It is with great sadness that the Canadian Studies Program announces the passing of our former director and longtime friend, Dr. Nelson H. Graburn (1936-2025). Professor Graburn was an expert in Inuit arts and culture, and a professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at UC Berkeley. He was part of the founding generation of Canadian Studies, and remained affiliated with the program for over four decades. He will be sorely missed by his many friends at UC Berkeley, across the United States and Canada, and beyond.
Professor Graburn was born in England. He began his academic journey at The King's School, Canterbury from 1950 to 1955. He earned his B.A. in Natural Sciences and Social Anthropology at Clare College, Cambridge in 1958 and his M.A. in anthropology at McGill University in 1960. He completed his Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Chicago in 1963.
Professor Graburn maintained a lifelong connection with the Canadian Arctic, which he visited regularly throughout his life. He conducted his groundbreaking doctoral research in 1959 in the Inuit hamlet of Salluit (then known as Sugluk) in Quebec, with subsequent fieldwork in Kimmirut (then Lake Harbour) on Baffin Island. This research was supported by fellowships from the McGill-Carnegie Arctic Institute and Canada Council and resulted in his dissertation, "Taqagmiut Eskimo Kinship Terminology," which was published by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada in 1964. His early fieldwork reports have been cited in the "Qikiqtani Truth Commission Community Histories 1950–1975."
He made many friends during his numerous trips to the far north, and was well-known in the Inuit arts community. He was also close to the family of governor general Mary Simon, whom he employed as a translator when she was a teenager.
Professor Graburn joined the Berkeley faculty in 1964, and dedicated almost five decades to the university community. He joined the Canadian Studies Program shortly after its founding and became a co-director in 1986. In 2005, he was appointed the inaugural holder of the Thomas Garden Barnes Chair in Canadian Studies and served as program director until 2012. Throughout his distinguished career, he held visiting appointments at numerous prestigious institutions around the world, including the National Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.
Professor Graburn was a pioneer in the anthropology of tourism, making significant contributions to this emerging field in the 1970s. His scholarly impact is reflected in his prolific publishing record, which includes 19 monographs and edited volumes. At Berkeley, Professor Graburn regularly taught his seminar on Tourism, Art and Modernity (since 1977) and co-chaired the Tourism Studies Working Group.
His recent research focused on contemporary Inuit arts, including "urban Inuit arts," and collaborations with Canadian Inuit cultural organizations on aspects of cultural preservation and autonomy. Much of his work explored the dialogue between the traditional and the contemporary, and the commodification of traditional art forms for external audiences. Over the years, he gave several lectures on Inuit arts to Canadian Studies, including the 2015 Barnes Lecture that attracted over 60 attendees. His most recent talk was in 2023, providing a survey of the development of Inuit art over the last 100 years. This talk was based on a trip he took, funded by the Program, to Winnipeg's newly-opened Qaumajuk, the world's largest collection of contemporary Inuit art.
Professor Graburn established a global academic legacy through his research, collaboration, and publications with scholars across four continents. His dedication to teaching, professional development, and co-authorship with both graduate and undergraduate students at Berkeley and numerous other institutions earned him international recognition. Though he stopped accepting new graduate advisees after 2005, Professor Graburn remained actively engaged in masters and doctoral committees spanning at least eight diverse disciplines. His academic influence extended globally, as he taught and served on PhD examination and dissertation committees for students in seven countries. Professor Graburn worked extensively on contemporary tourism in China and Japan, and was regularly invited to lecture in both countries.
Even after retirement, he remained an active presence on campus, both within his department and the Canadian Studies Program. Professor Graburn was a member of the Canadian Studies faculty board, and regularly attended program events. He also continued teaching undergraduate courses for freshmen and sophomores until last year. In 2022, he was named the Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeritus of the Year by the UC Berkeley Emeriti Association, in recognition of exceptional accomplishment by an emeritus faculty member since retirement. Earlier this year, Professor Graburn received a Lifetime Contribution Award for Critical Tourism Studies in the Asia Pacific. Colleagues remember him as generous, supportive, present, and cheerful at department and campus events, arriving in characteristic style behind the wheel of his beloved 1964 Shelby Cobra. Professor Graburn's legacy lives on through the dozens of PhD students he mentored and the global network of scholars he inspired in the field of tourism studies.
A TRIBUTE FROM FORMER PROGRAM DIRECTOR IRENE BLOEMRAAD
Nelson was one of the very first people to greet me to campus at Berkeley, before I had even accepted a job offer in 2003. I was torn about whether to accept a faculty position back in Canada or to take a chance at building my career in California. Canadian politics and immigration were central to my research interests, and we had no family in the United States. It was consequently such a joy to meet Nelson, Tom Barnes and Rita Ross, who were so passionate about Berkeley’s Canadian Studies Program, and so dedicated to advancing knowledge and connections to Canada from within the UC Berkeley campus. They built not just an intellectual program but a community. Then and afterwards, when Nelson took on the Barnes Chair in Canadian Studies, he and the program supported my research with funding and presentation opportunities, and later supported my nomination to take on the leadership of the program.
Nelson had a fierce intellect and would occasionally ask sharp questions during Canadian Studies colloquia. He was also a dedicated teacher and supporter of young Canadianists. Through his global networks on Arctic and tourism studies, he would bring inspiring young scholars to our attention and provide them with a venue to share their work. That balance between challenge and support honed many scholars’ faculties.
I will always remember Nelson’s Barnes Lecture in Canadian Studies, when he brought together decades of research and engagement with Inuit artists to deliver a fascinating talk on the rise, commercialization and future of Inuit sculpture. He shared images of his own collection, weaving anthropology, art and Indigenous studies together. It was a tour-de-force.
The Canadian Studies program would not be what it is today without Nelson’s engagement, leadership and support. I am honoured to have been his colleague and will carry his memory in my heart.