At this November’s graduation ceremony, Professor Hugh Brody was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree for his outstanding contribution to society as an anthropologist, filmmaker and writer. Introducing Professor Brody, Professor Jim Groombridge, Head of School, talked of Hugh’s desire, throughout his work, to “confront the fundamental question of what it entails to be alive”, especially amongst marginalised or indigenous communities.
Professor Groombridge asserted that Hugh’s documentaries “bring to life the challenges that come with living in the shadows of developments…and the impacts on indigenous people in disputed land rights, the risk of displacement, and the need to safeguard their cultural heritage and language.” One of his most significant achievements was the episode The People’s Land: Eskimos of Pond Inlet for the groundbreaking TV series Disappearing World that Hugh made in 1976, which brought an unprecedented British viewing public face-to-face with the lives of Inuit people and the pressures on their cultural identity and livelihoods.
In the last five years, Hugh has supported students in the school’s visual anthropology pathway, visiting to attend the annual screening of student projects, inspiring and engaging aspiring filmmakers with his generous, insightful reviews. Taking the podium, Hugh in turn praised the inspirational teaching that he witnesses each year at the University and confessed to being moved, inspired and further educated by the students that he had encountered.
Recounting a tale from his fieldwork in the Arctic North with Inuit people, Hugh remembered that his Inuit teacher asked him why he thought that he was being given such intimate access to the indigenous culture and language. The guide believed that knowledge led to justice, and hoped that Hugh’s insider advocacy could be used to present the Inuit perspective to the Canadian government. Building on from this, Hugh finished his address to the crowd of graduands, staff and alumni:
“Justice depends on knowledge. Truth and knowledge are not sufficient conditions to make the world a better place, but they are necessary. Find the facts, find the truth and pursue justice. Never has this thought been more important than at this moment in our history, when facts and truth are denied, when university educations are subverted and scorned by some of those who have the greatest power in the world. Let knowledge lead to justice.”
The full oration can be viewed here (Jim Groombridge’s introduction begins at 1h 16′; Hugh Brody’s speech starts at 1h 22′ 23″).