giving voice to a multitude of perspectives is a source of empowerment that I believe students will especially appreciate. This textbook is useful in its flexible organization, its variety of perspectives and its helpful resources for instructors.","created_at":"2021-01-07T13:59:41.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-01-07T13:59:41.000-06:00"},{"id":4851,"first_name":"Toni","last_name":"Tileva","position":"Professorial Lecturer","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The chapters are written in a sophisticated way and cover a wide variety of topics. Because the authors are different, students are exposed to a variety of approaches. Each chapter includes a glossary and bibliography. The chapter on language is especially well-written, as is the globalization one. Good coverage of methods in anthropology as well.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not notice any inaccuracies or biases.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Perspectives is in its second edition, updated in 2020. Contemporary topics such as Globalization, Media Anthropology, Public Anthropology, and Environmental Anthropology are especially salient.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Terms are explained well in the text and also defined in a glossary at the end of each chapter. This text manages to cover so much in a very succinct and accessible way.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapters meet the learning objectives outlined.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I assign chapters along with other articles, so it works perfectly not only assigned in whole but also broken down. I even assign parts of certain chapters--it has worked so well.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The trajectory/story arc makes logical sense, so I would say this is well designed.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text contains a variety of photos, diagrams, and links to external content.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors in any of the chapters.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text really does offer a variety of perspectives. It is written in a non-didactic way and encourages critical thinking quite naturally and seamlessly.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I have looked at a number of anthro textbooks (open source and not) and this is by far the best one I have encountered. Really well-done, AAA and authors.  In fact, I am using in my class!","created_at":"2021-04-26T14:00:52.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-30T12:09:42.000-05:00"},{"id":5120,"first_name":"Luis F. B.","last_name":"Plascencia","position":"Adjunct Instructor","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text does a good job of introducing the field of cultural anthropology, though not the four-fields of anthropology. Chapter one does introduce the four fields, but the presentation is limited. This is understandable, due to the fact that it would take more than one chapter to present each of the three remaining fields (i.e., archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology) and the methodologies and conceptual frameworks in each one. Although the individual glossaries in the individual chapters in Part One allow for the chapters to be used independently, this leads to much duplication. The citation of sources in individual chapters also duplicates the listing of sources across chapters.\r\n\r\nThere is no Index in the book. But since it appears that the anthology is constructed to be read as independent chapters, then an index would not have the value that it would have if it was a single book.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"There are some minor issues that can be easily corrected. One issue is the listing of the editors as authors. Perspectives is an anthology not a co-authored book, but the title page does not include the terms “Editors,” as is the normal practice in the publishing of academic books. Related to this, the listing of editors did not include “and” after the second editor—the standard form in academic books.\r\n\r\nOverall, the copy-editing of the text is good. However, there are some issues that the editors overlooked such as some references not cited correctly; some important terms are presented, but they are not defined/explained, and others. There is significant repetition within Part I. Basic ideas/concepts are repeated in the first twelve chapters. Again, if the chapters are supposed to stand-alone, then this would be expected. But if the editors intend for the text to be read as a whole, the reader is confronted with much repetition. If the latter is the aim, then it would make sense to combine the chapter glossaries into a single glossary at the end of the book, as well as combine all of the references into a single Works Cited section at the end of the work.\r\n\r\nThere are also some concepts that are not accurately defined. One example is the concept of “intersex” that is introduced in Ch. 9. The text defines the concept as “individuals with ambiguous genitals” (p. 247). This is an incomplete definition. First, like the construct of “race,” “intersex” is a social construct, and reflects multiple elements. Intersex is a general term for multiple biological variations that appear in humans, some appear at birth, others can surface at puberty. An intersex person may or may not have ambiguous genitals, they may possess variation in the presence of “sex” chromosomes (i.e., XX-female, XY-male, XX-male, XY-female, XXY, XYY, XXX, etc.), or persons can have different levels of androgen and/or testosterone production, and degrees of insensitivity to these. This means that a new-born human can be categorized as having ‘normal’ genitalia, be categorized as a “girl” or a “boy,” but have a complex chromosome or hormone make-up that is not apparent to the parents or medical staff. There is also the relatively-rare condition where a human, for example, is born with “normal” female genitalia, but at puberty may develop male characteristics. Such persons are also commonly categorized as intersex.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The content of some of the chapters can be framed as “up-to-date,” however, a good number of the chapters in Part I contain terminology and concepts that are not current within the field of social anthropology, or at least not commonly deployed today such as: “informants,” “traditional,” “emic” v. “etic,” and others. There is also some presentation of “cultural” groups as homogeneous, unvaried communities. Much of social anthropology has moved to recognizing that labels such as “the Navajo” (or the Diné), “Americans,” “traditional Chinese,” “undocumented,” etc., represent incomplete and somewhat misleading statements. \r\nThe presence of some of these issues complicate easy revisions of the entire book.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The prose of most of the chapters is accessible to undergraduate students. Most concepts introduced are highlighted, and presented in the individual chapter glossaries. However, as noted in the other answers, structural and conceptual issues need more careful discussion.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Since the textbook is an anthology, the text represents the multiple views of authors. There are some areas that the editors could have discussed with the contributors and presented more consistently in the anthology, or more directly addressed in the Introduction. The most important of these is the central concept of “culture.” \r\nFor example: Ch. 1 defines “culture” as “a set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared. Together, they form an all-encompassing, integrated whole that binds people together and shapes their worldview and lifeways” (p.17). And in Ch. 4, the reader is informed that “culture” is “An integrated system of mental elements (beliefs, values, worldview, attitudes, norms), the behavior motivated by those mental elements, and the material items created by those behaviors” (p. 71). Students that are asked to read several of the chapters in Part One may struggle to understand the concept of \"culture,\" given multiple definitions encountered.\r\nSome of the concepts in both definitions have been under debate among anthropologists for a good number of years. The assertion that “culture” is an “all-encompassing, integrated whole” or “an integrated system of mental elements” are not constructs that I have heard at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) for a good number of years. They are constructs I would not use in an Introduction to Cultural/Social Anthropology courses.\r\n\r\nThe editors also could have standardized the presentation of endnotes and references/citations. Some chapter have both, and the endnotes contain full citations. Full citations should have been integrated into the References/Works Cited, rather than duplicate the same information. And more than one style is used in the chapter bibliographies. Within The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), in social science books, the endnotes are used to present an idea/observation that would distract the reader if included in the text; or the place where the author wishes to guide the reader to other important works. Generally the form used is the CMS author-date format (e.g., See Foucault 1982; Bourdieu 1988). The Works Cited would have the full citation of each.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"There are a small number of chapters that I could integrate in my Introduction to Anthropology course. The course has a four-field focus. The notable chapters are Chapter Four on Language, and Chapter 13 on the History of Anthropological Ideas.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The organization follows a common pattern among introductory books. The limit of this, however, is that by segmenting social actions in a particular community, as “family and marriage,” “religion,” “economics,” etcetera, it inadvertently argues against the proposition that cultural anthropology is “holistic.” The presentation reinforces the view that one can easily segment the lives of individuals and communities. In our lives, for example, we know that how we view political actors or statements may be shaped by our religious background, our racio-ethnic position, our economic class, our sexual orientation, etc. The areas of our daily lives are not easily segmented into clean categories, and most individuals have multiple identifications. An individual can be a parent, a spouse, a university professor, a brother, a Sunday school teacher, a volunteer in a political campaign, a feminist, etc.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"With the use of Adobe Acrobat Pro, the chapters can be easily selected into individual chapters.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The only grammatical error I encountered is found on p. 355: “are are”.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Something that stood out for me was the absence of citations of the important work of established Chicano/Mexican/Latina/o anthropologist. Carlos Vélez-Ibáñes, Martha Menchaca, Robert Álvarez, Diego Vigil, and others were overlooked. Thought the text did mention Leo Chávez in two pages, Patricia Zavella was noted in three endnotes, but not in the text; Renato Rosaldo was mentioned in two pages; Lynn Stephen was noted in one page; and Arturo Escobar appeared in one endnote. The very limited inclusion of established Latina/o anthropologist suggests that the contributors may not have been aware of their substantial contributions.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"At the University of Texas at Arlington, the anthropology program does not have an Introduction to Cultural/Social anthropology, but it does have the Introduction to Anthropology course aimed at non-anthropology majors, and the focus of the course is the four fields in anthropology. This limits the integration of the anthology reviewed.\r\nSecondly, the anthology contains only two contributions from established anthropologists: Laura Nader (Ch. 13) and Robert Borofsky (Ch. 19). The inclusion of other prominent anthropologist in current discussions, such as Achille Mbembe, Didier Fassin, and others, would aid in drawing interest in the anthology.","created_at":"2021-06-18T15:20:04.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-18T15:20:04.000-05:00"},{"id":33520,"first_name":"Laura","last_name":"Elder","position":"Associate Professor \u0026 Chair of Global Studies","institution_name":"Saint Mary's College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all areas appropriately and in depth.  My only quibble is that I hope in future iterations the authors will include more interviews with practitioners (as they did in section on \"why anthropology is important\" pp. 18-24 and in the \"practicing anthropology\" interview on pp. 417-418.  Another text that I have used (Race: Are we so different? Goodman, Moses \u0026 Jones) includes interviews throughout and students found them very engaging.  I expect that students will appreciate similar interview sections in the various topical areas such as language, gender, health, etc. of this text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Some of the case studies dealing with current issues (such as Globalization in Application: The Syrian Situation Today (courtesy of Laurie King) pg. 325-326 need to be updated.  In addition, some of the hyperlinks (such as http://www.pbs.org/thelinguists/Endangered-Languages/Hear-Them-Spoken.html) are either broken or link to material which is no longer accessible (such as the McDonald's menu items hyperlinked on pg. 308).  Of course in future iterations the authors can easily update these links.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Despite the multiple authorial voices, the text is lucid and accessible.  One drawback is that there is repetition between sections (as for example between \"the culture concept\" and \"doing fieldwork\").  However, as noted below, because of the ease in \"remixing\" these sections to suite individual course needs this does not pose a problem.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I particularly appreciate the text's modularity which provides flexibility in mixing and blending between sections in the interests of providing most effective coverage of topics with a limited time frame.  For example, I tend to cover subsistence and ecology together in order to disrupt students' biases in favor of technological approaches to sustainability.  Blending the \"culture \u0026 sustainability\" and \"subsistence\" sections and subsections was quickly accomplished and provides excellent coverage.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of the text is clear and logical.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"In the PDF version of the text some of the pages have large gaps between text and images but this problem does not occur when reading online. Graphics and images are clear and legible.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is highly relevant and culturally inclusive (including case studies and perspectives from many marginalized groups globally).","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I look forward to using this and future updated editions.","created_at":"2021-12-10T16:30:21.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-10T16:30:21.000-06:00"},{"id":33880,"first_name":"Erin","last_name":"Gould","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Johnson County Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"In terms of comprehensiveness, I think the book does a great job of covering a lot of the areas that I want covered in an introductory text. Some of the ideas are covered in multiple chapters (including things like culture, kinship and family), which can help reinforce topics but can also become slightly repetitive. The only topic that I discuss while consulting other textbooks is the topic of economic class and inequality. While there is an Economic Anthropology section, the way that contemporary understandings of class are discussed is not as robust as I want for my students. Class is inherently one of the topics that is overlooked in the United States (with the exception of political rhetoric during election times), and due to this, the topic is something I want to make sure that students engage with on a deeper level. The glossaries for each chapter are great resources for students, and I like the fact that all the words in the glossaries are bolded in the actual text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I think the accuracy is high due to the great diversity of authors that write each individual chapter in the text. For each topic, there is a scholar or multiple, whose expertise lies within the area, that describe the history and development of different concepts, which really brings out the best information to give students. It is clear through stories and scholar highlights in each chapter that those interviewed, writing, and editing the chapters of the textbook care about giving up to date information to our students.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I think that the textbook does a great job of including people's scholarly journeys and other highlights that the text will stay relevant for a longer period of time, but I also think these are things that can be updated more easily than the bulk of the text itself. The chapters are organized in a way that the beginning highlights some of the development and foundation of each concept before diving deeper into case studies that are supposed to speak more to students. These case studies could be kept for a long period of time, but this is the area that it may be important for editors and authors to update with new case studies to keep up with student interests and contemporary times.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"To provide context to my answer in this section, I'd like to note that I've taught with this text for three years at this point. I think the text does a great job of outlining material that needs to be covered in a way that is appropriate and clear. The only comment I usually get from students is that the textbook chapters are long, but this comment is also made about my shorter readings that I assign in complement to the longer textbook chapters. With clarity never being an issue with any comments I receive from students, I have to assume that all parties are able to understand the content given in the textbook!","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I think the text is consistent in that the chapters are organized in the same way, with the history/foundation content or introductory stories, followed by deeper dives into content, followed by case studies and samples from scholarly research, and ends with the glossary of highlighted terms. There are also always questions for students to go through to keep thinking about the content/review their comprehension. Due to the fact that each chapter is written by a different author or authors, there is some overlap or explanations of frameworks that occur to make sure students understand the author(s)'s perspectives on content.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of the text is great, as they make an effort to have many headings and subheadings within each chapter that can be used to delineate what sections students should pay closer attention to. The text itself has some repetitive chapters (Chapters 1 \u0026 2--Introduction to Anthropology AND What is Culture?; Chapters 8 \u0026 10--Family and Marriage AND Gender and Sexuality), but I keep one chapter assigned and one for optional reading in case students are more interested in the topic. Also, due to the way the information is displayed on the website, the textbook can be used for individual chapters as you see fit as an instructor. There are 19 chapters, so it covers a lot of content that you are free to assign as you see necessary for your class's content, and each chapter can be downloaded or read online (and a link can be given for each chapter you assign).","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The content of the book looks like it is organized so that if you needed to use only Part 1 chapters for your introductory Cultural Anthropology class, everything would be there for you, including introduction to anthropology (generally), what is culture, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, globalization, etc. So Part 2 chapters focus on more content that may or may not be usually included in an introductory class, including things like sustainability, performance, history of anthropological ideas, public anthropology, health and medicine, and so on. I find that, due to the extra benefits of a test bank and lecture slides, this could be a good approach for an instructor who does not have a lot of time to organize the class content before starting the semester. However, I do actually use many chapters from Part 2 instead of some chapters from Part 1 because I feel that they fit better with my idea of what content I want to expose my students to.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface for the text is pretty basic, but that also means that there are not many glitches/issues with accessing material or with formatting of charts and images. They do a good job of including different images and charts, as is pertinent, and there are times where they also embed links to different videos. From other reviews on the book (on this website), people noted that some of these video links don't work. However, I may not be using all the videos included in the book, but the ones that I do use have been working for the last three years of using the book. But, if another reviewer mentioned this, I would also make sure to try links within the chapters that you assign to make sure that students will have access to those if you assign those elements within the text.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"No texts are ever perfect, but my experience with this text has been pretty good. I find that sometimes the extra content or some random sentences in the text need to be updated with their editing, but nothing egregious or anything that students would have trouble understanding due to grammatical structures.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"As a textbook for Cultural Anthropology, if this text received less than a 5, it would be quite surprising. Due to the many different authors of each chapter/content area, there are a lot of different case studies brought up from around the world. In my classes, students have commented that even though I don't cover all of them in class, they get a good picture of a lot of different ideas of what anthropology can be from the case studies from around the world. I also like that the examples in the text are not just from places that people would call \"exotic,\" as this would just deepen the erroneous understanding that most people have about anthropology already. For instance, in the chapter on Gender and Sexuality, the authors actually bring in an example about gendered language and stereotypes brought up during the 2016 United States Presidential Election, demonstrating how our biases/understandings of gender and use of gendered language can be seen in our everyday interactions and EVEN within politics--while many of us may be able to acknowledge that, many of my students have been surprised to see how these everyday situations can show enculturated understandings of the concepts we learn about in class.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I thoroughly enjoy using this text in the classroom, and I enjoy being able to support other anthropologists who have put together great scholars to provide open access information for students. My students are always happy to use this textbook. While the text provides a basic foundation for learning, it is placed on the instructor to create activities and classroom discussions of the content, but do note that each chapter provides further discussion questions/review questions near to the end of each chapter. The test banks and the instructor slide bonus materials have been invaluable to the continued use of this textbook, even if at this point, my lecture slides diverge significantly from those provided. I find that the text gives a good foundation for students that instructors can easily supplement with other materials to get main points across.","created_at":"2022-05-26T15:15:43.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-05-26T15:15:43.000-05:00"},{"id":33961,"first_name":"Sharon","last_name":"Methvin","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Mt. Hood Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"A key strength of this source is its comprehensive coverage of the key concepts found in Cultural Anthropology. And, each concept is highlighted in the text for ease of finding it by the students as well as listed in the Glossary at the end of each Chapter.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Sources are listed and material is well supported. I would like to have seen additional direct quotes of the movers and shakers that students might know of.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Content coverage is mostly our basic content found in all anthropology texts. I would like to have seen more current examples that students could better relate to.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clearly written and readable. There is some evidence of different writing approaches between the chapters and authors.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"There is some evidence of different writing approaches between the chapters and authors. I love the coffee shop framework of the first two chapters and then it is gone. Others begin with a story while others a basic introduction. I would also like to see the integration of media be consistent in all chapters.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"The third section seems to be a hodgepodge of areas that lack internal coherence. And, there are far too many sections for a quarter into course.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"See comment above. The first two sections have better organization in my opinion, especially the first section. I like the inclusion of the discussion questions and glossary for each chapter.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I like the inclusion of the discussion questions and glossary for each chapter. Some of the photos lack clarity and interest.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Readable and I did not see any errors that jumped out at me.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I would like to see more global examples and more current ones that grab the student's attention.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"The strength of this text is its comprehensive coverage of the major anthropological concepts in a clear and concise manner and a in a readable style that the students can easily understand.","created_at":"2022-07-27T15:27:04.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-07-27T15:27:04.000-05:00"},{"id":34032,"first_name":"Sanaa","last_name":"Riaz","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides a clear introduction to the field of anthropology and the essential aspects of culture that inform anthropological inquiry. Each chapter ends with some discussion questions and a list of important key terms/glossary. \r\nIt has long been debated whether non-Anthropology students taking an introductory class in cultural anthropology need to learn about the history of theoretical paradigms in the field. This book is divided into two parts. Part 1 introduces the different sub-fields of anthropology, concepts integral to anthropological inquiry of human behavior and anthropological fieldwork methods. It covers these topics to move on to a chapter exclusively dedicated to the conceptualization of culture, which includes a brief discussion of the important figures and schools of thought in anthropology. The rest of the chapters in Part 1 are focused on what we conventionally expect an introductory text in cultural anthropology to cover, that is, aspects of kinship and marriage, religion, political organization, and gender lives. Part 2 of the book essentially explores the new arenas of cultural representation and change that represent newer sub-disciplines within cultural anthropology or that point to new avenues of anthropological inquiry in a global world. If an instructor was interested in the more conventional anthropology textbook format, they can use Part 1 of the book with the option of including the theoretical development and thematic specializations in the field from Part 2 or replacing the Part 1 first chapter with it. Alternatively, if an instructor wished to provide an overview of the fast-growing specializations within cultural anthropology, such as anthropology of performance, media anthropology, environmental anthropology and public anthropology, they could include Part 2 of the book.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate from classic definitions of culture to cutting-edge discussions on anthropocene. It is typically in the images of non-white smaller subsistence communities, laborers in commodity chain and or informal economy, and gender plurality and religious rituals related illustrations that anthropological textbooks reek of ethnocentric, unethical and exotic white portrayals of other cultural lifeways. This textbook is free of all such problematic and exotifying images of \"other\" cultures, which really helps students see the universality of the discussions on spiritual well-being, non-industrial food production, non-Christian beliefs and gendered subjectivities, to name a few.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Part 2 of the book uses anthropocene as a point of departure to discuss ethnographic studies in environmental anthropology, applying political economy approach to sustainable development in First World countries, the importance of public anthropology, and also provides teasers into new avenues of anthropological inquiry, such as media anthropology and multi-species ethnography. While these features make the content up-to-date, they do not make the text obsolete. Rather, they create a model for incorporating updates in a straightforward process by adding ethnographic examples to the burgeoning fields of cultural anthropology discussed.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The most attractive aspect of the book is that it is written with introductory readers in mind. My students have never had a problem understanding information in the assigned chapters, nor do they find reading burdensome because of the textbook's accessible prose. All chapters begin with clearly stated learning objectives. The text opens with teaser questions on the topic followed by personal anecdotes and experiences from the field, such as the author's reflection on people's perceptions of their racial and ethnic heritage in school based on appearance in the chapter, Race and Ethnicity, to begin a discussion on the social construction of race, which ease the reader into deconstructing the concepts that will be covered. Section headings are also in line with the conversational pattern of the prose and key terms are dispersed at adequate intervals to allow for easy cognitive processing.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This being an Open Educational Resource, the chapters and sections within are parsable. The terminology in each chapter, however, is kept consistent with the basic premise of analyzing each aspect of culture holistically. This can be seen in the discussion on syncretism in the chapter, Globalization. The textbook framework moving between key terms in bold to section headings containing ethnographic examples and conceptual discussions allows instructors to create definition-based objective questions as well as subjective discussion questions from each chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This Open Educational Resource can be edited within chapters or as a selection of chapters. I found it very easy to mix and match chapters in Parts 1 and 2 of the book based on my Introduction to Cultural Anthropology course weekly themes. The textbook does not assume that the reader will have arrived at a chapter after reviewing a previous one and eases readers with overlapping but not replicative content, such as on theoretical approaches between chapter, The Culture Concept and chapter, The History of Anthropological Ideas, on subsistence covered in the chapter, Economics, in the chapter, Culture and Sustainability: Environmental Anthropology in the Anthropocene from a sustainability angle, on a discussion of \"Ritual as Performance\" in the chapter, Performance with a focus on performance in ritual, rather than the types of rituals, as enumerated in the chapter, Religion, etc.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As an Open Educational Resource, it is an advantage for instructors that there is not much self-referencing in the textbook and the chapters can be modified and rearranged. That said, the textbook moves in a logical manner with Part 1 beginning with an introduction to the field and sub-fields of the discipline and the concept of culture to verbal, non-verbal communication to economic behavior and political institutions to forms of social identity (family, gender, race, ethnicity) with a discussion on globalization providing a closing statement on the changing nature of culture and setting a logical framework to move from the classically small-group case studies that anthropology is famous for towards the macro-level, global issues that can be deconstructed from an anthropological lens, such as development, environmental disasters and medical pluralism, the focus of chapters in Part 2. Part 2 also elaborates on themes in Part 1 in a clear fashion with a focus on introduction to and case studies from the growing sub-fields in cultural anthropology, such as media anthropology, public anthropology and environmental anthropology.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I adopted this textbook on the Blackboard Learning Management System and then again on Canvas. I have had students access it outside United States with erratic internet and they have not encountered any issues with the display. I have used the textbook with large classes where students on the autism spectrum and those receiving learning and physical disabilities assistance have used it without noting any distracting features or images. The textbook was also cleared by the instructional design team and online course quality standards review team at my University.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Typically, an inherent bias in textbook discussions on non-American and non-Western cultural ways, be it in the domain of marriage, subsistence, religious expression or other is that they insensitively include National Geographic style glossy, colored images of non-white faces and bodies. There is not a single instance of insensitive or offensive photography in this textbook. Moreover, pictures like a diverse group working at Starbucks in the discussion on coffee commodity chain in the chapter, Subsistence and of a Trump impersonator at a pro-Trump Rally in the discussion on how transnational identities and religion impact perceptions of American politics in the chapter, Religion make the cultural content more inclusive and relatable.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Power is a concept that has been officially defined in the chapter, Political Anthropology, but used in every chapter to highlight its relevance in economic relations, matriarchal/patriarchal systems, and other aspects of cultural life. In future revisions of the textbook, I would like to see a more formal undertaking of the concept of power and representation in defining culture and in cultural continuity. It would be great to see power established as a point of departure for understanding all aspects of culture early on in the textbook (the chapter, The Culture Concept would be a good place) and revisited in relation to each chapter topic. Thus, power can be a keyword repeated in individual chapter glossary, but with an emphasis on labor relations in one chapter and on racism in another. Also, the chapter on Health and Medicine can be moved to Part 1, as it has been discussed holistically in relation to faith, communal healing, culture bound syndromes and other cultural behaviors.","created_at":"2022-09-07T01:46:41.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-09-07T01:46:41.000-05:00"},{"id":34195,"first_name":"Miriam","last_name":"Kilimo","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Overall, the textbook covers the main topics that are in many other introductory cultural anthropology texts. The 2nd edition of the book is organized into two main parts. The first part provides an overview of the main topics, whereas the second part provides information about more specific subfields in cultural anthropology such as health, media, and performance. The textbook encourages instructors to ‘build their own book’ by adapting chapters as needed. A key difference between this textbook and other textbooks is that the chapters are written by different authors. The use of multiple authors helps to provide different perspectives on anthropology. However, it also leads to a bit of repetition, as definitions and materials that have been covered in previous chapters can be repeated in other chapters.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and error-free. I did not identify instances of bias.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This book functions as a good textbook that provides a lot of background for the main topics in an introductory cultural anthropology class. Since the textbook is written by multiple authors, I’m not sure to what extent updates can be easily made, save for including new chapters in the text. Additionally, while the textbook provides good background information, I found that some chapters did not always provide enough context about the racist and colonial roots of anthropology. This information is mostly only included in one chapter that describes the History of Anthropological ideas. I would have appreciated it if this information was included in the chapters, for example, describing how the colonial roots of political anthropology. However, the fact that the chapters are written by multiple authors means that there may be competing priorities.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in an accessible way. The authors describe any concepts they introduce. Each chapter also includes a glossary that provides definitions of key terms used in the chapter.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in framework and terminology. The main difference is that because it is written by multiple authors, some concepts are repeated with authors providing their own definitions.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Each chapter has various subsections. Several of the chapters open with a vignette about the author’s experience, which they revisit at various points in the chapter. Therefore, it’s not very easy to simply use one section of a chapter in case it refers to an example that was discussed earlier in the text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics are organized well. The textbook has two parts: the first part includes main topics in cultural anthropology that are in common anthropology textbooks. The second part includes more specific topics and begins with a chapter that provides an overview of various specializations in anthropology.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text can be downloaded as a PDF. The PDF includes a navigation pane that one can use to link to various chapters. The subsections are not available on the navigation pane, so one needs to go through a chapter to identify the main subsections.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not observe any glaring grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not observe any cultural insensitivity. The book draws from examples across the world, focusing on examples of different races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I found the textbook useful as an open-access resource that provides background for introductory classes in cultural anthropology. Given that the textbook provides lots of information on general and specific topics, the editors encourage instructors to adapt the book according to their needs, such as only using various chapters or sections. I assigned chapters of the textbook alongside other film and ethnographic essays. The chapters were intended to provide a background for key concepts in anthropology. One downside is that because the textbook is written by multiple authors, there is no “central thesis” about cultural anthropology that brings all the chapters together. The emphasis is on the diversity of voices provided by the perspectives of different anthropologists. I also found that some chapters did not always provide critiques of various aspects of anthropology, for example, a perspective that describes the colonial roots of political anthropology. The textbook also comes with three other resources that I found incredibly useful: an instructor’s guide, a test bank, and slide decks. These three resources are very useful during lecture prep, and one can easily look at additional texts when sourcing for information that may not be included in the chapters. The instructor’s guide also includes discussion questions, homework assignments, and suggestions for films based on the topics in the textbook.","created_at":"2022-11-27T17:24:58.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-11-27T17:24:58.000-06:00"},{"id":34251,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Bauder","position":"Adjunct Instructor","institution_name":"Massachusetts Bay Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I was impressed by the degree to which this textbook covered both topics/areas of interest/ideas that have historically been considered essential to cultural anthropology (language, subsistence, political anthropology, marriage and family, economics, sex and gender, etc) AND those that have gained attention and traction more recently (globalization, environmental anthropology, media, etc).  Not only does this text do a good job of covering the historical and current breadth of the field but there is significant depth to each of these areas.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"In a field as broad and varied as anthropology, I have no doubt that professionals reviewing this text may quibble with some of the choices made by authors- arguing perhaps that a definition left out a relevant feature or that a classification scheme would be best presented another way, etc.  