Serena Nanda
Personal Information
Description
Serena Nanda is an American author, anthropologist, and professor emeritus. She was born on August 13, 1938 in New York City and received her PhD in anthropology from New York University. She is the co-author of two anthropology textbooks, Culture Counts: A Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Cultural Anthropology. Among her areas of specialty was the topic of gender diversity, having written the major reference book on the hijras of India, Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India, for which she received the Ruth Benedict Prize in 1990. As of August 2021, she was a professor emeritus at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Books
The gift of a bride
This ethnographically based murder mystery is set within New York City's Indian community. A young Indian woman's arranged marriage brings her to the city to join her husband shortly after her wedding. The plot unfolds as the couple copes with joint family living, sexual and financial issues, and hostile neighbors.
Neither Man nor Woman
This ethnography is a cultural study of the Hijras of India, a religious community of men who dress and act like women. It focuses on how Hijras can be used in the study of gender categories and human sexual variation.
Cultural anthropology
Study Guide for Nanda/Warms' Cultural Anthropology, 9th
The Study Guide includes chapter outlines, learning objectives and key terms intended to guide students in their reading of the chapter material. Each chapter also includes practice tests consisting of multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, short answer and essay questions.
Culture Counts
Framed around the concept of culture, Culture Counts shows you how culture matters in driving and explaining human behavior, how culture is dynamic, and how it interrelates various cultural systems in adaptive (or maladaptive) ways. The book emphasizes why understanding culture is important for understanding the world today, and how humans can solve problems and effect positive change. The authors draw you into the book's concepts via engaging ethnographic storytelling and a conversational writing style that connects you to the topics. You'll focus on contemporary issues, issues of globalization, issues of gender, and issues of equalities and inequalities topics that are important to both the study of anthropology and your understanding of the world around you.