[Edling] Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (1940-2023)

Wed May 31 23:03:47 UTC 2023

Thank you. Francis, for letting us know of Tove's passing and sharing your
memories/ thoughts about her.
I never knew her well, but certainly knew of her contributions--especially
when I was in bilingual education work,
mostly from afar, but occasionally at meetings.
I have always respected so much the values and standards she represented.
Margaret van Naerssen

On Wed, May 31, 2023 at 3:00 PM Francis M. Hult via Edling <
edling at lists.mail.umbc.edu> wrote:

> Dear friends and colleagues,
>
> It is with sadness that I report the passing of Tove Skutnabb-Kangas.  She
> died on Monday while enjoying the nature around the summer cottage that she
> shared with her husband, Robert Phillipson.  With her death we lose another
> luminary in our field.  Tove was a prolific author and tireless champion of
> linguistic rights.  She changed the global conversation on rights to
> language and linguistic equity, with influence on international, national,
> regional, and local scales in both politics/policy and scholarship.
>
> For many of us, she was the consummate role model of a scholar-advocate.
> Never shy about her convictions or in speaking truth to power, she was
> deeply caring, kind, and compassionate.  Her knowledge of the linguistic
> situations of the world and the nuances of international legal instruments
> and national language policies as well as the scope of research in our
> field, both historical and contemporary, was encyclopedic.  Her "big book" (Skutnabb-Kangas,
> 2000
> <https://www.routledge.com/Linguistic-Genocide-in-Education--or-Worldwide-Diversity-and-Human-Rights/Skutnabb-Kangas/p/book/9780805834680>)
> was a tour de force that remains unmatched in scope and depth.
>
> I am deeply grateful to be among those who can call her a friend and
> mentor.  She served on my dissertation committee and was a career-long
> guide and supporter.  The memory that emerges most clearly for me in this
> moment of sadness is the happy occasion when I first met Tove (and Robert,
> too).  Summer 2002.  At the end of my first year of doctoral study, I was
> about to embark on pilot work in Sweden to lay the groundwork for my
> dissertation.  Nancy Hornberger, my advisor, introduced me to Tove by
> e-mail.  She lived in Denmark, not too far from southern Sweden where I was
> going to be, with her husband Robert Phillipson, Nancy told me.  Wow!  I
> knew their work, of course, but visiting them would be something truly
> special.
>
> Tove and Robert invited me to join a group of their students for a day on
> their farm.  We students found each other at Copenhagen Central station and
> took a train together to the Danish countryside.  They were all so
> welcoming, and it immediately felt like being with old friends.  Robert
> picked us up, and we drove to the fish market.  We were going to be smoking
> our own fish for dinner.  When we later arrived at the farm, Tove rushed
> outside to greet us each with a big hug.  "Welcome!"  I felt like I was
> visiting my grandmother even though we had only met for the first time.
>
> [image: Smoking Fish.jpg]
> It was a delightful day.  Tove gave us a tour of their garden and took us
> for a long nature walk, pointing out various wild edible plants to us.  We
> returned to a pile of wood to be shaved by hand with knives in preparation
> for the smoking.  Vegetables for dinner came directly from the garden.  The
> day was a wonderful combination of enjoying nature and stimulating
> intellectual conversation while walking, working, and eating.  Ecology was
> not just a metaphorical perspective on linguistic diversity but something
> they lived everyday.
>
> [image: Dinner.jpg]
> The day stands out to me for many reasons.  Above all, as a young
> researcher, it was my first experience with the notion that we can be more
> than colleagues but friends with those in our field.  I remember feeling
> embraced so warmly and so quickly.  It was an instant bond, and I have felt
> the personal care and investment that Tove (and Robert still) has given me
> since that day.  I already miss her; her legacy continues in all whom she
> inspired.
>
> Rest in peace, dear friend,
> Francis
>
> --
> *Francis M. Hult, PhD, FRGS* | Professor
> Department of Education
> University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
>
> Editor, Educational Linguistics Book Series
> <https://www.springer.com/series/5894>
> Co-Editor, Contributions to the Sociology of Language Book Series
> <https://www.degruyter.com/view/serial/16644>
>
> Web Profile <https://education.umbc.edu/faculty-list/francis-m-hult/> |
> Academia.edu <http://umbc.academia.edu/FrancisMHult> | Google Scholar
> <https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2x7pOMwAAAAJ&h> | TESOL at UMBC
> <http://tesol.umbc.edu/>
>
>
>
>
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> https://lists.mail.umbc.edu/mailman/listinfo/edling
>

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