Human Relations Area Files

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…

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…

Residence and Kinship – A New Topical Summary for Explaining Human Culture

A new topical summary on Residence and Kinship is now available in Explaining Human Culture, our open access database that summarizes the results of over 1,100 cross-cultural studies. This EHC summary is co-authored by HRAF President…

Featured eHRAF Culture: Trobriands

The Trobriands, a Melanesian people who live primarily on four islands in Milne Bay Province, northeastern Papua New Guinea, are one of the over 300 cultures covered in the eHRAF World Cultures ethnographic database. Fifty-seven documents…

eHRAF World Cultures Celebrates 25 Years Online

It has been 25 years since the application known today as the eHRAF World Cultures database made its debut on the World Wide Web. The first online version of the eHRAF Collection of Ethnography was…