Wendy Rosalind James, (born 4 February 1940) is a British retired

social anthropologist Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

and academic. She was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Social Anthropology at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

from 1996 to 2007, and President of the

Royal Anthropological Institute The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...

from 2001 to 2004.

Early life and education

James was born on 4 February 1940 to William Stanley James and Isabel James (''née'' Lunt). She was educated at Kelsick School, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, Cumbria, Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern ...

, Cumbria. She studied

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1962. James's interest in Africa was developed through the stories her father told her about his time working in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and her interest in anthropology was sparked during a "'

hands-on "Hands-on" refers to human interaction, often with technology. It implies active participation in a direct and practical way. Hands-on or Hands-On may refer to: * Hands-on computing, a branch of human-computer interaction (HCI) research * Hand ...

' introductory course at the

Pitt Rivers Museum Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed t ...

" in Oxford during her undergraduate degree. She therefore changed direction and remained at St Hugh's College studying anthropology, completing a

Bachelor of Letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second undergraduate university degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been t ...

(BLitt) degree in 1964. She undertook

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. By definition, the notion of “postgraduate” (United States) carries the implication that the candidate undertaking such ...

on a part-time basis at Oxford, completing her Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1970. Her

doctoral dissertation A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was titled "Principles of social organisation among the Uduk speaking people of the southern Fung region,

Republic of the Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Academic career

From 1964 to 1969, James was a lecturer in

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

at the

University of Khartoum The University of Khartoum (U of K) ( ar, جامعة الخرطوم) is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 195 ...

in Sudan. During this time, she "conducted traditional

ethnographic research Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

among the

Uduk people The Uduk are a Nilo-Saharan group from eastern Sudan. They call themselves ''Kwanim Pa'' and are culturally and linguistically related to neighboring communities, such as the Gumuz and the Kwama from the Sudan-Ethiopia borderland. Due to the rece ...

living in the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...

region along the Sudan/Ethiopian border". From 1969 to 1971, she was a

Leverhulme The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...

research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

. Between 1971 and 1972, she was a

visiting lecturer In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

. In 1972, James was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

St Cross College, Oxford St Cross College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1965, St Cross is an all-graduate college with gothic and traditional-style buildings on a central site in St Giles', just south of Pusey Street. It a ...

, and appointed a University Lecturer in

at Oxford's School of Anthropology. She was awarded a

Title of Distinction The University of Oxford introduced Titles of Distinction for senior academics in the 1990s. These are not established chairs, which are posts funded by endowment for academics with a distinguished career in British and European universities. Howeve ...

of Social Anthropology in July 1996. In 2007, she retired from full-time academia and was appointed an

Emeritus Fellow ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of St Cross College. In addition to her university positions, James held a number of appointments. She was President of the

from 2001 to 2004. She was Vice-President of the

British Institute in Eastern Africa The British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and is dedicated to supporting historical, archaeological, and other social science and humanities research in eastern Africa. The BIEA is sponsored by the British A ...

from 2001 to 2011. She worked as an occasional consultant to bodies such as the United Nations

Operation Lifeline Sudan Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) was a consortium of United Nations agencies (mainly UNICEF and the World Food Programme)United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

, the United Kingdom's

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

Personal life

In 1977, James married

Douglas H. Johnson Douglas Hamilton Johnson is an American scholar who lives in Britain who specializes in the history of North East Africa, Sudan and the Southern Sudan. Work in the Sudan Johnson worked to support the 2003 Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement ne ...

, a British historian and academic. Together, they have had two children: one son and one daughter.

Honours

James was awarded the Amaury Talbot Prize for African Anthropology by the

for her monograph ''The Listening Ebony: Moral Knowledge, Religion and Power among the Uduk of Sudan'' in 1988. In 2005, she was awarded an honorary '' Dr Scientiarum Anthropologicarum'' (DSc) degree by the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. She was awarded the Rivers Memorial Medal by the Royal Anthropological Institute in 2009. In 1999, James was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...

for the humanities and social sciences. In the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) "for services to scholarship".

Selected works

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 15 May 2009 (video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Wendy 1940 births Living people British anthropologists British women anthropologists Social anthropologists Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Fellows of St Hugh's College, Oxford Fellows of St Cross College, Oxford University of Khartoum faculty Fellows of the British Academy Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Presidents of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland