Regna Darnell, Ph. D.

University of Western Ontario

Professor, Department of Anthropology

Director, First Nations Studies Program

Biography:

Regna Darnell received a B.A. in Anthropology and English (cum laude) from Bryn Mawr College in 1965, and an M.A. (1967) and Ph.D. (1969) in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. She taught at the University of Alberta from 1969-1990, attaining the rank of Professor in 1979. Professor Darnell came to Western in 1990, serving as Chair of Anthropology (1990-93) and as Director of the Centre for Research and Teaching of Canadian Native Languages since 1992.  She became a Distinguished University Professor in 2005.  She is the founding Director of Western's First Nations Studies Program. She serves on the core faculty of the Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism and holds an adjunct appointment in Anthropology at McMaster University.   In 2000, she served as Bicentennial Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies and Anthropology and Guest Fellow at Pierson College, Yale University.  Professor Darnell is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a member of the American Philosophical Society,  past-president of the Society for Humanistic Anthropology past-president of the North American Association for the History of the Language Sciences, and chaired the American Anthropological Association's Centennial Executive and Advisory Commissions (planning for publications and celebrations in 2002). She has published widely in First Nations languages and cultures as well as history of anthropology. Recent books include: Edward Sapir: Linguist, Anthropologist, Humanist (1990); Collected Works of Edward Sapir 3: Culture (1999) and 4: Ethnology (1994); And Along Came Boas: Continuity and Revolution in Americanist Anthropology (1998); Theorizing the Americanist Tradition (ed. with Lisa Valentine, 1999); and Invisible Genealogies: A History of Americanist Anthropology (2001); Presidential Portraits: Celebrating a Century of the American Anthropological Association (ed. with Frederic W. Gleach, 2002); American Anthropology 1971-95: Selected Papers from the American Anthropologist (2002); Special Centennial Issue of the American Anthropologist (ed. with Frederic W. Gleach, 2002).

Comments from APS:

Regna Darnell is today the leading historian of North American linguistics and anthropology, from its founding by pioneers like Daniel Brinton and Franz Boas, to Edward Sapir, and the modern field of ethnographic linguistics.  She is one of Canada's most widely published authorities on First Nations languages and cultures, having conducted fieldwork across the continent with speakers of Algonkian, Athabascan, and Iroquoian languages.  Her work represents a unique synthesis of hardminded ethnographic and linguistic description with the sensitivity of the humanistic tradition, bridging the gap between a postmodernist appreciation of cultural uniqueness and a scientific insistence on verifiable observation.

The Hellmuth Prizes for achievement in research were established by the University to provide a way for all members of the Western community to appreciate and celebrate the research achievement of our most distinguished faculty members. They are named in honour of Bishop Isaac Hellmuth (1817-1901), who can be regarded as the founder of The University of Western Ontario. Working with Bishop Benjamin Cronyn, Hellmuth founded Huron College in 1863, and his personal foresight and dedication led to the granting of the charter for 'The Western University of London, Ontario" in 1878. Hellmuth later served as Western's first Chancellor from 1878 to 1884.

Social Science Centre: 3329, 3254, 3255