Foreword

The RAI Teachers' Resource Guide was first published in 1973 and its fourth edition was published in 1990. Just as we were beginning to plan the editing of an overdue fifth edition, the idea emerged of a co-operative project with the National Network for Teaching and Learning Anthropology, and it was agreed that the work would be edited by two members of staff at the Department of Anthropology, University of Durham.

Many features of the old Teachers' Resource Guide remain - such as the reference section on institutional resources, and the bibliography - but the explanatory material and the section on careers have been immeasurably improved, thanks to the new Editors.

It has long been a mysterious fact about anthropology that it fascinates a few thousand people throughout the world, while leaving the vast majority indifferent.

One of the big difficulties in encouraging a wider understanding of the subject is that, in our age of specialisation, physical/biological anthropology has diverged quite widely from social/cultural anthropology so that it is possible to be expert in the one without taking much interest in the other. Durham is one of the more active departments in the United Kingdom in trying to bridge this gap, and it is appropriate that it should have taken on the task of producing the new expanded Guide.

But there are other reasons why understanding of the discipline beyond academia has remained limited. Anthropology has been called the 'uncomfortable science'; for it does not always provide us with a flattering image of ourselves and our society, and its findings often rub up against treasured preconceptions. Admittedly, like all academics, anthropologists have to resist a tendency to be much more interested in impressing Professor X than providing a clear answer to a sixth-former's question. However, things may be improving, with new attention being given by publishers to reference books and introductory texts. Also anthropologists themselves are paying more attention to the potentialities and the problems of developing and communicating anthropological awareness in contemporary society (MacClancy & McDonaugh 1996,  Ahmed & Shore 1995).

We should be confident in the future of anthropology in our educational system, for it has a perennial intellectual fascination as well as offering indispensable insights into many pressing social issues.

Jonathan Benthall Director
Royal Anthropological Institute

References

Ahmed, A.S. and Shore, C.N. (eds)  1995  The Future of Anthropology: Its Relevance to the Contemporary World, London: Athlone

MacClancy, J. and McDonaugh, C. (eds) 1996  Popularizing Anthropology, London: Routledge