James Burgess Waldram (born 1955) is a Canadian medical anthropologist. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Early life and education

Waldram was born in 1955. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in anthropology from the University of Waterloo in 1978 and his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Anthropology from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

in 1983.

Career

Following his PhD, Waldram joined the faculty at the

(USask) in 1983, where he established Saskatchewan's first Department of Native Studies. In 1999, he transferred to the department of psychology and in 2009 he was appointed a joint member of the departments of archaeology and anthropology. As a professor, he received a four-year grant to study how sexual offenders, both aboriginal and non aboriginal, experience, interpret and respond to psychological treatment they receive in federal penitentiaries. Waldram later published ''Revenge of the Windigo: The Construction of the Mind and Mental Health of North American Aboriginal Peoples'' in 2004 through the

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calen ...

. In 2005, Waldram was named a Champion of Mental Health by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health for his work in understanding aboriginal mental health. His research culminated in the publication of ''Hound Pound Narrative: Sexual Offender Habilitation and the Anthropology of Therapeutic Intervention'' in 2012. As a result of his research in the study of Aboriginal mental health issues and the cultural bases of healing and treatment, Waldram was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

in 2014. Two years later, he was one of five national recipients of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Impact Awards. In 2018, his work was recognized by the USask Distinguished Professorship Advisory Committee for being "of the highest caliber" and "contributing significantly to the enhancement of knowledge in the fields of medical anthropology and Indigenous studies." As a result, Waldram was given the title of Distinguished Professor at USask.

Selected publications

*''Aboriginal Health in Canada'' (1995) *''The Way of the Pipe: Aboriginal Spirituality and Symbolic Healing in Canadian Prisons'' (1997) *''Revenge of the Windigo: The Construction of the Mind and Mental Health of North American Aboriginal Peoples'' (2004) *''Hound Pound Narrative: Sexual Offender Habilitation and the Anthropology of Therapeutic Intervention'' (2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waldram, James B. Living people 1955 births Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada University of Waterloo alumni University of Connecticut alumni University of Manitoba alumni Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan