Chapter 9 discusses and analyzes the various forms of communication that people use as well as the important connections between language and culture that exist in the modern world. The process of receiving and sending messages, a simple definition of communication, always involves some for of language, defined as a sustematic set of symbols and signs with learned and shared meanings (Miller, 182) The meaning behind various languages is at the center of the questions that anthropologists ask when studying communication and culture.
Communication can be verbal or nonverbal. Nonverbal language and embodied communication includes sign language, silence as well as body language. These are the most interesting forms to learn about as they are less recognized and openly understood.
Some gestures in sign lagnuage are universally meaningful, such as the peace sign (even it has several different meanings in different cultures) or a wave, but most are culturally specific and often completely arbitrary. Greetings, an important part of communication in every culture, often involve gestures, and they are typically among the first communicative routines that children and tourists learn. Silence is another form of communication, and it is interesting to note that silence is often related to social status. Silence is an important form to be studied through ethnography as well due to the ethnocentric judgements of outside cultures on various indigenous cultures. For example, white outsiders view the silence of Native Americans, due to their cultural norms, as a sign of a lack of emotion or intelligence; however, Native Americans view silence at the beginning of a greeting with a stranger as a possible reason for exhibiting bad manners (Miller, 186). 
Media anthropology is an important emerging field that the book discusses which seems very interesting. It links linguistic and cultural anthropology, and people working in the field "study the media process and media content, the audience response, and the social effects of media presentations" (Miller, 188). Critical media anthropology, a subfield that I believe to be an important future topic, asks to what degree "access to media is liberating or controlling and whose interests media server" (Miller, 188). This topic is especially relevant with contemporary politics and various biases prevalent and numerous media outlets.
The chapter also raises the importance of colonialism, nationalism and globalization on communication and language systems around the world. In some ways these forces pose dangerous threats to the de facto systems of communication. For example, "nationalist policies of cultural assimiliation of minorities have led to the supression and loss of loval dialects and the extinction of many indigenous and minority languages" throughout the world (Miller, 196). This has led to the issue of endangered languages and the strive for many anthropologists to push for the renewal of them (known as language revitalization).
Chapter 10 follows suit and discusses religion, ritual practices, and the important world religions prevalent in our contemporary society and increasingly globalized culture. Religion consists of "beliefs and behavior related to supernatural beings and forces", and is essentially related to the people's worldview of understanding how the world came to be (Miller, 204). The book distinguishes between magic and religion, but makes note the prevalence of myths and supernatural forces in modern religions that marks the transisition of humanity from magic to religion to world religion.
A ritual is a "patterned, repetitive behavior focused on the supernatural realm" (Miller, 209). One example of a ritual is a rite of passage, or a life-cycle ritual, that marks a change in status from one life stage to another of an individual. Puberty is an important rite of passage in countless cultures. Another important ritual is pilgrimage, involving the travel to a sacred place or places for purposes of religous devotion. Mecca in Saudi Arabia is a prominent pilgrimage site, but some pilgrimages are partaken upon by several differing religious groups, such as Jerusalem. Sacrifice is another important ritual in many religions; however, in contemporary cultures it is increasingly viewed as part of the old order or even seen as pagan.
World religion is a term first coined in the nineteenth century to refer to religions that were "based on written sources, with many followers that crosses country borders and that had concern with salvation" (Miller, 213). When a world religion moves into a new cultural region, it encounters several local religious traditions. The local and world traditions clash, leading to a coexistence between the two, either as competitors or complements, in what is called religious pluralism. In numerous cases the world religion adopts important traditions of the local culture in order to ease the transition from old to new. This adoption is even apparent in Christianity, as numerous important Christian holidays are actually traced back to Pagan origins.
The final chapter of the book discusses expressive culture, focusing primarily on forms of art, leisure and newer forms of expressive culture such as tourism.
Defining art requires an abstract notion of what is involved in both the creation and interpretation of the object deemed art. The term esthetics is perhaps the most important notion to understanding art, as it refers to the socially accepted notions of quality. Prior to anthropological research and study, Western art experts believed that esthetics did not exist or was poorly developed in non-Western cultures. However, we know understand that esthetics exists in every culture, even if not formally written down, and anthropologists now refer to ethno-esthetics as culturally specific definitions of what art is. This is an important notion derived from anthropological work that transitions people from away ethnocentric views. In this sense, ethnography plays an important role in learning about the importance of art and music in various societies.
The chapter further discusses the importance of music in cultures across the globe. Ethnomusicology is the cross-cultural study of music and how it portrays the culture it is developed in as well as how it affects the perception of that culture to outsiders. An important question in this field is the topic of gender roles in musical performance. Are men and women encouraged to use certain music instruments over others? Are the performances of men and women given equal value by the culture they're presented in? These are important questions to ask and dependent upon whether gender roles in a specific culture and society are egalitarian or patriarch favored.
In analyzing architecture and decorative arts, it is important to note that styles allow people in a specific culture to express what is aesthetically pleasing to them. Important cultural values, and at times beliefs, can be recognized from these expressions of art. The style of architecture and decoration also displays the social positions of people. For example, a Victorian age structure may portray someone expressing sophistication and wealth. Observing the social strata through these means gives an anthropologist a look into the habitus of the person.
Increased leisure time and sustained wealth has led to the growing global market of tourism. Tourist demands for indigenous art has led to what some scholars deem as the decline in quality and authenticity of these arts. However, increased global tourism has also led to increased international and local support for the preservation of material cultural heritage. This includes "sites, monuments and buildings, and moveable objects considered of outstanding world value in terms of history, art, and science" according to UNESCO (Miller, 245). Intangible cultural heritage is another important goal of protection for UNESCO, as these manifested "living heritages", such as language, performing arts, and rituals, provide cultures with a sense of identity and continuity (Miller, 245).
From this information it is easy to see the importance of cultural expressions such as communication, religion, and art, to a society in global and local terms. Gaining a better understanding of the foundations of these topics can lead to a better understanding of where our increasingly globalized society is heading towards in the future. It also provides us with avenues of knowledge that will allow us to protect and preserve indigenous forms of these expressions before cultures become too homogenous and important cultural values are lost.
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