Discovering the Humanities, 4th edition

For courses in Introduction to the Humanities.

See context and make connections across the humanities

Discovering the Humanities leads students on a journey through countless “ah-ha” moments as they piece together the cultural history of the world. Author Henry Sayre believes that students learn best by remembering stories rather than memorizing facts. To this end, he deftly conveys multifaceted cultural experiences via a storytelling approach that students will remember, during the course and beyond.

The 4th Edition better tells the story of the humanities as a global discipline via new scholarship and images, as well as updated coverage of contemporary art.

Hallmark features of this title

• The text presents a global approach with an emphasis on context and connections across the humanities.
• Continuity & Change essays at the end of each chapter illustrate the influence of 1 cultural period upon another, and show cultural changes over time.
• Learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter identify the key topics, and remind students of the goals of study as they progress through each chapter.
• Organized around these same learning objectives, chapter review sections revisit the material covered in the chapter, and pose critical-thinking questions.

New and updated features of this title

• NEW: Nearly 100 images have been updated whenever new and improved images were available or works of art have been cleaned or restored.
• NEW: The 4th Edition has been updated to include the latest scholarship. Examples include discussion of the earliest musical instruments, continuing research at Stonehenge and medical scans of Akhenaten's mummy.
• UPDATED: Updates to the text's structure better tell the story of the humanities as a global discipline.
• Expanded coverage of the arts beyond the West in Chapter 5 includes discussions of the Silk Road, art and architecture in the Americas before contact, and early Buddhist and Hindu art and architecture.
• The updated Chapter 9, Encounter and Confrontation: The Impact of Increasing Global Interaction, focuses exclusively on the post-contact world, and includes significant new material.
• The coverage of contemporary art in Chapter 15 has been thoroughly reconceived to address key issues such as postcolonialism, the global marketplace and the plural self in the Americas.