Didier Fassin Awarded Honorary Doctorate from the Free University of Brussels

Didier Fassin, James D. Wolfensohn Professor in the School of Social Science, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Brussels. The university, by awarding the insignia of doctorate honoris causa, honors recipients who have served their fields (whether it be in science, arts, or politics) with distinction and excellence. 

Publishing prolifically in the domains of anthropology and sociology, Fassin has devoted his recent research to political and moral themes, conducting ethnographic work on policing, justice, prison, and punishment. A student of the public presence of the social sciences, he addresses multiple professional and lay audiences, and occasionally writes on society and politics for Le Monde, The New York Times, and The London Review of Books.

In 1834, the Free University of Brussels (then Free University of Belgium) inaugurated its first academic term. Since then, it has been committed to the principle of "free examination," which rejects the argument of authority and the independence of judgment. 

As a part of the honorary doctorate, Fassin will host a conference at the university on the "exile from ethnography to geopolitics." He shares this honor with Roger Enoka, Francis Kéré, and Naomi Oreskes.