Legacy and Tributes
Legacy and Tributes
David’s Legacy
David Brooks taught at Durham University for more than two decades, over which time he inspired many students in their studies. He published very little in his lifetime, but his legacy lives on through his friends, family, colleagues, and students.
David was an extraordinarily generous supervisor and in the course of his career helped over forty students through their Ph.Ds, M.As, and other qualifications covering some 33 different countries. Over a dozen of these students went on to fill academic posts both in the UK and abroad.
▸ Selected former students of David Brooks
▸ Original paper detailing Brooks’ students and conferences
After his death, many of David’s books were donated to libraries (many went to the growing anthropology library at Queen’s College, Stockton) and others were distributed amongst his students. To mark this act, Bob Simpson created an ex libris plate to go inside each the books. The image was inspired by the Celtic artist, George Bain, and marks the shared interest that Bob and David had in Celtic art.
Tributes to David
1. Dr Pedram Khosronejad is a socio-cultural anthropologist specialising in contemporary Iran. In 2004, he made a film entitled ‘The Last Lions of Bakhtiyari’ documenting funeral ceremonies of the nomads. The film was dedicated to David Brooks.
Read ‘The Last Lions of Bakhtiyari‘ translated film transcript.
(Warning: the following film content contains some graphic images)
Watch ‘The Last Lions of Bakhtiyari’ by Pedram Khosronejad (Dedicated to David Brooks)
2. Professor Judith Okely was a colleague of David’s when she began her academic career in the mid-seventies at Durham. Her biographical account of her early years in academia is given in the attached article.