That said, the text does well presenting material in a way in which I think most anthropologists would broadly consent is accurate and holistic.  Debates within the field are presented as such. It is acknowledged where there is difficulty in arriving at definitions that are fully agreed upon- for example, in Chapter 2: Culture Concept, the authors explictly write that there is no one agreed upon definition of culture and discuss how anthropologists have come to understand culture over the course of the discipline's history as well as discuss how this may articulate with the broader public's understanding of culture.  By centering the very difficulty in definition the authors created a useful framing which accurately reflects the development of thought.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"As discussed above, I was impressed by this book's coverage of more recent topics/areas of interest to cultural anthropology as well as coverage of those that have been more well established.  Topics like environmental anthropology and anthropology and the media are essential to understanding the ways the field continues to develop apace with broader social and environmental changes in our world.  These topics are especially relevant to introductory classes so students can see anthropology as a vibrant and dynamic field with opportunities for growth and not a hide-bound dusty discipline that only looks backward to long established arenas.\r\nI particularly appreciated the section in Chapter 1 which asked three current anthropologists to discuss what drew them to the field and to describe their work.  This worked well to highlight diversity in the work of contemporary anthropology and allows students to hear from anthropologists directly in their own voices.  The structure of this section would allow for easy future updates to highlight other anthropologists if desired.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book seemed very appropriate to an introductory level class in terms of clarity.  Authors did not avoid use of relevant vocabulary and discipline specific terminology but these were always well defined or explained in context.  Formatting helped significantly in this regard- key terms were highlighted in various ways including being pulled out into individual text boxes or placed in bold within the text. Students should have no trouble identifying key terms and phrases within the chapter and are additionally aided by a separate glossary section at the end of each chapter.\r\nAdding to clarity- I felt the choices of images and graphics was well curated for each chapter to highlight particular ideas, people, etc.  Placement of these as well as captions made their connection to the text easy to discern.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is good structural consistency to this volume of the type you would expect from any quality textbook- a section at the beginning of each chapter to list learning objections, a section at the end for discussion questions and a glossary, etc.\r\nThere is a fair degree of redundancy to presentation of certain terminology and historical context of the field.  This is not necessarily a negative- students may not be asked to read/engage with the entirety of the text so the repetition may serve to introduce them to relevant ideas, vocabulary, etc in one area of the book without requiring them to read others.  And if a student is reading chapters that have a redundancy in presentation this can serve to reinforce those ideas, vocabulary, etc as important.  In those cases it is important that there is a consistency to the presentation of materials and I do see that in this text.  Content is not repeated verbatim but there is coherence to the presentation of terminology and ideas.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Chapters vary to some degree in their modularity- some have larger blocks of text than others.  But, this is to be expected as different topics within chapters lend themselves to parsing in different ways.  All chapters worked to have some level of modularity and headings and subheadings were easy to identify and would allow for instructor to make clear which sections within a chapter they wish students to focus on.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I found individual chapters well organized.  I could easily follow each chapter through the material.  \r\nIn terms of overall book organization I struggled to fully understand the division of the book into two main parts.  The preface indicated that Part 1 contained more fundamental topics that would be found in most other textbooks on the subject while Part 2 contained in-depth discussions of more specialized topics.\r\nI did not necessarily find this division useful in understanding how chapters were ordered or in thinking about how I would use different chapters in a class.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not encounter any negative issues with the interface.  I had no issues navigating the text, viewing images or connecting to embedded links.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Well written with no noted grammatical issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"As this is a book designed to instruct in areas of culture I felt the authors were all acutely aware of being relativistic, inclusive and presenting examples in a way which is illustrative and instructive without being sensationalistic.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I appreciated the thought and time that had clearly gone into the production of this text.  I was impressed by the quality in terms of breadth and depth.","created_at":"2022-12-08T09:44:50.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-08T09:44:50.000-06:00"},{"id":34311,"first_name":"Lawrence","last_name":"Ramirez","position":"Adjunct Instructor","institution_name":"California State University, Dominguez Hills","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook gives a solid overview of key concepts, disciplinary concerns, and methodological approaches for an introductory course in cultural anthropology. Within each chapter, the authors offer a basic primer for the selected topic as approached through anthropological disciplinary perspectives, dipping into theoretical engagement at a level appropriate for an introductory class. The glossaries at the end of each chapter, taken together, provide a strong listing of key disciplinary terminology. Likewise, chapter bibliographies can lead interested students into a deeper understanding of the discipline. Thus, this textbook is a good starting point for students to learn about cultural anthropology.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information provided is accurate, specifically for an introductory textbook. There might be issues of being a bit out of date in some areas, or using older disciplinary terms, such as “informant,” or failing to address in greater detail contested concepts within the discipline. Although these critiques would be valid, they do not point to anything truly problematic for a beginner’s overview. Likewise, there are drifts in nuanced concepts from chapter to chapter, because of the different authors involved, but these drifting definitions, for example in discussing the concept of culture, are not significant impediments for introductory students learning the concepts. Overall, the information is clear, accurate, and consistent.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Overall, this textbook grounds itself in the ethnographic experiences of the writers to illustrate a concept or concern. This is an effective method by which ideas are exemplified and contributes to the textbook’s longevity. Certainly, some examples could be updated, but they still work as intended. A more complicated concern relates to privileging “canonical” anthropologists and their studies, crowding out work by more recent researchers, specifically BIPOC and decolonial scholars. This is a valid concern, but the use of the “canon” fits the needs of many introductory courses. Instructors simply need to be aware of this issue and introduce alternative approaches within their lectures. As decolonial and alternative paradigms come into greater prominence in the discipline, this may become a more pressing issue.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clarity is the strong point of this textbook. It is written in clear language, with a robust glossary included in each chapter. Concepts are explored with rich ethnographic experiences. Subchapters break down complicated ideas and theoretical paradigms. In short, the textbook is written with a beginning student reader as the intended audience and is designed to render the materials in as accessible a manner as possible. Overall, the writers succeed in this task.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"In terms of design and layout, the textbook is very consistent. Given the number of contributors, the textbook is amazingly consistent in the degree of information conveyed in each chapter. Because each author draws upon their own ethnographic experiences, the wide array of fieldsites can feel a bit overwhelming, chapter from chapter, but, as illustrations for the specific concepts under discussion, they serve an important role. Overall, the consistency is excellent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Although the chapters can vary in length, the modularity of this textbook is good. The strength comes from the consistent layout that each chapter utilizes. Additionally, the chapters can “stand alone” or be remixed to suit course design. For example, I have used the chapter on environmental anthropology as a short primer reading in upper division courses. In identity-focused courses, the chapters can be rearranged to flow from performance to gender to race/ethnicity to religion to political power in a smooth reconfiguration of the materials. This works well specifically because the modularity facilitates the remixing of information to fit pedagogical needs.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This textbook is structured into two parts. In Part 1, the chapters deal with the standard materials of an introductory cultural anthropology course, like methodology, language, subsistence, race/ethnicity, religion, and kinship. In Part 2, the chapters contain more specialized topics, like environmental anthropology, medicine and wellness, and public anthropology. Thus, the basics that constitute an introduction to the discipline are all covered in Part 1, but the materials of Part 2 are available to remix the course to suit pedagogical focus. This results in a very flexible and adaptable textbook.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface is good. The ability to easily use a text reader, either online or by downloading the text, makes this a very accessible textbook. Likewise, the links that I have used have reliably connected to the intended materials. However, it is likely that link maintenance needs to be regularly and comprehensively reviewed. Overall, the ability to easily access this textbook online has never been a problem for me or my students.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The textbook is well written, well edited, and free from grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text draws upon many examples grounded in real world experiences and diverse situations from a variety of backgrounds. Examples like social dancing, sexist discourse in politics, and holiday gift giving situate the course concepts in a manner to which a diverse readership can easily relate. They help students think about complex issues, like global commodity chains, hegemonic bio-medical models of health, and performative configurations of subjectivity, through everyday experiences of these issues. Therefore, the textbook does an excellent job of illustrating the relevance of anthropological concepts through examples from a variety of backgrounds and positionalities.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This textbook provides a strong foundation for an introductory course in cultural anthropology. For an instructor who likes tailoring courses to their pedagogical focus, this book is easily remixable. For instructors who like supplementing with additional readings, the bibliographies in each chapter offer excellent suggestions. Finally, the support materials available, like the slides and text bank, can be a great assistance to novice instructors, as well as being viable timesavers for more experienced instructors. I have used this textbook a few times and have been greatly satisfied with it.","created_at":"2022-12-19T12:59:33.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-19T12:59:33.000-06:00"},{"id":35526,"first_name":"Erin","last_name":"Ferris","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Springfield Technical Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers a vast array of information related to cultural anthropology from the foundational knowledge needed such as language, politics, and family structures, followed by the inner workings of practicing cultural anthropology through media, performance, and public works. The table of contents is easily understood and provides proper navigation.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text is accurate and provides the foundational knowledge needed to study and learn about cultural anthropology. The key thinkers within the discipline are highlighted and provide solid information on the key concepts a student will need to successfully complete an introductory cultural anthropology course.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content of this book will need to be updated within a few years, but that is the nature of cultural anthropology. When discussing terms such as sex and gender, cultures can change rapidly. However, this would be true of most cultural anthropology books so it does not denote the significance of this OER.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"One of the predominate reasons I would use this text in the classroom is due to its readability. Although the topics can be dense, the authors have used common language that allows an introductory student to read with ease rather than becoming frustrated with discipline specific language that may not be easily comprehended.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The format and layout of each chapter is consistent, which permits readers to know what to expect from each chapter. Topics are easily located within the chapter and key words are bold faced allowing for quick retrieval.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"There are not enormous blocks of text that can be daunting for readers. The sections are manageable, which will not hinder the student from reading through the sections. Using this text for an introductory course will promote readership from students due to the ease of navigating the chapters and the content.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of this text is in a logical order and builds upon concepts as the reader continues through each chapter. This is beneficial for professors using this book because it follows a very similar flow as a typical intro to cultural anthropology course would follow.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"When reviewing this text, there were no navigation concerns. This is a great benefit of this book because technical issues can cause students to forego the reading.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Little to none grammatical errors were found while reading this text. Sentence structure is at college level while providing all the necessary information needed for this topic.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Given the nature of the text, this book is culturally sensitive. Many different races, ethnicities and backgrounds are highlighted and celebrated. The pictures related to the context are diverse and represent many different types of people, which is representative of our diverse world.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I will be adopting this book for my upcoming anthropology course. When I first started teaching cultural anthropology over a decade ago there were no OER options. I am glad there is finally a suitable book for my students that is easily read, interesting, and provides all the information they need to succeed in my course!","created_at":"2025-06-15T10:40:48.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-06-15T10:40:48.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/perspectives-an-open-invitation-to-cultural-anthropology","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:37:56.000-06:00"},{"id":921,"title":"The American LGBTQ Rights Movement: An Introduction","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2020,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781947112445","license":"Attribution-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"The American LGBTQ Rights Movement: An Introduction is a peer-reviewed chronological survey of the LGBTQ fight for equal rights from the turn of the 20th century to the early 21st century. Illustrated with historical photographs, the book beautifully reveals the heroic people and key events that shaped the American LGBTQ rights movement. The book includes personal narratives to capture the lived experience from each era, as well as details of essential organizations, texts, and court cases that defined LGBTQ activism and advocacy.","contributors":[{"id":5293,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Kyle","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Morgan","location":"Humboldt State University","background_text":"Kyle Morgan is the Scholarly Communications and Digital Scholarship Librarian at Humboldt State University. He facilitates the publication of research, scholarship, and creative works at Humboldt State University Press. Kyle previously worked as an archivist at ONE Archives at the University of Southern California."},{"id":5294,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Meg","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Rodriguez","location":"Humboldt State University","background_text":"Meg Rodriguez worked as an HIV researcher/educator for epidemiologists at UC San Francisco, where she worked with at-risk LGBTQ youth and homeless transgender people. She wrote biographical panels on lesbians for ONE National Lesbian and Gay Archives at the University of Southern California. She currently works as a librarian for a national law firm. She is a graduate of Antioch College Los Angeles."}],"subjects":[{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":900,"url":"https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/hsu_press/","year":null,"created_at":"2020-10-18T19:38:30.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-10-18T19:38:30.000-05:00","name":"Humboldt State University Press"}],"formats":[{"id":1821,"type":"PDF","url":"https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/textbooks/2/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"5","textbook_reviews_count":3,"reviews":[{"id":33955,"first_name":"Valerie","last_name":"Sharer Rodriguez","position":"Department Chair \u0026 Associate Professor","institution_name":"Tidewater Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text addresses most topic areas covered in an introductory LGBT course. I am impressed that the authors are very comprehensive in their topic coverage. They included the essential items and true stories within the chapters that make the textbook more exciting and easy to read.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The definitions are accurate and accessible. They deliver essential information and history for thinking about and discussing LGBT.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content is very relevant; however, this text was written in 2020, which is imperative; given the current conditions in the United States, it would probably need to arrange in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I find this text to be easy to read and enjoyable.  Reading history can be difficult; however, this text is easy to comprehend, especially for students in introductory courses.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"All the phrases and materials are consistent and clear.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I love the format.  I appreciate the authors' way of developing the textbook as it is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is very organized, and the topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No significant interface issues. It is leisurely to navigate the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"All looks good -- I didn’t find any grammatical issues in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The author includes most examples of various races, ethnicities, and backgrounds in American's LGBT history.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is an excellent text.  It is easily readable.  I always appreciate the personal narratives in the text to make it intriguing to the readers.","created_at":"2022-07-19T12:41:50.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-07-19T12:41:50.000-05:00"},{"id":34107,"first_name":"Katherine","last_name":"Fox","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Southern Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"A lot of work and research went into this book!  