Canadian Wins Norway’s 2010 Holberg International Memorial Prize
Dr. Natalie Zemon Davis
Photo: John Carvalho
Natalie Zemon Davis, a professor at the University of Toronto, was recently awarded the 2010 Holberg International Memorial Prize. Dr. Davis is a recognized Canadian historian and the seventh recipient of the prize. The Canadian philosopher and historian of sciences, Ian Hacking won the prize last year. Norway established the Holberg Prize in 2003 to recognize outstanding scholarly work in the academic fields of the arts and humanities, social sciences, law and theology.
Davis is regarded as one of the pioneer researchers and popular lecturers of early modern history, social and cultural histories and the study of women and gender. She is known for her creative and compelling narrative and work in history on film, and has a long history of of political activism in civil rights, women's rights, anti-racism and issues of free speech. She is currently a history scholar at the University of Toronto as well as Professor Emeritus from Princeton University.
In their citation for the award, the Academic Committee of the Holberg Prize states: Natalie Zemon Davis is one of the most creative historians writing today, an intellectual who is not hostage to any particular school of thought or politics. Her writing is richly textured, multi-faceted and meticulously documented. She shows how particular events can be narrated and analyzed so as to reveal deeper historical tendencies and underlying patterns of thought and action. Her work brings gender to the fore, while insisting that the relationship between men and women is always embedded in the cultural discourses and social organizations specific to their time.
The Holberg award ceremony will take place June 9, 2010, in Bergen, Norway. Recent Holberg Prize laureates include Ian Hacking (2009), Fredric R. Jameson (2008), Ronald Dworkin (2007), Shmuel N. Eisenstadt (2006), Jürgen Habermas (2005) and Julia Kristeva (2004).
