Category Archives: Feature

HRAF to host Anthropology Day 2024 celebration

The American Anthropological Association is officially celebrating Anthropology Day on February 15, 2024. Anthropology Day is a day for anthropologists to celebrate our discipline while sharing it with the world around us. On Friday, February…

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…