Welcome to our newest HRAF members 2023
As we reflect on 2023 and look forward to a new year, HRAF would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to our newest member institutions. We are especially pleased by the diversity and global reach…
Category Archives: Feature
New and Forthcoming Cultures and Traditions in eHRAF World Cultures & Archaeology (2023-2024)
Culture collections in the eHRAF databases are updated up to several times a year. Below is a brief summary of what cultures and traditions we have added or updated in eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF…
NPR Article Features ‘Alloparenting’ Across Cultures
In an article for National Public Radio (NPR) titled Bringing up a baby can be a tough and lonely job. Here’s a solution: alloparents, Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD looks at the practice of alloparenting across cultures. Doucleff…
Thanks, but no thanks: Expressions of gratitude in eHRAF World Cultures
During the end-of-year “holiday season” throughout much of the Western world, we are often reminded to be grateful for the things that we have, and even to go out of our way to be gracious…
Ethnographic Data Science and eHRAF: inferring cultural patterns from ethnographic writing
What can artificial intelligence and machine learning contribute to anthropology, the most human of disciplines? Ethnography combines elements of science and humanities, with ethnographic writing mediating exposition and science. Data science techniques such as Natural…
Announcing HRAF Global Scholars for 2024
HRAF is pleased to announce the recipients of the HRAF Global Scholars Program for 2024. This program provides scholars around the world with one year of complimentary access to our research databases, eHRAF World Cultures…
Towards an Anthropology of Fear: are some things universally terrifying?
As All Hallow’s Eve approaches, it’s once again the time of year for ghastly ghouls, wicked witches and terrifying things that go bump in the night. From haunted houses to headless horsemen, there are many…
The Social Life of Cheese
There are few signifiers of culture more potent and recognizable than food. Nourishment and cultural identity share a deep-seated connection. Food, and especially our preferences for preparing, cooking and eating it, are about far more…
Teferi Adem reflects on his experience as a Fulbright Scholar
My Fulbright Experience to Ethiopia, 2022-23 by Teferi Abate Adem, HRAF Research Anthropologist Conducting follow-up extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the Wollo area of Ethiopia has been a deeply felt dream of mine over the last…
A Cross-Cultural Study of Uniformity in Dress
Why do people in some societies dress in uniform or standardized ways, whereas in other societies individuals display considerable variability in dress? Tentative answers to this question will appear as an article titled “Uniformity in…