International Society for Human Ethology

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The International Society for Human Ethology (abbreviated ISHE) is an international learned society dedicated to the study of human ethology. It was founded in 1972, with Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Daniel G. Freedman, and William Charlesworth all playing key roles in its establishment; Eibl-Eibesfeldt also served as the society's first president. It publishes the peer-reviewed scientific journal Human Ethology.^[1]

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was an upsurge in research into human behaviour influenced by the ethological approach.^[2] In 1972, as a result of informal contacts among researchers from the University of Chicago who had gathered around Daniel G. Freedman,, a group around  Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeld at the Max-Planck-Institute in Seewiesen and researchers from William Charlesworth ´s group at the University of Minnesota, a small group of somewhat innocent, self-labeled human ethologists held the first international meeting at the University of Minnesota. Attendance consisted mostly of German, Canadian, and American students.

ISHE was founded with the aim of promoting the exchange of knowledge and ideas concerning human ethology between scientists from a variety of disciplines.