Category Archives: Cultural Relativity

What Day is It? Depends on whose Calendar You Consult

Just when you think you know what day it is, along comes this research on the ancient Mayan calendar. By fifth grade, most schoolchildren know that a week contains seven days, a month contains either 30 or 31 days (or 28 days, in those strange “leap years”), and a year

Of Diapers, Potties and Split Pants

Understanding Toilet Training around the World May Help Parents Relax I recently published a piece on The Conversation about toilet training in a global context.  You can read the piece here.  

(How) Do Anthropologists Celebrate Valentine’s Day?

As an anthropologist, the first thought that comes to mind as we approach an upcoming holiday is typically, How do they celebrate this holiday in X?—X being a faraway land where the celebration is likely to look quite different from how it looks in my hometown. The next thought that