HRAF publishes new module in Explaining Human Culture |
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HRAF is pleased to announce the publication of a new summary module, Status and Role of the Elderly, in our open access database, Explaining Human Culture. We hope that EHC summaries will be useful for teaching and will also stimulate further research to fill in the gaps in our knowledge. In January, HRAF Research Anthropologist Ian Skoggard travelled to Spain where he attended the first conference of the International Institute of Love Studies and presented a paper on "Symbolic Representations of the Love Act across Cultures." In February, HRAF hosted our fifth annual Anthropology Day celebration. This year undergraduates from the University of Connecticut and Yale University joined us in New Haven for a full day of activities. Finally, we are pleased to feature the work of HRAF Global Scholar Subhra Saha, a counselor and researcher at Indira Gandhi National Open University researching Tantra and Shākta traditions. |
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EHC has two aims: the first is to help scholars search for previous cross-cultural studies on topics of interest; the second is to provide overviews of topics for which we have a considerable body of research. The EHC database, now containing over 1,200 reports, summarizes the purpose of each study, the hypotheses tested, whether the hypotheses are supported or not, the important variables in the study, and the subject-categories in eHRAF that may apply to these variables. The Status and Role of the Elderly topical summary joins others covering the life cycle — Childhood and Adolescence. The overall goal of the enterprise is to summarize what we have learned so far. Every topical summary also includes a section on what we don’t know to stimulate further research.
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The International Institute of Love Studies sponsored its first conference from January 2-7 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. The conference theme was "Towards Research-Based Knowledge of Love"
Over a hundred participants representing 26 countries from North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East attended the conference in person or online.
Presenters included graduate students and senior scholars from the disciplines of anthropology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, gender studies, and comparative literature.
HRAF Research Anthropologist Ian Skoggard attended the conference and presented a paper on "Symbolic Representations of the Love Act across Cultures." The paper discusses ritual and utilitarian objects from several cultures which combine sexual imagery to evoke, he argues, memories of lovemaking. Ian reflects on his experience attending the conference on the HRAF homepage.
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Subhra is a counselor and researcher at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in New Delhi, India. As a social anthropologist and researcher, Subhra studies religious sects in India. She is currently researching the Shākta Tantra and the Tantric Goddess in Bengal. Her goal is to develop a new understanding of Tantra.
To assist with her research, Subhra utilizes eHRAF World Cultures to analyze the rituals and philosophy of Tantra in different cultures in order to compare their elements in common and change over time. According to Subhra, "the eHRAF databases provide a unique and important opportunity for gaining access to an extraordinary anthropological and multicultural data set."
HRAF is honored to welcome Subhra Saha as a Global Scholar for 2024. We wish her continued success with her research.
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HRAF hosted a celebration in honor of Anthropology Day on Friday, February 16. The event was our fifth annual Anthropology Day celebration hosted by HRAF.
This year we were pleased to host a group of nine students, eight from the University of Connecticut and one from Yale University.
The celebration began with a tour of the Yale University campus. After the tour, the group visited the HRAF offices for lunch and presentations. 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.
After HRAF, the group visited the Yale University Art Gallery. Ziming Liu, a Ph.D. student at Yale, led a tour of 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.
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