Cultural anthropologist Ruth Behar will examine how shared stories connect people across borders and differences when she delivers the 2025 Henry Russel Lecture.
“I’ve always been drawn to stories. I grew up in New York as an immigrant child from Cuba, hearing stories about the island and constructing my identity from the tales my family shared with me,” said Behar, the James W. Fernandez Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology and professor of anthropology in LSA.
“I then became an anthropologist and took journeys to Spain, Mexico and my native Cuba, and was entrusted to be the guardian of other people’s stories. Stories come to us as a gift, perhaps the truest gift of all. In a time of uncertainty and insecurity, exploring the core of human generosity seems crucial.”
Behar’s lecture, “The Gift of Shared Stories,” will take place at 4-5:30 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Vandenberg Room of the Michigan League. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed.
The Henry Russel Lectureship is the university’s highest honor for senior faculty members and is awarded annually for exceptional achievements in research, scholarship or creative endeavors, as well as for an outstanding record of distinguished teaching, mentoring and service to U-M and the wider community. This year marks the 100th Henry Russel Lecture at U-M.
Four other faculty members will receive Henry Russel Awards, the university’s highest honor for early or mid-career faculty members. They are:
- Robin Brewer, assistant professor of information, School of Information.
- Roya Ensafi, Morris Wellman Faculty Development Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, College of Engineering.
- Marc Hannaford, assistant professor of music, School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
- Wenjing Wang, William R. Roush Assistant Professor, assistant professor of chemistry, LSA; and research assistant professor, Life Sciences Institute.
Behar pioneered the idea of the “vulnerable observer,” a concept that has been adopted into the ethical fieldwork of a range of disciplines, including women’s studies, medicine, education, social work and creative writing.
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In her lecture, Behar will discuss why she has decided to write personally in her work.
“Even though self-revelation is very taboo in anthropology, this was the path I felt I needed to follow,” Behar said. “I will discuss how I found my way forward through the beauty of unexpected encounters and, especially, how being back in Cuba, my birthplace, led me to understand more deeply how to receive the gift of shared stories.”
Behar hopes attendees will gain a greater appreciation for story-listening and storytelling, the role anthropology plays in understanding identity — and why cultural traditions and heritage, passed down between generations, can help give life meaning.
“The possibility of building bridges between strangers through shared stories seems significant at a time when our world is precarious and fractured,” Behar said. “We need to rethink the power of stories to create new visions of society that offer the possibility of greater freedom, justice and hope for all people.
Behar has written five books of anthropology and edited or co-edited four more. She has also published more than 60 published articles, written and co-edited a blog — and been interviewed for a wide range of popular podcasts and newspaper and magazine articles, making her work accessible to a broad audience.
Behar was the first Latina to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, in 1988. In 2018, she received both the Pura Belpré Author Award and was recognized as a “Great Immigrant” by the Carnegie Corporation. In 2021, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in January of this year, her novel “Across So Many Seas” was named a 2025 Newbery Honor Book by the American Library Association.
U-M named Behar a Distinguished University Professor in 2021, and she received the Sarah Goddard Power Award from U-M’s the Academic Women’s Caucus in January 2024 for her leadership in women’s studies.
