HRAF News Vol. 2023-01
Apply for the 2024 Melvin Ember Internship
Happy New Year! We are kicking off 2024 with our annual Year in Review & Preview summarizing our accomplishments from 2023 and what we have planned for the next 12 months. Applications are open for the HRAF internship in honor of Melvin Ember 2024-2025. Please see below for application instructions and share widely with any interested candidates. We are excited to feature cross-cultural research about the dog-human relationship which uses ethnographic data from eHRAF World Cultures. Finally, please join us in welcoming our newest members of eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology.
HRAF is pleased to announce a one-year full-time internship in honor of Melvin Ember, President of HRAF from 1987 until his passing in 2009.

The purpose of the internship is to learn about cross-cultural research through practical experience. Duties include reading and analyzing recent cross-cultural research with the goal of summarizing materials in Explaining Human Culture, as well as participating in ongoing cross-cultural research projects.

The interns will receive a stipend for living expenses and travel costs. Preference will be given to candidates who intend to pursue graduate study in anthropology or a closely related field, or who have already started graduate school. Candidates must demonstrate an ability to perform statistical analyses and have accomplished academic records, particularly in their major fields and in anthropology courses.
Our HRAF 2023 in Review & 2024 Preview summarizes our highlights from the previous year, as well as what you can expect to see from HRAF over the next 12 months. Topics featured include:

  • eHRAF Updates
  • Culture & Tradition Updates
  • Teaching eHRAF
  • Best of 2023
  • HRAF Research & Publications
  • Summer Institutes
  • Conferences & Events
  • Staff Updates
  • HRAF Membership Updates
  • HRAF Global Scholars
  • Friends of HRAF

May 7th of this year will mark HRAF’s 75th anniversary. Since 1949, HRAF has been a financially autonomous research agency based at Yale University. 

We encourage you to keep an eye on our newsletter and social media channels for the latest anniversary announcements.
The special relationship between dogs and humans is endlessly fascinating. For many of us, dogs are at the center of our homes and hearts. However, most of what we know about dog-human bonds, dog behavior, and canine cognition is limited to Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic (WEIRD) societies.

A paper titled Function predicts how people treat their dogs in a global sample uses data from eHRAF World Cultures to shed light on the relationship between dogs and humans in non-Western societies. The study shows that there is no one-size-fits-all 'typical' behavior for dogs as they develop a vast range of social-cognitive skills depending on their environment.

As we reflect on the past year and begin a new year, HRAF would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to our new members from 2023. We are especially pleased by the diversity and global reach of these members, which include universities, colleges, international organizations, and independent researchers.

Our homepage post features academic institutions who joined us in 2023, followed by a list of members and their locations. As the depth and breadth of our membership continues to grow, we look forward to engaging with our new members and to following the progress of their research and teaching activities using eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology.

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