James Hunter | |
---|---|
Born | Scotland | 22 May 1948
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Academic work | |
Discipline | History |
Institutions | University of Aberdeen University of the Highlands and Islands |
Notable works | The Making of the Crofting Community |
James Hunter CBE FRSE (born 22 May 1948) is a historian of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. He is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of the Highlands and Islands. [1]
He completed his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Edinburgh before taking up a post with the Institute for the Study of Sparsely Populated Areas at the University of Aberdeen. In 2005 he founded the Centre for History in Dornoch as part of the University of the Highlands and Islands,and served as the head of the Centre between 2005 and 2010. [2]
He is a freelance historian [3] and author,and has written numerous books on the Highlands and Islands and its global diaspora.
His recent books include Set Adrift Upon the World:The Sutherland Clearances,published in 2015. The book presents the struggle for survival of the people cleared from the straths of Sutherland during the early nineteenth century and relocated to Canada,landing at Hudson Bay. [4] This book was the winner of the Saltire Society's History Book of the Year Award in 2016. [5] In 2019 his account of the Highland Famine of 1846–47,Insurrection:Scotland's Famine Winter was published.
Hunter has held a number of additional posts outside of academia. He was the director of the Scottish Crofters Union (1985–1990),Chairman of the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust (2004–2007) and Chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (1998–2004),the Inverness-based development and training agency for the North of Scotland. [6] [7]
Hunter gave the first Sabhal Mòr Lecture in 1990. [8]
He was awarded a CBE in 2001 for his services to the Highlands and Islands. [9]
He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2007. [10]
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