David Brooks lectured in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Durham between 1968 and 1989. During this time he was greatly admired and revered by many undergraduates, post-graduates and staff for his dynamic and highly engaging approach to social anthropology.
Following his death on April 29th, 1994, it was suggested that The David Brooks Memorial Prize should be established in recognition of his highly distinctive contribution to teaching and research in social anthropology. The objective of this fund would be to encourage, by way of an annual prize, originality in undergraduate ethnographic research and writing for third-year students. To date, numerous generous donations have been made to the Fund from some of the many people who knew and admired David.
Students eligible for the award are those completing an ethnographic dissertation as part of their third-year studies (this includes honours and joint-honours students).
The award is administered by a committee currently made up of:
The award will be made to the student producing the most original ethnographic research in the form of a third-year dissertation. The criteria upon which originality will be assessed related to the following aspects of the research:
If you wish to enter for the award you will need to do the following:
(Please Note: the assessment of your dissertation for the David Brooks Memorial Fund Award is entirely independent of the assessment of the dissertation as part of your degree).
The award will take the form of £100 worth of book tokens. The successful applicant will be informed by letter of the Committee's decision prior to the degree ceremony each year. The verdict of the Committee is final. Exceptionally, the committee may choose to award the prize to more than one recipient in a year.