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Increased global emphasis with fourteen new "Encounters" features highlighting interactions between the West and other cultures, and the addition of numerous writers, artists, and philosophers from around the world, strengthen the book's focus on the global roots of the Western humanities.

"Slices of Life" (formerly Personal Perspectives) essays showcase human voices from each historical period. These excerpts from primary source documents are designed to bring history to life for the reader. They each respond to a particular theme or issue and feature a rich variety of voices. Critical thinking questions—Interpreting this Slice of Life—end each essay, to assist students in understanding each speaker and his/her perspective on the historic and cultural event.

Additional emphasis on the impact of globalism and terrorism on the arts in a new final chapter, "The Contemporary World: Globalization, Terror, and Post-Modernism, 1970 to the Present", which includes coverage of demography and migration and their impact on globalization, and a discussion of the sources of Islamic terrorism.

Increased coverage of science, which now appears in ten chapters, including Hellenistic Greece and Post-Modernism.

Expanded discussions of philosophy bridge gaps in treatment of history of thought, with the addition of Jean Bodin, David Hume, Paul Tillich, and Christian Existentialism.

Additional focus on medicine begins with Mesopotamians and Egyptians and ranges from Greeks—with the inclusion of Hippocrates—through Romans, Muslims, and Renaissance Europe to Post-Modern times.

Enhanced coverage of religion focuses on growth of evangelicalism in Protestantism and the Roman Catholic Church's hostile reaction to modernity after 1850, presenting more clearly the history of the continuing dialogue between secular culture and religion.

Music discussions are expanded to provide coverage of 23 musical works, functioning as brief Listening Guides for students using the accompanying audio CD-ROM; Music CD and additional coverage of the globalization of popular music," in Chapter 21; and an enlarged treatment of post-modern music in Chapter 22.

Introduces technology as a manifestation of human creativity from Stone Age culture to today's nanotechnology, focusing especially on technologies with transformative potential: machines, papermaking, food production, and power sources. Sections on warfare and its impact on the wider culture are also included.