Anthropologists, somewhat unconsciously, remained for a long time in the position of conservative culture camp commandants—overseers of a pickled-in-aspic view of 'the native' that was not far removed from colonial explorer adventure safari or, at best, pastoralising advocacy and brokerage. In contemporary anthropologies—for example such as the anthropology of tourism when it becomes too close to tourism management studies—we can see clearly that heritage still has has some part to play in hesitations to take up such a gate-keeping role, yet it is undeniably still there and to overstate the naivety of local communities is a mistake.

Once a slur, the term ‘queer’ now is used to critique restrictive, dominant norms of respectable conduct and to recast sexual and gender variations in positive terms. With roots in twentieth-century a...

A connection can be made between the iconic writer’s science fiction and her father’s groundbreaking work in anthropology.

A Connecticut Bigfoot sighting in July is one of 126 “verified” sightings in New England going back to 1994.

A wonderful conversation about how social media works, and the humanity of data. Check it out! "Data is man made. This is something that we need to stress, especially in the age of generative AI. You know, even for a pedestrian who is listening in who may not be very well versed in social media, you probably have the experience of now opening a browser or a search engine, trying to look for information, but before you even get your search results, there is an automated AI version that claims to be a summary of everything you need, saving you time in scrolling and clicking.

From Bengalese finches to humpback whales, researchers are finding that animals may use some of the same patterns that help humans learn and structure language.

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The research field of reproductive ecology continues to be a major contributor to the scientific advancement of evolutionary anthropology and human biology in general. Primary contributions to human ...

For West Papua and its people, the promise of sovereignty has never been realized, despite a long and fraught struggle for independence from Indonesia. In Laughing at Leviathan, Danilyn Rutherford exa...

What does free speech really mean? How does our understanding of it differ around the world? Why does it divide us – and how can we find common ground? What free speech really means is hotly conteste...

Four signals from Chile and Uruguay about the institutions that turn languages, territories and memories into data before an algorithm intervenes.

A Neanderthal-derived receptor variant makes cells grow faster, and some people alive today are still carrying it around

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence by machines, allowing them to perform tasks that typically require human cognitive functions, such as problem-solving, learning, de...

Emeritus Professor of Anthropology Emma Tarlo has been elected to the British Academy's Fellowship.

Cultural Anthropologist Jessaca Leinaweaver examines the various ways that children receive, are denied, and provide care.

Depression, which psychiatrists regard as a most common mental illness, has been examined by anthropologists especially closely since the 1980s. While most medical experts consider depression as a uni...

A new synthesis in Behavioral and Brain Sciences argues that peer groups of children produce, transmit, and sometimes preserve knowledge that adults never touch.

Un nouvel article de Francesco d'Errico et Solange Rigaud, chercheurs à PACEA, sur les origines de la mode paru dans le journal

Exclusive: Experts fear rise in education ‘cold spots’ and social immobility as 4,000 academic posts lost in one year

In the West African nation of Benin, Vodun, an ancient spiritual religion rooted in a deep connection between humans and nature, has become a primary tool for protecting the country’s disappearing man...

We asked Carolyn M. Rouse, head of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say.

There are Ghosts in this Machine: AI Anonymization and the Identification of Self What happens when the tools designed to protect research participants end up either 1) obscuring their facial expressi...

The Joint Meeting of the European Society for the History of Science/ History of Science Society will be held in-person in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom from July 13-16, 2026. The HAR News editors are pleased to share a selection of panels that may be of interest to our readers. Other panels, session locations, abstracts, and additional details can be found in the…

Offers That Cannot Be Refused explores the social logic and lived realities of extortion through collaborative, comparative ethnography across multiple countries. This incisive volume reveals how unre...

Studies show that using AI can lead people to “cognitive surrender.” But with the right approach, it can also elevate your thinking.