I really appreciated the ways that these authors divided the American LGBTQ Rights movement into eras and offered diverse perspectives from each time period.  Within content on LGBTQ rights, it is common to hear about a few main figures from New York or San Francisco, but this book also offers, for example, experiences of queer people from pre-Stonewall Texas and Ohio.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is accurate and well-chosen; authors do a good job of highlighting historical events and why they are important.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book speaks to issues up until 2020, the year of publication.  The final chapter may need to be reorganized to update in the future; perhaps the beginning of the 21st century will need to become its own particular era, with a different concluding chapter.  Still, I think this book will be relevant without updates for several years.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clear prose that uses terminology of queer communities without excessive jargon.  Statements at the beginning of chapters clarify that the appropriateness of a given term changes over time, and explains how the terminology used in the era of the current chapter is or is not still used as of publication.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistent throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters pertaining to different eras would be easily assigned as separate readings.  Within the chapters, sections and special topics divide the reading into easily digestible chunks (rather than extensive text).","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Clear chronological organization.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Consistent themes in graphic design, including font choices and color scheme, smoothly guide the reader through the material.  Images are mostly medium-sized and embedded in the text, as opposed to having large images that break the text and create confusing navigation issues.  It prints well - no strange breaks or page layouts.   My one criticism is that there are large graphics at the beginning of each chapter that would look great as a two-page spread in a physical copy, but are somewhat confusing when scrolling vertically through a digital copy.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The authors clearly made efforts to include diverse and intersectional perspectives from every era of American LGBTQ history.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is an excellent resource.  It is easily readable without being too introductory in tone, which makes it useful for classes at a variety of levels.","created_at":"2022-11-04T13:17:41.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-11-04T13:17:41.000-05:00"},{"id":35614,"first_name":"Dana","last_name":"Cochran","position":"Instructor, Women's and Gender Studies","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text presents a thorough and easily accessible 20th Century record of the American LGBTQ Rights Movement.  The overview of the Movement covers both the major figures and the identifiable eras of LGBTQ history in a way that younger students can comprehend and analyze.  For a generation that potentially has no understanding of the challenges and dangers of those who were included in the LBGTQ community, this text introduces important material to explain the systemic discrimination and oppression perpetrated upon that vulnerable group during most of the 20th century.  This history is incredibly important in order for our younger students to comprehend the progress of our society in addressing the inequities suffered by the LBGTQ demographic during the 20th century, as well as what challenges still exist.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The issues addressed by this text are quite accurate and unbiased.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text was released in 2020, and the information presented up to that point is relevant and accurate.  Since the text presents as a history of the LGBTQ Rights Movement, any updates could be easily added, given the chronological organization of the material.  In view of the critical nature of the current American political situation that exists in 2025, there are a number of updates that could be included in any future releases of this information.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing of this text is really accessible for students and instructors of gender studies, particularly in this introductory format.  The definitions presented clarify the jargon that may be used both here and in other sources our students may encounter.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent in terms of terminology and framework.  The text is easily accessible and the writers clearly make an effort to help readers understand the jargon and terminology of gender studies in a 21st century context.  The \"definition of terms\" throughout the text is so helpful, not only to students but to instructors who may utilize the material.  \r\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The organization of the text is so easily assigned in smaller increments for student examination.  Each chapter is subdivided into subheadings that could very nicely be assigned for short short readings.  The chronological organization of the material is especially conducive to assigning specific sections for individual assignments.\r\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chronological organization of this material is quite easy to follow, and it is helpful for those of us who utilize a historicist approach to gender-related material  The separation of topics, as well as the chronological format, is helpful for creating a timeline of the realities of those in the LBGTQ community and the activists who supported critical issues at specific times and spaces during the 20th Century.  The references to legal milestones during this time period are particularly helpful in reinforcing that activism requires not only grassroots efforts but establishing legal precedents in protecting the civil rights of any community--in this case, the LBGTQ community.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This text is really beautifully easy to navigate, from beginning to end.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is grammatically correct.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is very inclusive of races, ethnicities and backgrounds.  Especially impressive and effective are the personal stories included throughout the text.  Reading the stories from individual voices is important to make the presentation of this material real to students who may not know the lived experiences of those in the LGBTQ community, past and present.  ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The Appendices are particularly well organized and helpful, for instructors and students.  The books listed are probably more crucial to instructors than students, especially in terms of the critical texts of gender studies during the 21st century.  The subheadings that include Organizations, Texts , Glossary, Photo Credits, Websites are thorough and up-to-date through the 2020 date of publication.  For anyone--instructor or student--who desires a thorough Bibliography into the 20th history of gender activism, the Bibliography is invaluable.  The 'Wikipedia' entries may be a bit more questionable in terms of academic rigor.  However, those entries can be utilized as a basic intro into topics that can segue into valid scholarly sources.","created_at":"2025-08-31T22:31:30.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-08-31T22:31:30.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-american-lgbtq-rights-movement-an-introduction","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:30:11.000-06:00"},{"id":939,"title":"Intercultural Communication","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2020,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Intercultural Communication examines culture as a variable in interpersonal and collective communication. It explores the opportunities and problems arising from similarities and differences in communication patterns, processes, and codes among various cultural groups. It explores cultural universals, social categorization, stereotyping and discrimination, with a focus on topics including race, ethnicity, social class, religion, gender and sexuality as they relate to communication.","contributors":[{"id":5319,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Shannon","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Ahrndt","location":"University of Missouri-St. Louis","background_text":"Shannon Ahrndt, University of Missouri-St. Louis"}],"subjects":[{"id":46,"name":"Cultural \u0026 Ethnic Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HM621","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/cultural-ethnic-studies"},{"id":16,"name":"Journalism, Media Studies \u0026 Communications","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"P91.3","visible_textbooks_count":57,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/journalism-media-studies-communications"},{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":918,"url":"https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/","year":null,"created_at":"2020-12-11T02:09:27.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-11T02:09:27.000-06:00","name":"University of Missouri - St. Louis"}],"formats":[{"id":1918,"type":"PDF","url":"https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/24/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":16,"reviews":[{"id":4525,"first_name":"Jackie","last_name":"Mosley","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Arkansas","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I have yet to find a textbook that fits with my Cultural Competence course, and this might just be the one! This text covers various theories of cultural competence, without going into a \"boring theories section\", which is difficult to find. The material is presented in an easy way for my undergraduate students to comprehend with tangible examples, rather than larger concepts and ideas that are often boring or more difficult to understand.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is timely and accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book is super relevant right now, and could be utilized in so many different types of social sciences courses. This text was written in 2020, which is imperative, given the current climate in the United States and has timely topics related to cultural events.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Text is very easy to comprehend, especially for undergraduate students in introductory courses related to cultural competence.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistent terms and material.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I love that the Learning Objectives are very clear and then what major terms will be focused on in the module - very helpful for readers (students) and faculty who want to organize for their own class. I also enjoy the Takeaways at the end of the module that are bulleted - easier to read quickly vs. a large paragraph of a summary. I think students would enjoy this too.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"I feel that the material (especially in the 1st module) jumps around and covers a lot of material, that I'm not quite sure how I would adapt in my own classroom. It will make it difficult to specify which pages to read (or sections), but it is do-able. Just wish introductory terms were focused on first, and then go into more of the contextual issues later. But I also recognize, each curricula is organized by an Instructor's own preferences; and I may try to use the organization of this text for my class, is possible.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I enjoyed being able to click on citations or other images to discover more; very useful for an online textbook. I do wish there was a way to \"highlight\" specific things you like in the text that students can see, basically the Instructor telling students what is most important to read (I've seen this in other platforms and really enjoyed that).","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammar issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Inclusive book to all types of identities and communities related to cultural competence in the United States in today's modern age.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, this book is perfect for any course on cultural competence or diversity, equity and inclusion. It covers all the major groups/communities in the US; however, it could use more research and discussion on other diversity issues: ageism, body size issues and neuro-diversity.","created_at":"2021-01-06T10:16:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-02-02T18:09:34.000-06:00"},{"id":4585,"first_name":"Kerric","last_name":"Harvey","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"The George Washington University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is not just a comprehensive assemblage of material about the topic, but it actually stretches the conventional boundaries of \"intercultural communications\" in the best way possible -- and in a way that is long overdue. Intercultural communication, as a field, has always been one of those subjects best approached as a \"praxis,\" a vibrant, supple, dynamic combination of theory and practice that must react to changes in the \"real world\" just as nimbly as it responds to the development of new concepts and hypotheses. As such, any textbook in this discipline must be sensitive to shifting social values and cultural conventions to a degree that isn’t necessarily the case with other dimensions of communications studies, per se. Ahrndt’s text fulfils this requirement at the Olympic level. She not only covers the best and most enduring of the legacy material, but expands what “intercultural” means to include sub-divisions within the American “body cultural,” including LGBTQ+ populations, hearing impaired, differently-abled, gender fluid, religious, and other affinity groups not usually addressed in a text of this sort. She also addresses the “intercultural” communication dynamics among African-American, Native American, and Latinex, and several types of Asian, Arab, and Indian sub-continent populations whose immigrants and American-born descendants interact with Americans of European descent.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Interpreting the word “accuracy” to mean the degree to which the text presents without error the theories, concepts, specialized vocabularies, relevant canonical literatures, and real-world case studies used to create a teaching instrument, this text is remarkably accurate across a wide range of core and cognate fields and sub-fields of intercultural communication. The author also does an excellent job with the photograph captions that pepper the text, providing clear, concise, but comprehensive commentary for these illustrations that accurately capture the political context of the events, issues, and objects they depict without overt editorializing or, at the other extreme, falling back on such vapid, \"pro forma\" descriptions that the captions rob the photos of their cultural vibrancy. Not being able to fact-check the entire text, I can’t guarantee that single piece of information it contains is correct in all ways, but I didn’t see any conspicuous errors, or even anything that suggested less than scrupulous attention to factual detail.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This is an extra-ordinarily relevant text. It’s really the model for understanding what “culture” means in the 21st century, especially in pluralistic societies and taking into account the meta-societies created by the emerging acceptance of multiple identities on many dimensions. Even the case studies are contemporary to the moment (this review is being written in January 2021), including as they do references to the Marriage Equality Act, the Summer of Ferguson, Take Back the Night, the Parks 51 controversy, and on-going tensions about Confederate flags and statues. Although as time progresses and events continue to unfold, these “teaching examples” might diminish in terms of their immediacy, they will still provide emotionally accessible insights into tensions, topics, and events that will retain salience for a very long time to come. The text can also be easily amended to augment the current material with anecdotes and information that “brings it up to speed” in subsequent editions.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"One of the real joys of reviewing this text was how easy it was to read. The author moves along at a lively rate without short-changing important concepts or down-grading important theories into superficial versions of themselves. Instead, she condenses material without diminishing it, and does so using clear, approachable language that is deftly crafted and judiciously punctuated. Ideas are presented in digestible form and linked concepts are explored without falling into cumbersome, complicated grammatical constructions. Every chapter begins with a list of “key words” and any technical language or specialty vocabulary is explained organically within the text as it flows from point to point.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book is very consistent in terms of tone and authorial approach as well as structure and organization. Each chapter is organized the same way, utilizing the same elements, and the informational content itself is recognizably the same authorial “voice” all throughout the work. Terminology remains consistent throughout the entire text, as well.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book would be very easy to use as a course text. It’s broken up into subject-specific chapters that make intuitive sense, and each chapter is well-organized in a way that would translate easily to classroom presentation. Chapters build on each other as the book unfolds, but not to the extent that would prohibit instructors from re-arranging the chapters according to a different course organization, or using some and not others. This useful modularity continues within each chapter itself, in that instructors can avail themselves of all that each chapter offers, or can extract chapter sub-sections that can still stand on their own as teaching tools.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This book is very well-organized, in a way that leverages its modularity while simultaneously making it easy to use as a fully intact text, in its entirety. Specifically, each chapter begins with information about the source of the material within it, followed by a list of keywords and the learning objectives for that chapter. This is followed by the central material, augmented along the way with exercises, illustrations, relevant tables and graphs, and magazine-style “sidebars” in which the author raises pertinent questions or provides a more granulated look at the chapter’s main issues through a short “case study-like” story. Each chapter concludes with an executive summary of “key takeaways,” a chapter bibliography, and more structured and elaborate student exercises.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"As far as I can tell, there are no serious problems with the technological interfaces or the various links associated with this book. It’s an especially nice feature to be able to click on citations to add immediate texture and enhancement to what’s being covered in the text at hand.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I didn’t find any grammatical issues in the text. There were a few instances of odd spacing and of double-words, although I strongly suspect that’s a casualty of my own computer clunky “reading” of the pdf rather than something that’s actually there in the text itself. I did notice that the word “Dutch” was not capitalized in the caption for the photo of Tiger Woods.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book is absolutely culturally sensitive – in fact, I’d call it an exemplary model of how to do that well and gracefully. It’s also wonderfully diverse in the author’s attention to breaking up monolithic labels for what are rightfully heterogeneous populations. For example, she writes eloquently and sensitively about the diverse as well as the shared immigration experiences of the variety of Spanish-speaking peoples in the United States today, noting contrasts among Mexican, Puerto Rican, Central American, and other Latino and Latina groups. She repeats this useful approach several times, even when discussing the social biographies and the residual communication environments for different types of European immigrants. \r\nIn subsequent editions, I’d love to see her complexify her discussion of the Native American experience a little more, focusing perhaps on the meaningful linguistic differences as well as cultural norms among different tribal groups and addressing the special situations faced by reservations in the Far North, as well as those on which casinos are located, a challenging setting for intercultural communication if ever there was one. Another place where what she’s already doing well could be expanded would be a bit more material on the escalating presence of immigrants from the Indian sub-continent, especially the women who are making such remarkable contributions to American science and medicine.