Kathleen Kuiper: 24 books

Sharing a number of traditions and practices, the Native American tribes of the Northeast and Southeast regions of the United States are sometimes considered as a single culture area known as the Eastern Woodlands. Despite their cultural similarities, however, each region, and each tribe within each...

The geographically distinct American territories of California, the Great Basin, and the Southwest have long sustained a variety of indigenous peoples, including the Miwok, Comanche, and Navajo, respectively. An examination of each of these culture areas yields rich histories filled with steadfast...

From the Mayan calendar to the Toltec architecture at Chichén Itzá, the bequests of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations have endured long after the societies that created them declined. The intellectual and cultural achievements of Pre-Columbian America rivaled those of ancient Rome and Egypt, and...

From Archaic times to the reign of Alexander the Great, Greek unity was tenuous, yet Ancient Greece was a place where culture flourished and intellectual achievement knew no bounds. Ancient Greek ideas on philosophy, politics, science, and the arts anticipate many of our own, and in some ways, remain...

Narratives come in many forms, fall into many genres, and tell the stories of an endless assortment of characters. Despite recurring themes and conceits in works from around the world, each story—from biography to science fiction—is singular and designed to elicit a distinct emotional response...

Heir to a diverse array of traditions, the Indian subcontinent boasts customs that are distinguished by a constant juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern. The omnibus culture that has resulted from a rich history reflects an accommodation of ideas from across the globe and over time. This inviting...

Since ancient times, storytelling has been a valued art form that enables traditions, beliefs, and lessons to be transmitted from one generation to the next. Epics such as Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid and tales such as those contained in the collected The Thousand and One Nights offer modern-day...

Reverberations of China’s diversity and multiethnic heritage are visible in everything from the cuisine and languages to the beliefs and arts of the vast nation. In addition to linking the Chinese to their rich past, a number of these traditions have been absorbed by cultures around the world and...

The many followers of Islam are spread around the globe from traditional lands in the Middle East and parts of Africa to metropolitan European cities. This extremely varied group of people nevertheless shares a distinct and rich style of arts, architecture, poetry, epic literature, painting, and philosophy....

The score of Western music was writ large during the Renaissance. Secular music rivaled church music for prominence, harmonic lines intertwined and changed music forever with the emergence of polyphony, and, in general, musical composition was taken to new heights. The composers and musicians who...