Evolution of the Human Relations Area Files

Abstract

The president of the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) provides an update on the past, present, and future of HRAF, the not-for-profit international and interuniversity consortium whose unique mis sion is to facilitate comparative, worldwide research on humans. He particularly discusses the new plan to develop the electronic version of the HRAF Collection of Ethnography, which has been building for nearly 50 years, to facilitate comparative research on human society, culture, and behavior. He also discusses the plan to build and distribute a second electronic collection, on the prehistoric cultures of the world, to facilitate comparative studies of cultural evolution. Other recent and current activities of HRAF are also discussed.