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is a highly readable, deeply sensitive, excitingly contemporary text. It preserves the best of the field’s canon while simultaneously introducing culturally salient, socially relevant, and intellectually invigorating new material that is highly relatable for today’s students and easily adaptable to a wide range of courses. I’m so taken with it that I’m already trying to figure out how I can use it in the courses I already teach, or use it as a springboard into ones I’ve yet to develop.","created_at":"2021-01-15T19:15:35.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-01-15T19:15:35.000-06:00"},{"id":4663,"first_name":"Cory","last_name":"Geraths","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor of Rhetoric","institution_name":"Wabash College","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book, unfortunately, is not comprehensive. The textbook proposes a focus on intercultural communication and, while this is a recurring theme throughout (particularly in the opening chapter), much of the content focuses more on the \"intercultural\" side of \"intercultural communication.\" The selections compiled by the editor into this text stem largely from Sociology and, while this is helpful to a degree from the perspective of interdisciplinarity, Communication teachers looking to use this book in an Intercultural Communication course will find the book quite light in terms of explicit focus on communication theories, practices, and situations. The text does not include an index, though it does include highlighted key terms throughout. Such terms are also noted at the outset of each chapter alongside core learning objectives. Each chapter also ends with a bulleted summary of key themes and most chapters (there is an inconsistency here) also include some exercises for students. Unfortunately, the learning objectives and summaries are often quite lengthy; a more refined list of student goals and key takeaways would be helpful.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The book does not contain, to my eye, significant issues in accuracy of content. The primary issue, as noted elsewhere in this review, stems from the need for a richer focus on Communication Studies as a discipline, broadly, and Intercultural Communication as a rich subfield of that discipline, specifically. Of particular concern, in my view, is that multiple chapters (namely, Ch. 5 on class and Ch. 7 on sexuality) lack a rich engagement with scholarship and other evidence. Rather than drawing upon work by academics and others, these chapters rely primarily on Wiki sources. And, while such sources can be useful as sites for general information, they lack a needed rigor and richness in the context of a textbook to be assigned to students.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"This textbook is inconsistent in terms of relevance. At times, examples are up-to-date (as in parts of Ch. 7 on sexuality). More often than not, however, the data marshaled and the examples proffered in this book lack a necessary recency. There are, for instance, multiple occasions where data is marshaled from the 1990s or 2000s. Such data is not explicitly connected to the present moment or even a more recent moment. It is, instead, used without sufficient context in a way that is troubling and would, in my view, lead a faculty member assigning this textbook to have to fill in the gaps on her own.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The seven chapters compiled by the editor into this text are, by and large, clearly written. Terms are clearly defined and highlighted, and the book appears as one would expect a textbook to appear. The prose is accessible was easy to follow. At times, however, I would have appreciated more explicit engagement with the student audience. It is not always clear that these chapters conceive of students as the primary audience; for instance, this is more common in Ch. 1 and Ch. 2 and much less so in later chapters.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"By and large, the textbook has a clear flow and is consistent in terms of terminology and framework. Because the chapters are taken from a variety of original open-access sources, however, there are occasional repeats in key terms and the style of language/prose is not always as consistent as one would like. Moreover, as noted elsewhere in this review, there are a few chapters that lack exercises for students at the end.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The textbook can certainly be divided into modules over the arc of a semester, quarter, or other class. I wish, though, that the chapters were more even in length. Ch. 1 and Ch. 2 are quite dense, and would likely need to be split up over a few days (depending on the level of the course and one's students). The latter chapters, on the other hand, were quite short and, at times, led to me desiring more information, content, and examples. That said, chapters all contain helpful subheadings and would be easily assigned to students in this regard.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes. The textbook, as compiled, moves from overarching theory in the beginning chapters to more specific subject areas. This makes sense at a logical level.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Yes. I found no significant issues with the interface. Links (at least those I clicked, worked) and images, charts, and figures were clear on the pages.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a handful of grammatical errors in this text. I noticed a few typos, words missing or out of order, and so forth. By and large, however, this is not a distracting issue.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found no significant issues here. The textbook works purposefully to cite examples across identity categories and life experiences.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I went into my reading of this text hopeful that I could assign it in a forthcoming upper-division Intercultural Communication course. I am, however, disappointed with the end product due to the reasons that I have noted above. And, for those reasons, I will look elsewhere for an open-access text on intercultural communication.","created_at":"2021-02-28T18:15:02.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-02-28T18:15:02.000-06:00"},{"id":4728,"first_name":"Noel","last_name":"Neptune","position":"Lecturer/Clinical Education Coordinator","institution_name":"University of Southern Maine","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Covers the content expected.  I appreciate all the works cited sections at the end of the chapters as well to see their references.  I think a section at the beginning of each chapter defining key terms would be beneficial.  I also like the explanation of some of the exercises that have been used when looking at cultural awareness.  It provides a lot of resources to look into to use for courses.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I believe the content is accurate and free of bias, but there are several points in the book that the author tells their own story.  I think these would make better boxed out discussion or authors thoughts rather than in the middle of the text.  The author also lists all of their references.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The content is up to date but I think many of the sections and references will seem poorly written as time goes on (refers to things in recent history, etc...).  I do like the historic timelines of important dates and those will be easy to update.  But the in-text references will be harder to update.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Fairly clear but I think a chapter in the beginning that clearly defined key words, or having tabs off of the text to do so would be helpful.  Some of the definitions of terms you had to read the whole section to decipher the authors definition. Also, lots of first person story telling.  I like the stories, but think they should be separated from the researched information.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The author is consistent throughout the entire book.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is obviously divided but I think it may even be more beneficial to break into even smaller segments.  I like books that make it easy to break up the reading into small segments with clear places you can stop and resume at later dates.  This does have several subsections you can do this with in some chapters but others it doesn't work as well.  Chapter 1 is a bit too long and reads dry.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Topics are all introduced but I find the flow of the book a bit choppy for some reason.  It might be because the book jumps from personal story to research, then to definitions and back and forth.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not have any issues with interface with the online text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No issues that I noticed but I will admit, this is not my strong point.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"It is a book about Intercultural Communications.  It can't get much more culturally relevant than that.  The examples the text used are all relevant to evaluating cultural awareness and competence.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I like the exercises at the end of the chapters.  I also enjoy the authors personal notes, just wish they were introduced outside of the chapter reading.  I would also add a list of terms and definitions at the beginning of the chapter for quick reference.  Overall a good text.  My biggest concern is the amount of timely references made in the book and how they will hold up and read with time.","created_at":"2021-03-31T12:28:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-03-31T12:28:36.000-05:00"},{"id":5036,"first_name":"Kristen","last_name":"Livingston","position":"Associate Instructional Professor","institution_name":"Pittsburg State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Very dense- all encompassing and dare I even say \"loaded\" with all of the connecting ideologies to sociological foundations. I worry that it is not effective in communication practices but may be helpful understanding people which is how connections in communication may be made. I would reduce the overwhelming focus on descriptions and focus on what intercultural means in terms of communication. Intercultural communication can be an overwhelming subject and this may encourage more anxiety with the topic. The key terms would benefit including definitions at the beginning or the end of the chapters to help reiterate the importance of those in relation to intercultural communication. The exercises are helpful to generate discussion/reiteration of content.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content, in accordance with best practices, theoretical framing, and academic acknowledgments, is referenced adequately. The citations at the end of each chapter clarify anything within the text that may encourage questioning. Intercultural communication is heavily reliant on experience as much as academics- I know this may not be a popular \"opinion.  Thus, this text does a good job collecting information to help further a classroom discussion.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Since intercultural is tangible and reliant on those individuals communicating, this book is relatively up to date but will not adjusted often. It is helpful to have the historical timelines, case studies, and the author's references to aid in the exploration of content. It will be up to the instructor to guide students through the text and engage them with approaches to understanding the content.  It helps to know where we have come from to know where the discussion will allocate further in the classroom.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The seven chapters are clearly written, organized, and offer context for the terminology used throughout the text.  It is easy to read, navigate, and connects the subject matter from chapter to chapter.  I would appreciate a bit more connectivity to student learning and an understanding that this can be very overwhelming (which at times I felt was without during my reading).","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent, has a clear identity in reading, and flows from one subject to the next.  Some chapters don't have the abundance of student inclusion (exercises) but that may be due to the subject matter in question. It does a good job in framing ideologies, given how the text pulls from a variety of resources, and condenses into a relatively unified voice.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters can be divided easily throughout a semester or a summer course.  Given the lengths of chapters, some information may need to be reduced by the instructor through picking and choosing the most important content (due to how much content there is overall). How each chapter is divided into sections is helpful to for discussions and assignments.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook is organized in an easy \"map\" formation that will lend to understanding one topic to the next. The subject builds upon itself to help set tone, standards, and understanding before moving on.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Everything worked, links were not broken, and imagery was clear without pixelation.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There were some typos that I caught during my brief experience with the text (however, due to how dense the material is, I am not surprise).","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is HIGHLY relevant and is inclusive by default of subject matter. However, all examples, case studies, and references help to monitor and recognize all aspects of intercultural exploration.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a well-written book that just needs some minor considerations as an adoption in class.  I think an instructor can cherry pick the materials from this text OR ultimately will choose to create content themselves from OER resources. Overall, I would recommend but each instructor should recognize how much material is embodied in the text, the scope of the text in seven chapters, and what they would like their students to learn most importantly.","created_at":"2021-06-03T14:03:02.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-06-03T14:03:02.000-05:00"},{"id":33544,"first_name":"Gloria","last_name":"Wenman","position":"Adjunct Instructor, English Language Acquisition","institution_name":"Kirkwood Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers a wide range of the American cultural landscape. It explains the history of certain issues with tact while also conveying the good and bad of historical figures and impactful decisions (historical as in the past few to many years ago). Explanations are placed with the initiation of a concept. This is convenient as it alleviates the need to grab another book to find the meaning. At times, explanations are tied back to previous concepts to help with understanding, e.g., “the socializing institutions we discussed earlier…” The table of contents could be revised to include headings within each chapter. This would help the reader to see at a glance all that a chapter focuses on, rather than just the chapter's main thesis.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"While most of the content consists of statements of fact, the author's opinions are obvious in the words used to examine different concepts. It is usually clear when the author's own viewpoint is being expressed. The content is well referenced with a discussion of the sourced information. In-text citations are linked to the reference page. Most of the references are linked to the originating document. This makes it easy to fact-check a discussed concept or approach. A random sampling showed that the author stayed true to the represented ideas of the linked articles.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Very few ‘currently trending’ words or phrases are used thus lessening the need for interpretation. This lends to the relevance of the material as it prevents ‘dating’ of the material. Much of the textbook is tied to the historical beginnings of certain outcomes. While the interpretation of these may change, hopefully, the facts won’t. When combined with common use words, this will keep the textbook from being outdated within the next decade (as is the case with many printed books).","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The author's style of writing helps the reader understand the different approaches used. The contained concepts are well defined and considered from several perspectives. It is also written with good sentence structure and paragraph placement making for a clearer understanding of theories, opinions, and explanations. Headers, sub-headers, and highlighting help to simplify content and connections.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The style of writing is consistent throughout the textbook. Words, phrases, and concepts of the same level of proficiency are conveyed in a similar manner throughout. Chapters are laid out in the same pattern making it easy to pinpoint references, suggested learning outcomes, key terms, key takeaways, and student exercises. The flow of the chapters is similar without any jarring (or chaotic) changes. The call-backs to previous chapters or discussions help to connect the entirety of the communication concept between and within different American ideals, beliefs, and systems.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Moving through the book in a linear fashion allows certain aspects to bloom in a particular way. However, the author’s way of developing the textbook does allow for segmentation. Chapters could be subdivided with the extractions combined in different ways. This helps home in on certain facets that may be at the forefront of common thought, the news of the day, or the planned focus of a class. This makes it easier to pick and choose which portions to use in classroom discussions. While each chapter has a set focus, some of the concepts do overlap. This helps with flow and understanding but may make it more difficult to subdivide without seeming fragmentary.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The textbook is organized into overall categories then subdivided into specific areas of focus. This continuity of structure helps the reader move from one aspect, or focus, of the chapter to another. However, some chapters begin with a story of a recent event, others start with consideration of different research, and yet others begin with an expressed opinion. While this might lend an interesting diversity, it impacts the flow between chapters. This keeps the textbook from being as useful of a classroom tool as it could be. Some chapters have questions after the opening foray, but most do not. The questions are useful because they make the reader immediately question their own biases. They also provide a great starting point for discussion-based classes.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Links within the document help with understanding. The links allow you to click on a keyword or reference and be taken to the definition or usage within the textbook. Getting back to your starting point is not as easy due to the necessity of scrolling back. Clicking on a picture byline or reference did not result in the same issue. Hitting the back button returns you to the exact place in the textbook you left. Perhaps the issue is only true of links within the document rather than those linked to outside sources. While this aspect is probably true of many online documents, having a link that goes backward and forwards could alleviate this.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are some dropped words, such as indirect articles, and some awkward word usage. However, I didn’t read it with the intent of proofreading, and the meaning and intent appear clear.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The dynamics and inter-connectedness of the different aspects of American culture are well explored. The textbook is somewhat limited to those already in or wishing to integrate into, the existing stratified American culture or to better understand their place(s) in it. For those coming to this country with the wish to understand the culture, and not change their own, this is a great overall introduction. However, while there may be commonalities between cultures, the book doesn’t consider outside backgrounds and cultures.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The textbook is focused on the intersectionality within American culture. It is more intracultural than intercultural. I had looked at this textbook for possible use in an English Language Acquisitions’ Culture and Communication class. This is a high-level class, and in the next lowest (in a progression-based system) we discuss a person’s culture of familiarity in comparison with the American culture. When I first looked at this book, it seemed to be a possibility. After more in-depth consideration though, I don’t think it will work for helping students to understand the American culture as it relates to their own. Thanks to the decent modularity, there are many facets that I can use. I just can’t use it as a whole class. I think this textbook is great, and I certainly like it for its inclusivity of American’s varied cultures.","created_at":"2021-12-15T16:04:39.