HRAF announces the retirement of Research Anthropologist Ian Skoggard, a longtime member of our staff. Ian has worked at HRAF for 28 years and has contributed greatly to our organization.



Ian began his academic career in anthropology at the University of Toronto, followed by a master's degree from Hunter College. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the City University of New York. In 1996, he began a career at HRAF working as an analyst and editor. Feeling called towards ministry, he studied at the Yale Divinity School, obtaining a M.Div. in 2008. He returned to HRAF with new interests in religion, affect and the evolution of cooperation.

Officially retired at the end of August 2024, Ian will continue writing on topics close to his interests in academia and community, science, and religion.

Click here to read about the career of Ian Skoggard

HRAF is pleased to announce that we are accepting applications for the HRAF Global Scholars Program 2025.

This program provides scholars around the world with one year of complimentary access to both of our databases, eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology.

Should further access be desired beyond the award year, memberships are available in our lowest dues category.

Our current cohort of HRAF Global Scholars includes four individuals representing Ethiopia, India, Morocco, and the Philippines.

The application deadline is November 1, 2024. Awardees will be notified in December and access to the eHRAF databases will be granted for the 2025 calendar year.

Click here to read about the HRAF Global Scholars Program

HRAF welcomes two new Melvin Ember Interns:

Seb Wang Gaouette graduated from Yale University in 2024 with a B.A. in Archaeological Studies, with honors in the major. Seb has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Belize, Ecuador, Malawi, and Spain. He is interested in using methods from archaeometry and the natural sciences to tell stories that have been marginalized or erased, regardless of time or place. He intends to pursue graduate studies in archaeology.

Jackie Heitmann graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2024 with a B.S. in Statistics and a minor in Computer Science. After taking an introductory cultural anthropology course her sophomore year, she became fascinated by the study of different cultures and how humans develop different modes of life based on the world around us. She is adamant about expanding her research skills and ultimately pursuing a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology. With this intention, she is eager to learn more as a Melvin Ember intern.

Click here to learn more about the HRAF Melvin Ember interns

In honor of our 75th anniversary, we are pleased to feature video recordings from members of the broader HRAF community. This month we are featuring a video from Amber Johnson, Professor of Anthropology at Truman State University.

As she describes in her profile, Amber's primary research interest is how humans adapt to their environment and the extent to which cultural changes are driven by demographic versus environmental changes. Her current research focuses on explaining macro-ecological patterns in the transition from foraging to food production.

At Truman University, Amber teaches New Majors Seminar, Anthropology of Gender, World Prehistory, Research Design, Data Analysis & Reporting, a variety of upper level topics courses, and the Career Preparation capstone.

Amber has also taught Self & Society: Living in the Anthropocene and a Junior Interdisciplinary Seminar on Human Impact of/on Climate Change.

Click here to watch the video from Amber Johnson