Professor Cheryl Mattingly has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Aarhus University. She is one of the most respected figures in the world of social anthropology. Her research is based on long-term ethnographic studies of socially marginalised African-American families in Los Angeles, and her numerous monographs and articles have provided an insight into human destinies and histories in their individual settings, while also presenting them as vehicles for universal and existential questions. 

The new honorary doctor is regarded as a leading light in the current debate on the ‘anthropology of ethics’, and she has made a major contribution to the development of anthropological theory and demonstrated the inter-disciplinary potential of a new ethnographically based and philosophically mediated humanism. 

Cheryl Mattingly has worked closely with Aarhus University since 1992. She has been associated with research groups at the Faculty of Arts for more than two decades, and several interdisciplinary research projects combining anthropology and philosophy have been established with Cheryl Mattingly’s work as the link. Right now she is part of two interdisciplinary projects at the intersection between philosophy and anthropology and is considered a key partner at the School of Culture and Society.

Curriculum Vitae (highlights)

Education:

2004 - Professor, Department of Anthropology. (Secondary appointment: Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy). University of Southern California: Los Angeles, CA.

2000 - 2004 Professor. Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, and Department of Anthropology. University of Southern California: Los Angeles, CA.

1994 - 1996 Associate Professor. Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois: Chicago, IL.

1988 - 1994 Assistant Professor. Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois: Chicago, IL.

1989 PhD. Anthropology and Urban Studies. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Recent positions:

2013 - 2015 Dale T. Mortensen Senior Research Fellow. Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark.

2012 Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Anthropology. University of Aarhus: Aarhus, Denmark. (September 2012 - October 2012).

2011 Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Anthropology. University of Aarhus: Aarhus, Denmark. (August 2011 - October 2011).

2009 Visiting Professor (Joint Appointment). Department of Anthropology and Ethnography, and Department of Philosophy and History of Ideas, University of Aarhus: Aarhus, Denmark. (August 2009 - December 2009).

2004 - Director, Health Humanity and Cultural Initiative. Dornsife College of Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California: Los Angeles, CA.

Recent prizes and honorary awards:

2017 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow

2017 Inaugural Keynote: Center for Health, Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Denmark

2016 - Advisory Board Member. Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies. Aarhus University

2016 Dean’s Influential Visiting Scholar (Social Sciences). University of California, Los Angeles. (Department of Anthropology)

2015 New Millennium Book Prize for Moral Laboratories: Family Peril and the Struggle for a Good Life. Society for Medical Anthropology, American Anthropological Association.