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-15T16:04:39.000-06:00"},{"id":33770,"first_name":"Sweta","last_name":"Baniya","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Virginia Tech","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is less comprehensive than I thought. Though it covers a variety of important topics, I wanted some comprehensive historical grounding of IC and its importance.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"All content seems accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content is very relevant","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The language is really clear.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Information is very consistent. However, I think the history of IC is missing.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I think so! I like the format.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"It seems like there are so many items within one page but those are easily identifiable.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I like it.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No issues that I can think of","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"None that I can see.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think the book is really good. However, I think I wanted a comprehensive history of intercultural communication that will help the students to understand the grounding of IC. I do think the book is really good. However, I am not so confident in using only this text as my major text for my class. The chapter on Race and Ethnicity is really important. I will definitely assign some chapters from the book to my future IC class because the book has important topics.","created_at":"2022-04-01T13:21:51.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-04-01T13:21:51.000-05:00"},{"id":33963,"first_name":"Andrea (Ané)","last_name":"Pearman","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Tidewater Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Although the text covers a vast amount of content, there are foundational aspects of ICC that are not addressed as well as I would prefer.  There appears to be a more sociological or cultural anthropology focus to this text and less of a focus on the field of communication. For example, nonverbal communication was barely addressed yet it plays such a significant role in ICC.\r\n\r\nI appreciate the listing of key terms at the beginning of each chapter as well as the direct links between the listing and the content within the chapter.  I would recommend a well-structured glossary as an addition to this text or a detailed index to the entire text for reference; this would make content even more accessible for students.  I appreciate the inclusion (which is not rather standard process) of learning objectives for each chapter but I do not always see the connection within the chapters.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Content, without copiously scrutinizing each chapters’ content and fact checking each and every single reference, appears to be accurate. The author cites sources at the end of each chapter and within the content of the chapters.  Links to source citations are added within each chapter’s content for credibility and to enhance further research.  I appreciated the links within the \"References\" section for each chapter to easily access original source content.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Overall, the language of the writing does not tend to “date” the content as the author has written with “timeless” language.  The author includes both historical and current examples which may impact the long-term relevance of the text.  The inclusion of incredibly current content (text written in 2020 with sources from 2020) may help this text stand the test of time.  The language is current and there is a good inclusion of up-to-date examples of some concepts discussed within some of the content (particularly in the Ch. 7 Socialization and Human Sexuality).  These examples could easily be updated to keep the content as current as possible.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The chapters are clearly written with the author’s writing style being very “readable” and I feel that this puts the readers at ease regarding the content.  The author’s language is written at a level easily accessible for both higher and lower-level undergraduate course students.  The author uses anecdotes and personal examples to make the content more “relatable” and the author tries to create connections with students, overall, with the language style of the writing.  However, the somewhat heavy reliance on personal examples by the author can take away from the overall research value- for me, as a reader.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The chapters’ language, formatting and content follow a consistent pattern.  I appreciate the use of key terms, learning objectives, photo boxes, “getting real” and “getting plugged in “sections, key takeaways, examples, video links and one level of sub-heading throughout each chapter.  I would even value a further level of sub-heading, if possible, in future editions.  The flow of content is logical and consistent, but some chapters are significantly longer or include more content than others which requires the professor to break down into addition reading sections for students.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"In the text’s current organization, the chapters seem to flow logically into each other or lead logically to the next chapter’s content.  Having said this, the chapters are structured in a manner that they can easily be rearranged for teaching style and timing.  The subdivision of content with secondary headers within the chapters makes it easier to “pick and choose” if necessary, content to be addressed.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As previously noted, some chapters contain considerably more content than others and this could be modified with either adding more chapters OR more content to other chapters.  The flow of content is logical and well-structured.  There is consistency in the content included with the exception of some chapters including more pedagogical aids than others.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Basic but, overall, easy to use. Downloadable pdf with links (but it’s easy to lose your original place of reading when using links).  Although I appreciate the links for key words and source information, the “open in another tab” option is not available, but it would make the process easier to return to prior reading place.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not review the text as an editor nor run through editing software, but I did notice a few slight grammatical issues present; the errors were nominal and none that would impact the author’s credibility.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The examples were very current as well as relevant and, overall, would relate to, or at least interest, students.  I found the book to be sensitive to a variety of aspects of culture but found it to be somewhat “American-centric” meaning it was more relevant to North America than subcultures of other geographic areas (like Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe).","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I found the text to be an enjoyable read and I think students would find value in the content included.  I appreciated the key term links and exercises for students as well as the personal anecdotes of the author.  While the coverage of intercultural communication from a sociological perspective was quite thorough, I would not be able to use this as a “stand alone” source for my Intercultural Communication courses but would need to supplement with additional content regarding communication theories as well as more content from cultures outside of the United States.","created_at":"2022-07-28T12:53:51.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-07-28T12:53:51.000-05:00"},{"id":34039,"first_name":"Caleb","last_name":"Lamont","position":"Adjunct Faculty in Communication Studies","institution_name":"Eastern Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Various topics and theories are explored in the text and present them in a fun and engaging way. Everything is easy to understand throughout and students are able to see how one topic connects to another one.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Everything was accurate and relatable to the students.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Everything is very relevant and up-to-date. Granted, some things might need to be revised down the road in future editions to make things more relatable and current but as of today, everything was fine and relevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Everything was very easy to understand and flowed clearly from chapter to chapter.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The author was consistent throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Overall, everything is easy to understand throughout and is a solid text the way it is today. Everything flows and builds off of previous chapters/topics.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is very well organized and everything flows from the first chapter to the last chapter.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues with this, no broken links were found.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"While not a major issue, there were several typos and other grammatical errors in the text. Not a major issue at all though, and it did not take away from the material being presented to students.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The examples used were all current and relatable to students but it was more geared toward North American culture it seemed. Expanding the cultural examples being used is suggested for future revisions.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Overall, this is a solid text and does a great job presenting information to students.","created_at":"2022-09-09T17:35:09.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-09-09T17:35:09.000-05:00"},{"id":34134,"first_name":"Reslie","last_name":"Cortés","position":"Assistnat Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The information provided and the chapter organization is interesting and good but overall, I think this book is more about identity than culture. It covers very little ground to the extent that I would not be able to keep it as my main book and would only be able to use it to supplement a different text. It is also quite short at only 100 pages. So while it could be used as a helpful reference it’s not a stand-alone text.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"While the book often brings in widely accepted concepts regarding prejudice, there is insufficient/inaccurate discussion of how these function through colonialism. For example, in discussion of social class the author points to overpopulation in the global south. This is a myth borne out of colonial discourse which erases exploitation of these countries and has been widely disproven. We have also moved beyond considering oppression as an individual experience and much more structurally.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Does not extensively use “current events” to explain concepts so it feels very anachronistic. This could increase its longevity but also detaches it from everyday experiences.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Writing style is very clear, accessible, and personable. The author refers to themselves in the third person which I think student would like. Most students should be able to easily digest the reading.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The terminology is consistent, however there is an imbalance in paradigmatic coverage. There seems to be an implied assumption that all intercultural communication research has this critical approach which I feel is very inaccurate and limits the coverage on social scientific or interpretive perspectives in the field. In other words, presenting critical perspectives as the umbrella instead of one approach. I myself am I critical scholar, however in a survey course we must address the other paradigms as well.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters are 25 pages or less with plenty of subsections","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The chapters are divided by different identities and while this contributes to a good flow, there is more to intercultural communication than identity. I fear this organization has excluded some important themes such as cultural space, identity performance, globalization and modern-day imperialism, the role of media, cultural practices, language, etc. Furthermore, while intersectionality is discussed, this organization hampers readers ability to see how these functions because the identities are all discussed separately.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Well placed headers, images, charts. Links work correctly.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"None detected","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"There seems to be a hesitance address modern-day colonization and imperialism in this book. Additionally, I think it could be updated by using “enslavement” rather than “slavery”. It discusses important social inequalities at length but mostly at an individual level, leaving out explorations of more structural oppressions. There are also some red flags throughout that reveal internalized oppressive discourse of the author. For example the chapter on social class (only 10pgs or so)  talks about criminal justice and uses a photograph of a black man being arrested with no contextualization or discussion of rates of arrest in different communities or police brutality. Literally choosing to include this without drawing its relevance to culture. What was their goal for discussing this topic? Out of touch and completely unacceptable.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2022-11-09T13:08:53.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-11-09T13:08:53.000-06:00"},{"id":34165,"first_name":"Elissa","last_name":"Mitchell","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Southern Indiana","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers many areas (e.g., stereotyping, beliefs and values, race and ethnicity, social class, gender and sexuality) so it's\r\ndiverse enough to be used in a broad course, likely as a supplemental text/reading. Each chapter has a good overview of the topic. It\r\ndoesn't not go in depth on any one topic, so would be best for an introductory course.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"While I am not expert in this field, it appears as though the information in this book is based on the appropriate literature and is\r\nsupported by in-text citations and linked in the references.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This is an up-to-date discussion of intercultural communication, although I would have liked to have seen more of a discussion on\r\nnonverbal communication (an important factor). While language or preferred terms may evolve over time, this could easily be updated\r\nto reflect those changes. A list of key terms would be a nice addition to each chapter, perhaps included at the end with the key\r\ntakeaways.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found this to be a very well-written text. It is fairly informal, not including a lot of unnecessary jargon, and makes the text accessible\r\n(ideal for undergraduates). Personal examples and stories are included which engages the reader.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in terms of formatting, style of writing, and additional content (key takeaways, student exercises) throughout","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is a highly modular text and chapters could easily be used independently without assigning the whole text. Chapters on race or\r\ngender, for example, could be used as supplemental readings in courses addressing those topics. The chapters can be a bit long so\r\none might even consider breaking up chapters into subsections.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is well-organized and flows well. While some chapters start differently than others, I think that helps break up the monotony\r\nof some texts. The book starts with an overview of the topic and then each subsequent chapter talks about a specific aspect of culture\r\nor identity.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is free of significant interface issues or navigation problems. The images/charts are clear and cited \u0026 I appreciate the linked\r\nin-text citations.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"This is a well-written text with few grammatical issues. Those that are present do not detract from the topic or information being\r\npresented.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This is an appropriate book for intercultural communication from an American perspective. Those from other nations would likely have\r\na different view. That being said, the U.S. has many cultures and subcultures and this book does a nice job of discussing potential\r\nissues and considerations.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2022-11-18T13:00:34.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-11-18T13:00:34.000-06:00"},{"id":34284,"first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Pinheiro-Cadd","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Drake University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"While each chapter is of interest and potentially useful for an introductory course to intercultural communication, there is no index and no glossary. This could be addressed using ancillary materials, but it would not suffice as a stand-alone textbook.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is unbiased, taking a \"neutral\" stance on the various topics. The content is consistent with current research in the field, although there are some missing content that would be useful.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"My primary motivation for reviewing the text was to find a better presentation of the chapter on gendered communication, i.e., something that addresses more the interaction between males and females. While the text discusses the LGBTQ+ movement and community, it lacks a thorough discussion of communication within the community and with other communities. While the research in this area has not been largely forthcoming, most instructors will want a text (or replacement chapter) that is more current. A chapter devoted to acculturation might be a useful addition.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is very clearly written and 100% appropriate for an introductory course. Studnets who wish for or need material that can be applied directly to their lives without difficult jargon, this would be an appropriate selection.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Assessing this is a little difficult given that there is no index or glossary, but based on my reading, it is consistent. The framework remains consistent in that it is a very user-friendly text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I believe this is one of the strengths of the text. Individual chapters could be used to supplement or replace chapters of other texts. Alternatively, chapters of this text could be omitted and replaced by others more suitable to the instructor and their students. The divisions internally within each chapter have been well chosen.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The first three chapters of the text are the more \"theoretical,\" although they are easily processed by a reader unfamiliar with the field. The remainder of the chapter address various aspects of human society that face some of the issues addressed in the first three chapters.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There were no interface issues to note. Every chart and image were clearly displayed and easily understood.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were found.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Race, class, and gender were addressed in individual chapters. A discussion of communication between non-binary and binary/cis individuals would be an appropriate addition. No offensive material was detected.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Having known little about OER prior to the search that led me to this text, I was very pleasantly surprised to discover this text. It will be useful for future iterations of my courses.","created_at":"2022-12-15T10:30:40.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-15T10:30:40.000-06:00"},{"id":34646,"first_name":"Kay L.","last_name":"Colley","position":"Professor of Mass Communication","institution_name":"Texas Wesleyan University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a comprehensive yet concise read allowing students to really understand the basics of intercultural communication. The glossary provides a great resource for students and anyone who wants to understand how to more effectively communicate across cultures.