In the newsletter of the Commission on Nomadic Peoples, Kathleen Galvin, Professor of Anthropology and Director of The Africa Center at Colorado State University, writes:
Dawn Chatty’s primary research interests are broad and significant, encompassing forced migration—particularly the experiences of refugee youth in Muslim countries of the Middle East and North Africa—women’s development and resistance under displacement, health and differential access to primary care, and conservation and sustainable development. As a researcher, policy advisor, and teacher, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to illuminating the misconceptions and misassumptions surrounding the displacement and dispossession of pastoralists, especially in the Middle East. With a lifetime of professional focus on pastoral refugee women and youth, forced migration, health needs, and conservation issues, Dawn has made significant and lasting contributions to the social science of pastoralism.
Dawn has held numerous academic and professional appointments. She is currently an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration and previously served as Director of the Refugee Studies Centre in the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford. Her leadership roles also include President of the Council for British Research in the Levant, Chair of the Commission on Nomadic Peoples (CNP) within the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES), and Chair of the SJLP Rhodes Scholarship Committee at the University of Oxford. She also serves on multiple journal editorial boards.
Her work has been widely recognized. She has received research awards from the British Academy and the UNDP People’s Participation Programme. She is also the sole recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Commission on Nomadic Peoples of the IUAES.
Dawn’s work spans decades and continents, grounded in interdisciplinary research with pastoralist communities. She has authored and co-edited numerous influential books, including Syria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State (2018); Conservation and Mobile Indigenous Peoples: Displacement, Forced Settlement, and Sustainable Development (2002); Organizing Women: Formal and Informal Women’s Groups in the Middle East (1997); and Mobile Pastoralists: Development Planning and Social Change in the Sultanate of Oman (1996). Her extensive publications also include book chapters and journal articles that bridge scholarship and policy, such as “The Syrian Humanitarian Disaster: Perceptions and Aspirations in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey,” published in Global Policy.
Her scholarship has shaped generations of researchers on pastoralism, including this writer, through her dedication to speaking truth to power and offering honest, compassionate analysis of the challenges faced by people—especially women and youth—whose lives are reshaped by forces beyond their control. Dawn Chatty has made outstanding contributions to Anthropology and to Development Studies, consistently championing the well-being and rights of pastoralists worldwide.
In recognition of her distinguished contributions to the study of nomadic peoples, the Commission on Nomadic Peoples of the World Anthropological Union proudly presents Professor Dawn Chatty with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
In the picture above, by James Stanfield, Dawn Chatty and Mr. Bin Kaneidish are catching up on the news in Sahma, Oman, 1994. Beginning in 1980, with support from the UN, they worked together to set up rural health clinics and schools, which were critical factors in encouraging the participation of girls and women in Oman. They also spearheaded efforts to increase water access for pastoralists in central Oman.
Find out more about Professor Dawn Chatty’s life and field work with nomadic pastoralists in Oman by exploring this photo archive