Tag Archives: culture

Towards an Anthropology of Fear: are some things universally terrifying?

By Francine Barone 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,…

Luck of the Irish: Folklore and fairies in Rural Ireland

By Francine Barone 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…

Understanding Love: Attending the 2024 Love Studies Conference, Canary Islands, Spain

HRAF Research Anthropologist, Ian Skoggard, reflects on his experience attending the 2024 Love Studies Conference in Gran Canaria last month. What’s not to love about a love studies conference? This January, the International Institute of…

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…

Unconditional Love: Is devotion to pets a cultural universal?

By Francine Barone 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…

HRAF Academic Quarterly, Vol 2023-02

HRAF Academic Quarterly Vol 2023-02 By Francine Barone This summary features some of the exciting research accomplished using HRAF data from the eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology databases as well as Explaining Human Culture…

RAI 2022: Anthropology, AI and the Future of Human Society Conference Recap – June 6-11, 2022

“AI” has come to represent multiple causal drivers of change: amongst them artificial intelligence itself, space exploration, bio-tech and other emerging technologies. The implications for human society could hardly be more significant, and feed into…