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Most intercultural communication texts are written through a lens, so examples veer toward a focus on one area, usually the area of specialization of the author. This text provides a good depth of examples that seem to go beyond your traditional examples in such a text.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The basic theories and concepts of intercultural communication are tackled effectively in this text, and content is fairly up-to-date. As this topic changes so quickly, it is difficult to keep intercultural communications up-to-date, but examples and issues are relevant to today.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text is well-written and more accessible to students than several other texts I have reviewed. A limit on jargon and clear explanations of complicated topics make the text one that students will use.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistent use of terminology and phrasing is clear throughout the book.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The first two chapters are a bit long, especially chapter 1. Breaking the chapter into a bite-sized portion would be helpful.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Clear flow and logic are present in this text.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I was impressed by how the text looked. It is clear, attractive and written in a font that makes reading easier.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a few grammatical errors, which is common in most texts today. Nothing is glaring, in terms of grammar, but there are some S-V agreement issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The topics that this textbook covers are sometimes hot button. There are some graphics that may be jarring, but that is the nature of intercultural communications. In studying how to communicate effectively across cultures, there are times when issues must be addressed that are uncomfortable.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This textbook is far more accessible to my students than the previous textbook in terms of writing, tone and style. I really believe my students will understand the subject better as they use this text, which is integral to understanding how to communication effectively across cultures.","created_at":"2023-07-31T19:38:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-07-31T19:38:16.000-05:00"},{"id":34817,"first_name":"Christi","last_name":"Masters","position":"Clinical Associate Professor","institution_name":"Purdue University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This covers a fairly wide range of topics in regard to intercultural learning. For an introductory course (especially geared towards freshmen), this will provide a nice overview of topics. Given the title, I was expecting to see more comprehensive information about culture and communication (e.g., how to communicate more effectively). Chapter 1 covered this more comprehensively than the remaining chapters.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Overall the information is accurate and sources are cited. Writing about this topic can be tricky as we often view this from our own experiences in life, but the author appropriately references material discussed.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The overall topic and broad information is quite relevant. While there are a few examples that are recent, many of the examples (including video clips) were often quite old (and not clearly related to how it is relevant to current times).","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The clarity is excellent. I appreciated how each chapter provides clear learning objectives before getting started. The key terms at the start of each chapter (and being able to click on them for more information) was helpful, especially when thinking of the student perspective.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Consistency with terminology throughout the text was noted. The consistent start of each chapter with learning objectives and key terminology was helpful. All of the chapters ended with \"key takeaways\", but two chapters did not include \"exercises\" at the end of the chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Although chapter 1 was long and contained more information than others, there were still clear sections and subheadings that aided modularity. Although some of the information builds off previous content/chapters, it would still be feasible to assign a chapter or section and still make sense to the reader and allow for learning based on that specific assignment/chapter.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text was organized and flowed well while reading. As mentioned previously, the organization of each chapter was helpful (starting with learning objectives and key terms, and ending with key takeaways and exercises).","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The images and charts were clear. The key terms and videos were easy to click on and find. There were no distracting features noted.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"A few minor errors but nothing that hindered content or readability.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Given this is the focus of the text, it covers a range of cultural topics. Again, some of the information/examples are older and it would benefit from more recent examples.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"There were many things I appreciated about this text. For example, noting the importance of reflection and reflective practice when it comes to intercultural learning. I wish there was more focus and an explicit statement about intercultural communication competence being a life-long journey - you don't just one day become \"competent\". While I am sure the author knows that, I think an undergraduate student could read the section on ICC and think there is an \"endpoint\" where you are finally competent.","created_at":"2023-12-19T14:25:41.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-12-19T14:25:41.000-06:00"},{"id":35408,"first_name":"Brian","last_name":"Healy","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers the fundamental intercultural communication theories well in the first few chapters. As it moves into talking about the different spaces in which intercultural communication occurs, the text could provide more breadth in talking about","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurately cited and maintains the complexity of diverse and inclusionary perspectives expected in research and writing about intercultural approaches to communication.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"As the landscape and capacity to work in the field of intercultural communication are in varying states of flux, the text attempts to pindown current trends in this practice. There are new experiences and information that could be highlighted and added to make this text even more contemporary.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text provides a clear throughline for students to follow. Previewing key terms and learning objectives and concluding with key takeaways and exercises allows the reader multiple touchpoints for uptaking the material through repetition.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The writing style is consistent, and the deployment of theory and terminology reinforces the overarching ideas within each chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It was easy to chunk into smaller sections for easier intake for the student. The heading and subheadings make this easy.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is straightforward and moves from fundamental theories to application in a logical fashion","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Navigating this text is straightforward, and the media worked consistently.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Moments of grammatical error occurred, and they did not detract from the overall capacity to make sense of the text.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text covers the more prominent and fundamental theories and terms of intercultural communication well. Due to the scope of the text, there are particular aspects of the study that the book could spend more time unpacking. I can see a further iteration of this text taking time and space in these efforts.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2025-03-14T11:23:13.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-03-14T11:23:13.000-05:00"},{"id":35507,"first_name":"Ketevan","last_name":"Mosashvili","position":"Part-time faculty","institution_name":"Bridgewater State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text presents a wide range of topics and theories within Intercultural Communication in an engaging and accessible manner. It effectively demonstrates the interconnectedness of key concepts, enabling students to develop a coherent understanding of how cultural frameworks influence communication practices","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text demonstrates a high level of accuracy in presenting theories, concepts, terminology, and case studies across the field of intercultural communication.  I found no noticeable errors or signs of careless research, suggesting strong attention to factual accuracy throughout.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text is highly relevant and offers a compelling framework for understanding culture in today’s pluralistic and identity-rich societies. The text is also flexible enough to be updated with newer examples in future editions.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"One of the strengths of this text is its readability. The author presents complex ideas clearly and concisely, without oversimplifying key theories. The writing is engaging and accessible, with well-structured explanations and smooth transitions. Each chapter begins with key terms, and specialized vocabulary is introduced naturally within the flow of the text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book maintains a consistent tone, structure, and authorial voice throughout. Each chapter follows the same format, and key terms and concepts are used uniformly across the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is highly adaptable for course use, with clearly structured, subject-specific chapters that flow logically but can be rearranged or used independently. Its modular design also allows instructors to use entire chapters or standalone sections as needed.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This book is well-organized to support both modular use and reading as a whole. Each chapter starts with source info, keywords, and learning objectives, then presents core content enhanced by exercises, illustrations, tables, and magazine-style sidebars offering deeper insights. Chapters end with key takeaways, a bibliography, and detailed student exercises.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book’s technological features and links work smoothly. The clickable citations are a particularly helpful feature, adding immediate context and depth to the material.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors found.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is a good example of cultural sensitivity combining all kinds of groups, communities and experiences.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I am considering incorporating this book into my Cultural Psychology course and highly recommending it to colleagues in related fields.","created_at":"2025-06-06T13:35:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-06-06T13:35:58.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/intercultural-communication","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:30:48.000-06:00"},{"id":1123,"title":"Gendered Lives: Global Issues","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2021,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"A gender studies textbook that takes an anthropological approach. Gendered Lives takes a regional approach to examine gender issues from an anthropological perspective with a focus on globalization and intersectionality. Chapters present contributors’ ethnographic research, contextualizing their findings within four geographic regions: Latin America, the Caribbean, South Asia, and the Global North. Each regional section begins with an overview of the broader historical, social, and gendered contexts, which situate the regions within larger global linkages. These introductions also feature short project/people profiles that highlight the work of community leaders or non-governmental organizations active in gender-related issues. Each research-based chapter begins with a chapter overview and learning objectives and closes with discussion questions and resources for further exploration. This modular, regional approach allows instructors to select the regions and cases they want to use in their courses. While they can be used separately, the chapters are connected through the book’s central themes of globalization and intersectionality.","contributors":[{"id":5620,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Nadine","middle_name":"T.","last_name":"Fernandez","location":"SUNY Empire State College","background_text":"Dr. Nadine T. Fernandez is a cultural anthropologist and professor in the Social Science \u0026 Public Affairs Department at SUNY Empire State College. She has BA in Urban Studies and History from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters and PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. She has over 20 years of experience teaching traditional and non-traditional students in the classroom and online, and has recently begun creating and using Open Educational Resources (OERs) in her courses. Her research examines migration, race and gender relations in Cuba. In 2015 she received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. Her publications include: Revolutionizing Romance: interracial couples in contemporary Cuba (Rutgers University Press 2010); an edited book (with Christian Groes) Intimate Mobilities: sexual economies, marriage and migration in a disparate world (Berghahn Books 2018); and several book chapters and journal articles."},{"id":5621,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Katie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Nelson","location":"Inver Hills Community College","background_text":"Katie Nelson is an instructor of anthropology at Inver Hills Community College. Her research focuses on identity, belonging and citizenship(s) among migrant and undocumented populations in the U.S., Mexico and Morocco. She is particularly interested in examining how migrants forge a sense of identity and belonging in the contexts of national discourses that problematize their presence. She received her BA in Anthropology and Latin American Studies from Macalester College, her MA in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an MA in Education and Instructional Technology from the University of Saint Thomas and her Ph.D. in socio-cultural anthropology from CIESAS Occidente, Guadalajara, Mexico. Dr. Nelson serves as the Online Content Editor for the Teaching and Learning Anthropology Journal. She is also a managing editor for Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology, a forthcoming open access textbook. She recently authored a chapter in Perspectives: An Open Access to Cultural Anthropology, an open access textbook."}],"subjects":[{"id":46,"name":"Cultural \u0026 Ethnic Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HM621","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/cultural-ethnic-studies"},{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":1102,"url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/","year":2021,"created_at":"2022-01-07T19:44:34.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-01-07T19:44:34.000-06:00","name":"Milne Open Textbooks"}],"formats":[{"id":2777,"type":"eBook","url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/download/gendered-lives-epub/?tmstv=1672237198","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2778,"type":"PDF","url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/download/gendered-lives-epub/?tmstv=1672237198","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2779,"type":"Online","url":"https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/genderedlives/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":34535,"first_name":"Katrina","last_name":"Heimark","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"Century College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"While not an expert in Gender Studies, this book does a great job of exploring a diversity of gender-related issues from an anthropological perspective, such as indigenous women, coming-of-age rituals, masculinity, fatherhood, motherhood, and feminism. The text does a fantastic job of delving into different issues surrounding gender in South Asia, Latin America and the Carribbean, and the Global North. Additional focus on other regions of the world, such as the Middle East and Africa would bring additional strength to this text. Also, I was surprised by the lack of a chapter dedicated to Ni Una Menos, one of the largest feminist movements in Latin America.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As far as I am able to tell, this is a highly accurate text book that relies on many deep dives into case studies.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text was published in 2022 and the case studies contained within will be relevant for many years to come.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook does an exceptional job of providing context for terminology, which makes this book particularly accessible for a non-gender studies audience.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework of the text is consistent throughout the chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The design of the text is fantastic for undergraduates, with many sub-blocks of text, images, and sub-units that contribute to learning and understanding.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of the text is logical and clear.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface of the text is a pdf, which makes it slightly more difficult to navigate easily (it has more than 400 pages). An online text would be easier to navigate for students, in my opinion.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not identify glaring grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text does an incredible job of contextualizing gender and gender studies across diverse cultural contexts throughout the world. The examples draw on multiple groups of people from diverse ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, educational, and other backgrounds.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2023-05-01T17:00:12.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-05-01T17:00:12.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/gendered-lives-global-issues","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:34:19.000-06:00"},{"id":1176,"title":"Women Worldwide: Transnational Feminist Perspectives","edition_statement":"2nd Edition","volume":null,"copyright_year":2022,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781955101318","license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"During the past few years, we’ve witnessed how interconnected our world is. These instances of global interconnection—both positive and negative—have differing impacts on people based on gender while also creating and reinforcing the ways people experience gender. We see that experiences of gender are always shaped by nationality, race/ethnicity, sexual identity, social class, ability, age, and religion. This social construction of gender, its shaping of the world, and its effects on individuals and groups of people are at the core of this textbook.","contributors":[{"id":5736,"contribution":"Editor","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Tracy","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Butts","location":"Chico State","background_text":"Tracy R. Butts, upon the completion of her PhD in English (University of Georgia, 2001), joined the faculty at Chico State as a professor of American and African American literature. A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Butts earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Virginia Tech. Prior to her appointment as dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, she served as the director of multicultural and gender studies, chief diversity officer, and chair of the Department of English. She is a firm believer that with privilege comes great responsibility, which is why service is a top professional priority for her. Butts is a recipient of the Lantis Endowed University Professorship, the A. S. Women’s Center Carol Burr Lifetime Achievement Award, the Black Grad Celebration Outstanding Faculty Award, and the 2015/16 Outstanding Faculty Service Award."