#887 Carol Ember: Tight and Loose Cultures, Sexuality, Gender Differences, and Cultural Databases
RECORDED ON SEPTEMBER 13th 2023.
Dr. Carol Ember is President of the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University and the editor of the journal Cross-Cultural Research. Most of her research career has been devoted to cross-cultural research on variation in marriage, family, kin groups, gender roles, predictors of war and other forms of violence, but for the last eight years she has been working on cultural adaptations to natural hazards and other resource stressors. She is interested in research that integrates the fields of anthropology as well as anthropology with other disciplines. She is the first author (with Melvin Ember) of Cultural Anthropology, now in its 15th edition and Anthropology (with Melvin Ember and Peter N. Peregrine), now in its 15th edition.
In this episode, we talk about topics in cultural anthropology. We start by talking about tight and loose cultures, and the ecological factors behind them, including natural hazards. We talk about altered states of consciousness, and male initiation ceremonies. We discuss how human sexuality varies cross-culturally, and the bases of gender differences and sexual division of labor. Finally, we talk about comparative cultural databases, the challenges of using them, and the example of studying children’s play and work.
Time Links:
Intro
Tight and loose cultures
Ecological factors behind tight cultures, and the role of natural hazards
Altered states of consciousness
The role of ecology and resource stress in religious beliefs
Male initiation ceremonies
How human sexuality varies cross-culturally
Gender differences and sexual division of labor
Comparative cultural databases
Studying children’s play and work
The challenges of using cultural databases
Follow Dr. Ember’s work!
Follow Dr. Ember’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/43s6agF
eHRAF (Human Relations Area Files) World Cultures: https://bit.ly/3LoNkQN
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3pYk9w0
Books on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3NQICNj