Teaching eHRAF is an interdisciplinary teaching resource aimed at providing faculty with ideas about how to use the eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology online databases in their curricula. Instructors can search our collection of syllabi and lesson plans. Many of these teaching exercises have been submitted by faculty at member institutions.

You may also browse our collection of anthropology workbook activities for eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology. Designed by HRAF staff to complement any introductory textbook or anthropology curriculum, eHRAF Workbook activities are presented as PowerPoint slideshows that instructors can modify, share, and upload to a learning management system.

If you are an instructor interested in teaching with eHRAF World Cultures, check out the new Teaching eHRAF activity on this subject: Divinations and Oracles. There is also a workbook version available here.

In this eHRAF teaching activity students will:

• Understand the concept of divination
• Learn about divination and oracles across cultures
• Compare and contrast cultural practices
• Read and interpret ethnographic data

More information on the topic can be found in the article Coping with Uncertainty: Oracles, Divination and Decision-Making by Francine Barone.



Check out the new Teaching eHRAF Activity and Workbook

HRAF Global Scholar Nora Franco is a professor at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. She is also the principal investigator at CONICET. The National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas or CONICET) is an Argentine government agency which directs and co-ordinates most of the scientific and technical research done in universities and institutes.

Professor Franco became a HRAF Global Scholar in order to have access to eHRAF cultural records to explore in greater depth information about cultural transmission and residence patterns, gender and children’s roles in technology, responses to resource scarcity and risks, and the dynamics related to contact between different groups.

Professor Franco has experience working with ethnoarchaeological and ethnographic sources and believes there is still a lot we can learn from them. Information obtained is being integrated into ongoing research and shared with the members of the team that she leads. This information is also enriching the courses she teaches at the University of Buenos Aires, specifically "Models in Archaeology," where ethnoarchaeology has an important role. The use of eHRAF records strengthens both research and teaching, contributing to a better understanding of cultural diversity in Patagonia.

To support HRAF funding priorities including the HRAF Global Scholars program, please make a tax-deductible donation.

Click here to read about HRAF Global Scholar Nora Franco

Carol Ember, HRAF's President, is offering two types of Cross-Cultural Workshops this semester. One is designed for those who want to get an introduction to the cross-cultural research process and an understanding of the basic steps in conducting a cross-cultural project using ethnographic data. This workshop will also include pointers to materials where you can learn more. Examples will be given using HRAF's database, eHRAF World Cultures. To sign up, look for the workshops below labelled "Basic Introduction."

The second workshop type is targeted to researchers who already have a clear research question and have tentative ideas about how to proceed, but who want some additional advice. Examples of needed advice: how to choose a sample in eHRAF, how to select time and place foci, or how to construct an Advanced Search in eHRAF for your proposed project. To sign up, look for the workshops below labelled "Cross-Cultural Project Advice." Should you wish, after signing up, you may email Carol (carol.ember@yale.edu) a short description of your project about a week before the workshop with the subject line Cross-Cultural Project Advice. Register here:

Basic Introduction

Thursday, March 26 at 1pm ET

Tuesday, April 28 at 11am ET

Thursday, May 21 at 1pm ET

Cross-Cultural Project Advice

Tuesday, March 31 at 1pm ET

Thursday, April 30 at 11am ET

Thursday, May 28 at 1pm ET

Click here for more about the Cross-Cultural Workshops

Please join us for one of our upcoming eHRAF Workshops led by Matthew Longcore, HRAF's Director of Membership and Outreach. These workshops

will provide an informative overview to teaching and conducting research using the eHRAF databases. The workshops are designed for faculty members and librarians at colleges that have membership with the eHRAF databases or are interested in learning more about membership. 

We will explore Teaching eHRAF, our collection of ready-to-use exercises and syllabi that make it easier to integrate eHRAF into classrooms and curricula. We will also demonstrate the eHRAF Workbooks for introductory courses in cultural anthropology and archaeology with activities to engage students.

While anthropologists and social scientists are the most frequent users of eHRAF, the databases also provide unique insights and practical applications for a wide range of fields. eHRAF data benefits healthcare providers, social workers, human resources managers, market researchers, and museum curators.

We hope you will continue to explore the many ways eHRAF can enhance your teaching and research. Registration is required:

Tuesday, March 31 at 11am ET

Thursday, April 23 at 1pm ET

Thursday, May 7 at 11am ET 

Tuesday, June 9 at 1pm ET

Click here for more about the eHRAF Workshops