HRAF celebrates Anthropology Day 2024

On Friday, February 16, the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University hosted a celebration in honor of Anthropology Day, the yearly event for anthropologists to share our discipline with the public. HRAF Director of Membership and Outreach Matthew Longcore teaches anthropology at UConn and serves as the faculty advisor for the UConn Stamford Anthropology Society. The event was our fifth annual Anthropology Day celebration hosted by HRAF in collaboration with undergraduates. This year we were pleased to host a group of nine students, eight from the University of Connecticut and one from Yale University.

Attendees at the event included the following individuals:

Carol Ember, HRAF President
Matthew Longcore, HRAF Director of Membership and Outreach
Louise Toutée, HRAF Research Assistant
Isana Raja, HRAF Melvin Ember Intern
HRAF staff members: Amanda Westcott, Haley Brown, Danielle Russell, Anj Droe, Teferi Abate Adem, Sarah Berry, Ian Skoggard, Maureen Sacchetti
UConn students Lucy Van Der Merwe, Isabella Walsh, Abigail Camacho-Salguero, Amru Mahmoud, Gabriel Michel, Joshua Jimenez, Matvii Matuzka, and Sasha Noboa
Yale student Jamie Lattin

The Anthropology Day celebration began with a tour of the Yale University campus. After the tour, the group visited the HRAF offices at 755 Prospect Street for lunch and presentations. HRAF President Carol Ember shared a presentation about the history of HRAF and methods in cross-cultural research. Research Associate Louise Toutée and Melvin Ember Intern Isana Raja led a discussion about entering the field of anthropology after college. This provided the undergraduates with an opportunity to ask questions about master’s and doctoral programs, internships, and working in applied anthropology.

The group visited the Yale University Art Gallery. Ziming Liu, a Ph.D. student in the Art History and Archaeology track in the Classics program at Yale University, led a fascinating tour of several galleries including Ancient Art and Indo-Pacific Art. Following the visit to the art gallery, the day concluded with visits to a coffee shop and bookstores in downtown New Haven.