[Linganth] SLA Board welcomes Shalini Shankar and further information about the SLA Memorial Event for Jennifer Jackson

[Paul Kroskrity]

Dear Members of the Society for Linguistic Anthropology,

Whether you are teaching, researching, vacationing, or just reading, I sincerely hope that you are all enjoying your summers.  I am writing with a couple of announcements.  The first news I want to convey is that Shalini Shankar has agreed to be recalled as SLA Board Member -at-Large in order to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Jennifer Jackson.  I am personally grateful to Shalini who has already begun the process of discussing policy matters with me and the other SLA Board Members.  She will take on the responsibilities associated with the vacated position including bringing the SLA Undergraduate Paper Prize contest to a conclusion.  Look for a further announcement from Shalini about this contest.

I also want to update my prior announcement about Jennifer Jackson’s memorial event.  SLA has moved ahead with plans for a special memorial event which is expected to occur on the Friday evening of the Meetings from 7:45-9  The event will be organized by Norma Mendoza-Denton. It will provide an opportunity for members—Jennifer's teachers, students, colleagues, and friends—especially those who were unable to attend the memorial event in Los Angeles—with an opportunity to share their stories about Jennifer.  Look for an email from Norma as we get closer to the time of the meetings.

Let me contextualize and foreshadow some of those narratives by reproducing the text from UCLA Anthropology’s Departmental website which also represents a response to a request from some of you about possible contributions to a memorial fund:
We mourn the passing of our brilliant young colleague Jennifer Jackson.  We were extraordinarily fortunate to bring Jennifer into our faculty in 2011.  Her theoretical and empirically substantive book, Political Oratory and Cartooning:  An Ethnography of Democratic Processes in Madagascar (2013) touched broad domains of anthropological scholarship in the department and across the field.  Her eye-opening insights into the language of American politics were featured in national media.  Jennifer transformed the classroom into an engaging forum where undergraduates used anthropological concepts to make sense out of contemporary social and political dramas.  The nationally charged incident around the death of Trayvon Martin, for example, was vivified in Jennifer’s classroom through an analyses of the word “hoodie” as a potent signifier. Among advanced students Jennifer opened up a world of ideas related to the politics and globalization of language practices and the semiotics of public engagement.  Just as important Jennifer will be remembered for her devotion to each student’s aspirations, always providing wisdom and encouragement.
 The UCLA Department of Anthropology has established the Jennifer Jackson Student Support Fund to assist the research endeavors of students in anthropology.   Should you wish to contribute to this fund, please make your check payable to the UCLA Foundation, noting Jennifer Jackson Student Support Fund on the memo line. Please send your gift to the attention of Lisa Mohan at UCLA College of Letters and Science, 1309 Murphy Hall, Box 951413, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
Thanks for your attention.

Paul V. Kroskrity
President, Society for Linguistic Anthropology
Professor of Anthropology
Chair, American Indian Studies
Department of Anthropology
341 Haines Hall  -   Box 951553
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553
Ph. 310 825-6237
E.    paulvk at ucla.edu<mailto:paulvk at ucla.edu>

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