Karin Barber

Last updated

Dame Karin Barber

Born
Karin Judith Barber

(1949-07-02) 2 July 1949 (age 73)
NationalityBritish
Spouse Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias (partner)
Academic background
Education Lawnswood High School
Alma mater Girton College, Cambridge
University College London
University of Ife
Institutions

Dame Karin Judith Barber, DBE , FBA (born 2 July 1949) is a British cultural anthropologist and academic, who specialises in the Yoruba-speaking area of Nigeria. From 1999 to 2017, she was Professor of African Cultural Anthropology at the University of Birmingham. Before joining the Centre of West African Studies of the University of Birmingham, she was a lecturer at the University of Ife in Nigeria. Since 2018, she has been Centennial Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics.

Contents

Barber has written two introductory textbooks for the Yoruba language, and a number of books concerning Yoruba culture, and oral literature and written literature in Africa. She has been awarded a number of prizes for her publications, and has been recognised by her peers and the British government for her contributions to scholarship.

Early life and education

Barber was born on 2 July 1949 to Charles and Barbara Barber. [1] She was educated at Lawnswood High School, an all-girls state grammar school in Lawnswood, Leeds. [1] She studied English at Girton College, Cambridge, and graduated with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab). [1] [2]

Barber then changed direction and studied social anthropology at University College London, completing a graduate diploma. [1] She then undertook postgraduate research at the University of Ife in Nigeria, where she completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree. [1] [2] Her research concerned the "role of oral poetic performance in everyday life" in Okuku, Osun State, Nigeria. [2]

Academic career

From 1977 to 1984, Barber was a lecturer in the Department of African Languages and Literature at the University of Ife in Nigeria. [1] Yoruba, which she had learnt during her doctorate, was used as the medium of instruction. [2] [3] In 1985, she moved back to the United Kingdom and joined the Centre of West African Studies of the University of Birmingham. [1] She was a lecturer from 1985 to 1993, a senior lecturer from 1993 to 1997, and then Reader from 1997 to 1999. [1] From 1998 to 2001, she served as Director of the Centre of West African Studies. [1] In 1999, she was appointed Professor of African Cultural Anthropology. [1] [4] She retired from Birmingham in 2017, and was appointed professor emeritus. [5] Since 2018, she has been Centennial Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics. [6]

In addition to her full-time academic positions, Barber has held a number of visiting appointments. For the 1993/1994 academic year she was Preceptor of the Institute of Advanced Study and Research in the African Humanities at Northwestern University in Illinois, United States. [2] In 1999, she was Melville Herskovits Distinguished Visiting Professor at Northwestern University. [7] In 2014, she was the Mellon Foundation Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. [2]

Barber has held senior positions with the British Academy, the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. She was a member of the council from 2007 to 2008, and was its Vice-President (Humanities) from 2008 to 2010. [2] [4]

Research

Barber is a cultural anthropologist, whose research has remained focused within the area in which she did her doctorate. She specialises in the "Yoruba-speaking area of Nigeria" (the Yoruba people), and their culture, religion, and oral and written literature. [4] She has also looked comparatively at "popular culture across sub-Saharan Africa" and researched the "uses of literacy in colonial Africa". [2]

As part of broader research interests, Barber teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses on the popular culture of Africa, African religion and ritual, and also teaches the Yoruba language at beginner level. [2]

Personal life

Barber's partner is Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias. [1] He is a historian of medieval West Africa. [8]

Honours

In 2003, Barber was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. [4] She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to African studies [9] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to the study of African culture. [10]

In 1991, Barber was awarded the "Amaury Talbot Prize for African Anthropology" by the Royal Anthropological Institute for I Could Speak Until Tomorrow: Oriki, Women and the Past in a Yoruba Town, her first book. [11] In 2001, she was awarded the "Melville J. Herskovits Award" by the African Studies Association for The Generation of Plays: Yoruba Popular Life in Theatre. [12] In 2009, she was awarded the "Susanne K. Langer Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Symbolic Form" by the Media Ecology Association for The Anthropology of Texts, Persons and Publics. [13] In 2013, she was awarded the "Paul Hair Prize" by the African Studies Association for Print Culture and the First Yoruba Novel. [14]

Selected works

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Professor Karin Barber PhD FBA". Department of African Studies and Anthropology. University of Birmingham. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  3. "Undergraduate Studies". Obafemi Awolowo University. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Professor Karin Barber". The British Academy. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  5. "Barber, Prof. Karin Judith". Who's Who 2020 . Oxford University Press. 1 December 2019. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U4000395. ISBN   978-0-19-954088-4 . Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  6. "Professor Karin Barber". London School of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  7. "Karin Barber". The Heyman Center for the Humanities. Columbia University. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  8. "Professor Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias". Department of African Studies and Anthropology. University of Birmingham. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  9. "No. 60009". The London Gazette . 31 December 2011. p. 6.
  10. "No. 63218". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2020. p. N7.
  11. "Amaury Talbot Prize for African Anthropology Past Recipients". The RAI. Royal Anthropological Institute. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  12. "Herskovits Award Winners". African Studies Association. 13 December 2016. Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  13. "The 2009 MEA Awards" (PDF). MEA. 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  14. "Paul Hair Prize". African Studies Association. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2017.