Category Archives: Feature

Royal Anthropological Institute Conference in London Recap

HRAF was pleased to attend the Anthropology and Education conference in London hosted by the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI). The conference took place at Senate House, University of London from June 25 to 28, 2024.…

Nascent Worlds: a journey of cultural discovery

Nascent Worlds, a teaching exercise by digital anthropologist Dr. Francine Barone, is a build-your-own-culture learning activity. Designed with introductory socio-cultural anthropology classes in mind, it incorporates all four fields of anthropology (physical anthropology, linguistic anthropology,…

An Anthropology of Dads: Exploring fatherhood in eHRAF

Francine Barone Are fathers and “fatherhood” underrepresented as a subject of inquiry in anthropology? According to evolutionary anthropologist Anna Machin, up until 10 years ago, fatherhood was neglected by researchers “due to the misguided assumption…

Luck of the Irish: Folklore and fairies in Rural Ireland

If the month of March has you seeing shamrocks, it might be a good time to brush up on your knowledge of Irish culture. The Rural Irish collection in eHRAF World Cultures is a great…

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…

Unconditional Love: Is devotion to pets a cultural universal?

If the number of cute animal memes on the internet is a fair benchmark, then the human love of pets is a powerful and global phenomenon. For many pet owners, their furry (or scaly) domestic…