Tag Archives: 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…

Carol R. Ember honored with Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR) 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award

HRAF President Carol Ember attended the 50th anniversary annual meeting of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR), which took place from February 16-19 in San Diego, California. SCCR is a multi-disciplinary organization, whose members share…

HRAF staff and UConn students celebrate Anthropology Day 2022

By Francine Barone On Monday, February 28, 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 world around…

Ian Skoggard at the American Anthropological Association (AAA) Annual Meeting 2021

This year, the AAA is holding a hybrid meeting, virtual and in-person in Baltimore, Maryland from November 17-21. The theme of this year’s meeting is Truth and Responsibility: “to bear witness, take action, and be…

The Social Life of Cheese

By Francine Barone 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…

Why Are Gods Thought to Cause Weather?

Carol R. Ember and Ian Skoggard In many societies known to anthropology, people look to their gods for help and for explanations of unfortunate and traumatic events. Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski (1948) suggested that religion is…