},{"id":5737,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Patti","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Duncan","location":"Oregon State University","background_text":"Patti Duncan is the editor of Feminist Formations and an associate professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Oregon State University, where she specializes in women of color feminisms and transnational feminisms. She is author of Tell This Silence: Asian American Women Writers and the Politics of Speech (University of Iowa Press); coeditor of Mothering in East Asian Communities: Politics and Practices (Demeter Press); and coeditor of Women’s Lives around the World: A Global Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO)."},{"id":5738,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Janet","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Lockhart","location":null,"background_text":"Janet Lockhart has dual master’s degrees in speech-language pathology and interdisciplinary studies (scientific and technical communication, archaeology, and women’s studies). She is a pediatric speech-language pathologist working with special needs children, with an interest in multicultural issues and the development of bilingualism in young children. This is her seventh collaboration with Susan Shaw; their publications include Making Connections: Your Education, the World Community, and You; Writing for Change: Raising Awareness of Difference, Power, and Discrimination; The Power of Words: Examining the Language of Ethnic, Gender, and Sexual Orientation Bias (for Learning for Justice, formerly Teaching Tolerance); Women’s Lives around the World: A Global Encyclopedia, winner of the 2018 American Book Fest Award in Women’s Issues; and Women and Religion: Global Lives in Focus."},{"id":5739,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Susan","middle_name":"M","last_name":"Shaw","location":"Oregon State University","background_text":"Susan M. Shaw is a professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Oregon State University. With Janet Lee, she is coauthor of Gendered Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. She is author of Reflective Faith: A Theological Toolbox for Women and God Speaks to Us, Too: Southern Baptist Women on Church, Home, and Society, and is coauthor of Intersectional Theology: An Introductory Guide (with Grace Ji-Sun Kim) and Girls Rock! Fifty Years of Women Making Music (with Mina Carson and Tisa Lewis). She is the general editor of Women’s Lives around the World: A Global Encyclopedia and Women and Religion: Global Lives in Focus. She is a senior columnist for Baptist News Global and a regular contributor to Ms. magazine online. She has published in Inside Higher Education, The Conversation, the Berkeley Forum, Good Faith Media, and Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. She is also founding coeditor of the ADVANCE Journal."}],"subjects":[{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"}],"publishers":[{"id":1155,"url":"https://open.oregonstate.education/","year":2022,"created_at":"2022-05-27T11:10:22.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-05-27T11:10:22.000-05:00","name":"Oregon State University"}],"formats":[{"id":2931,"type":"Online","url":"https://open.oregonstate.education/womenworldwide/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2932,"type":"PDF","url":"https://open.oregonstate.education/womenworldwide/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"5","textbook_reviews_count":5,"reviews":[{"id":34277,"first_name":"Beth","last_name":"Younger","position":"associate professor","institution_name":"Drake University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book seems fairly comprehensive and does an excellent job of theorizing the differences among globalism and transnational feminism; these distinctions are vital especially when teaching in a PWI. Intersectionality is much more than considering multiple perspectives--and this textbook offers a comprehensive overview of what it means to theorize transnational feminism.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not come across any inaccuracies.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This textbook is current and extremely relevant. The chapters on world media, sexuality in global context, the body, violence, religion, and activism are all topics that I currently cover in my introduction to women's and gender studies course. I can see how teaching the course through a transnational lens could be eye-opening and vital in the 21st century.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found this book to be incredibly clear--even though there are multiple authors the book flows from one topic to the next in a smooth and seamless fashion. I especially think the way this book is written would be accessible for undergraduates learning about transnational feminism.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I'm not sure what consistency means in this context, but the book is consistently challenging and thought-provoking. I think the indues and ideas are presented clearly and cohesively, but with room to be challenged and interrogated.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I think this book is absolutely readily divisible. I have already thought about how I might use the section on \"global politics of the body\" in my next intro to WGS course. I think this chapter in particular does a fantastic job of challenging western, white, liberal feminist ideologies.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization is perfect.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No problems whatsoever with navigation or distortion.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammar errors that I could see.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The main idea of this book is to address the variety of human beings globally in terms of feminist thought and theory. It does an excellent job covering and illuminating a variety of races, ethnicities and backgrounds in a culturally sensitive fashion.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Great text.","created_at":"2022-12-13T16:25:46.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-13T16:25:46.000-06:00"},{"id":34475,"first_name":"Arlene","last_name":"Sgoutas","position":"Professor, Gender Women and Sexualities Studies","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook has a comprehensive list of subjects related to the events that shape the lives of diverse women around the globe. It lacks an index, and encourages students to collectively build their own glossary as a learning activity.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book's content is well-sourced and provides additional resources for students to do additional research and formulate their own opinions on the issues covered in each chapter.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book is organized in such a way that updates will be straightforward to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is clear, concise, and accessible to a range of students. I can see using sections of it for both for both lower and upper-division classes.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book has a certain flow to it that will keep students' engage in its content.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is divided into chunks that allows for more in-depth discussion of particular issues within each section.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion. Yet, I can see altering the order for particular courses without disrupting to its flow.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not encounter any issues with the interface of the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text puts forth a transnational feminist perspective that is inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and background. It challenges the reader to de-center Western, liberal frameworks and gives agency to multiple voices.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2023-03-27T11:48:01.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-03-27T11:48:01.000-05:00"},{"id":34622,"first_name":"Yalda","last_name":"Hamidi","position":"Assistant Professor of Gender and Women's Studies","institution_name":"Minnesota State University Mankato","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book Women Worldwide: Transnational Feminist Perspectives offers an extensive range of subjects explored by transnational feminists from the 1990s onwards. Alongside its comprehensive coverage of various topics, the book also equips readers, particularly students, with the essential historical context, developmental trajectories, and fundamental definitions required for feminist classrooms.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"What sets this book apart from other Open Educational Resources (OER) materials is the collective collaboration of prominent feminist scholars renowned in their respective subfields. This extensive expertise lends unparalleled credibility to the resource, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the scholarship presented within.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book covers an extensive array of topics, spanning from chapters on families and gender-based violence to discussions on war and peace, sexualities, and reproductive justice. Many of these subjects are current and trending within the academic field of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. By offering access to a survey that is highly relevant to our time and culturally sustainable for the lives of our students in 2023, the book ensures an engaging and meaningful learning experience.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The language used in transnational feminism can occasionally be complex and filled with jargon, which can pose a challenge for students. Nonetheless, each chapter in this book goes the extra mile to present examples, offer contextualization, and simplify intricate theoretical concepts, making them accessible and comprehensible for students and non-academic readers.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"In the opening chapter of the book, Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt and Kiana Anderson establish the foundation of transnational feminism as a tradition rooted in critical race feminism and postcolonial feminism. This framework consistently guides the subsequent chapters, offering students a strong comprehension of the subject matter. By providing instructors with this resource, it empowers them to effectively utilize the book and assist their students in recognizing these theoretical elements across the various discussion topics explored in each chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"While maintaining a cohesive framework throughout, each chapter of this book possesses the ability to function independently and can be applied in a diverse range of courses, such as Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, as well as other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. These chapters provide valuable insights into the lives and experiences of women worldwide, making them relevant and applicable across various academic contexts and valuable for different types of modules.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of each chapter in this book is skillfully executed. While the chapters establish connections and maintain a coherent thread, they also function effectively as standalone units. In other words, the book exhibits a strong overall organization, yet the chapters could be arranged in different configurations without compromising their individual effectiveness.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book prints beautifully, catering to students and readers who prefer working with physical copies. Furthermore, it seamlessly integrates into D2L pages, allowing students to access and read it online without encountering interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were detected.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The chapters of this book exhibit inclusivity, cultural responsiveness, and thematic sustainability, ensuring relevance and resonance for readers and students from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented communities. The authors' expertise and careful consideration of these topics have resulted in a successful impact that fosters a sense of connection and understanding.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I extensively utilized this book in both my undergraduate (300-level) and graduate (600-level) courses on Transnational Feminism. In my graduate course, I supplemented it with The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminist Movements, as both resources share a similar approach. Moreover, I incorporated individual chapters from this book into various syllabi. Students have expressed their enjoyment of the reading process, and this book has proven instrumental in helping them grasp more intricate theories and concepts. It serves as a gateway to deeper understanding for them.","created_at":"2023-06-26T14:13:53.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-06-26T14:13:53.000-05:00"},{"id":35134,"first_name":"Nadia","last_name":"Mohamed","position":"Professor, Global Studie","institution_name":"Anoka-Ramsey Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"One of the strengths of \"Women Worldwide\" is its emphasis on intersectionality. The editors and contributors consistently foreground the ways in which different forms of oppression intersect and impact women's lives. This approach not only enriches the reader's understanding of global feminism but also underscores the importance of considering multiple axes of identity and power.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book's dense academic language may be challenging for newcomers to feminist studies. Additionally, while the theoretical discussions are strong, there is sometimes a gap between theory and practical activism.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"\"Women Worldwide\" is an essential read for anyone interested in global feminism. It offers a comprehensive and empathetic exploration of women's lives and struggles, making a significant contribution to feminist literature.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is meticulously organized into sections that cover a wide range of topics, including women's rights, labor, health, migration, and activism. Each section offers a blend of theoretical insights and practical examples, highlighting the diversity of women's experiences and the various ways in which they navigate and resist oppression.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The inclusion of personal narratives and testimonies adds a powerful and relatable dimension to the theoretical discussions. These stories bring to life the real-world implications of feminist theories and provide a poignant reminder of the human faces behind the statistics and academic debates.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"While \"Women Worldwide\" is an excellent resource, it is not without its limitations. Some readers might find the dense academic language and theoretical jargon challenging, particularly if they are new to feminist studies. Additionally, although the book aims to be comprehensive, the vast scope of the topics means that some areas are covered more thoroughly than others. For example, certain regions and issues may receive less attention due to the constraints of the anthology format.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Language: Dense academic jargon can be challenging for newcomers.\nTheory vs. Practice: There's sometimes a gap between theoretical discussions and actionable strategies for activism.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"\"Women Worldwide\" is a vital resource for understanding and engaging with transnational feminist issues. It offers a comprehensive and empathetic exploration of women's lives, making it essential for students, scholars, and activists committed to gender justice.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar in \"Women Worldwide\" is precise and well-edited, maintaining a high academic standard. The writing is clear, though at times complex, reflecting the depth and rigor of the subject matter. The use of academic jargon and theoretical language is appropriate for the book’s intended audience of scholars and advanced students, but may require additional effort for readers less familiar with feminist theory.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Cultural Relevance\n\"Women Worldwide\" is highly culturally relevant, offering a transnational perspective that acknowledges the diverse experiences of women across different cultural contexts. The book emphasizes the importance of understanding local specificities while recognizing the interconnectedness of global feminist struggles. It addresses issues such as:\n\nThe impact of globalization on women's labor.\nThe cultural dimensions of health practices and policies.\nThe role of cultural identity in migration and activism.\nBy integrating these perspectives, the book provides a comprehensive view of how cultural factors influence and shape women's lives worldwide.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"\"Women Worldwide\" is a vital resource for understanding and engaging with transnational feminist issues. It offers a comprehensive and empathetic exploration of women's lives, making it essential for students, scholars, and activists committed to gender justice. The book's cultural relevance and emphasis on intersectionality make it a significant contribution to feminist literature.","created_at":"2024-06-22T10:31:51.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-06-22T10:31:51.000-05:00"},{"id":35547,"first_name":"Jessica","last_name":"Pruett","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Kenyon College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Women Worldwide is comprehensive in its scope; while no textbook is capable of covering all regions and historical periods in depth, the text manages to introduce and unpack a wide array of central concepts in transnational feminist inquiry. No glossary is provided; instead, students are encouraged to compose their own glossary using key terms that are identified but not defined in the text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"All content is accurate and supported by reliable sources that students can access to further their learning.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date and includes examples that students will find relevant and engaging. While the broad concepts contained in the text will not become obsolete within a short period of time, much of the text was clearly written during the early years of COVID; these references present no problems but could be edited relatively easily in the future if desired.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Much of the text’s writing is straightforward and accessible. However, the text does use theoretical jargon that is often not defined; this varies from chapter to chapter, but many chapters choose to list these words as part of the suggested glossary at the end of the chapter without defining them in the chapter itself. Instructors using this text in lower-level undergraduate courses may want to offer definitions of their own as a supplement to the text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text's major theoretical frameworks are explicitly discussed in the first chapter and are used consistently throughout the rest of the chapters. For the most part terminology is consistent, although sometimes this varies across chapters. For example, a sidebar on Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera uses the term \"transwoman,\" a term that is widely considered offensive and is not used anywhere else in the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters are not dependent on one another and can easily be assigned on their own. Individual chapters contain subheadings and could be assigned in sections if desired.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics covered in the text proceed in a logical fashion; there is a clear flow from one chapter to the next.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no significant interface issues. There are a few images and charts that become distorted and difficult to read when the text is read on a large screen, but most images remain clear. Text can easily be printed or read on a device.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no major grammatical errors, only several minor errors that do not interfere with the readability of the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text draws from a wide array of examples representing a variety of racial, ethnic, and national backgrounds, framing all of them using the transnational feminist theoretical framework in which the text is grounded. The text's use of such diverse examples, especially when coupled with this critical perspective, is unique among gender studies textbooks.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is an excellent textbook that could be used effectively in a number of undergraduate gender studies courses.","created_at":"2025-06-24T14:52:43.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-06-24T14:52:43.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/women-worldwide-transnational-feminist-perspectives","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:34:38.000-06:00"}],"links":{"self":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies.json?page=1","total_pages":2,"total_count":18,"next":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies.json?page=2"}}