Research Chair Hugh Brody receives honorary degree

Professor Hugh Brody, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies at UFV, recently received an honorary degree from the University of Kent in England.

Brody received his honorary Doctor of Letters degree, in recognition of his contribution to visual anthropology, at a ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral on 24 November.

Brody leads an ambitious program of research on the role played by Aboriginal youth in the development of their communities. Brody’s work in Aboriginal communities is helping to teach a new generation to do research for themselves and their communities – helping them to tell their own stories

He is an Honorary Associate of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge and since 2010 he has held an Honorary Professorship in the School of Anthropology and Conversation at the University of Kent.

His work as an anthropologist in Ireland in the 1960s led to the book Gola, The Life and Last Days of an Island Community. He worked with the Canadian Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and his report Indians on Skid Row led to changes in government policy, especially in relation to Native Friendship Centres.

He has directed films on many other topics, including the documentaries England’s Henry Moore and Inside Australia, about Antony Gormley’s installation of his sculptures in the Western Desert. This year he was awarded the Royal Anthropological Institute Life Achievement Award.

— Adapted from University of Kent blog post.