Person
Geddes, William Robert (Bill) (1916 - 1989)
- Born
- 29 April 1916
New Plymouth, New Zealand - Died
- 27 April 1989
Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Anthropologist
Summary
Bill Geddes was an anthropologist who viewed the discipline as an important force for tolerance and cross-cultural understanding. His principle interests lay with the ethnic minorities of Southeast Asia and he made major studies of the Dayaks of Sarawak and the hill tribesmen of northern Thailand. In 1964 -1965 he was advisor to the Tribal Research Centre, set up by the Thai Government, which ultimately embroiled him in controversy about the use to which governments might put data gathered during such surveys. As Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sydney he extended the Department's focus beyond Oceania to include Asia, broadened it to include archaeology and prehistory, and made anthropology available to first year students. Geddes was a skilled still and cinematic photographer. His appreciation of the importance of film in recording vanishing ways of life caused him to make a number of highly-regarded films.
Details
Chronology
- 1938
- Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Otago, New Zealand
- 1939
- Education - Master of Arts (MA), University of Otago, New Zealand
- 1939 - 1940
- Career position - Demonstrator, Department of Psychology, University of Otago, New Zealand
- 1941 - 1945
- Career position - Service with New Zealand armed forces
- 1947 - 1948
- Career position - Lecturer in Psychology, Birbeck College, London
- 1948
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of London
- 1949 - 1951
- Career position - Sociology Research Officer, Sarawak
- 1951 - 1953
- Career position - Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Auckland
- 1954 - 1956
- Career position - Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland
- 1955
- Award - Wellcome Medal, Royal Anthropological Institute
- 1957 - 1958
- Career position - Associate Professor, University of Auckland
- 1959 - 1981
- Career position - Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney
- 1960
- Career position - President, Australian Anthropological Association
- 1961
- Career position - President, Section F, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science
- 1964 - 1970
- Career position - Chairman, Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs
- 1975 - 1977
- Career position - Head, Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney
- 1981
- Life event - Retired
Related entries
Published resources
Book Sections
- Golson, Jack, 'Geddes, William Robert (1916 - 1989), anthropologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 17: 1981 - 1990 A-K, Diane Langmore, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2007), pp. 425-6. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/geddes-william-robert-bill-12529. Details
Journal Articles
- Sandall, Roger, 'Bill Geddes and ethnographic films', Anthropology Today, 8 (2) (1992), 22-3. Details
- Wright, Richard, 'William Robert Geddes (1916 - 1989)', Oceania, 60 (1) (1989), 60-1. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q24087739. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/59172818. Details
- 'Geddes, W R (19160429-19890427)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1289265. Details
See also
- Allen, Harry, 'The first university positions in prehistoric archaeology in New Zealand and Australia', Bulletin of the history of archaeology, 29 (1:2) (2019), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5334/bha-606. Details
Helen Cohn
Last modified: 21 August 2019