[Lasa] Fwd: Dr Steven Rubenstein

[Marc Becker]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Dr Steven Rubenstein
Date: 	Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:28:04 +0000
From: 	Christy Palmer <christy_palmer at mac.com>
To: 	Undisclosed recipients: ;

Dear SLAS Member,

It is with great sadness that we write to inform you of the sudden and
unexpected death of Dr Steven Rubenstein, Reader in Latin American
Studies at the University of Liverpool, UK. A graduate student at
Columbia University and a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University's
Society for the Humanities, Steve worked for eight years as an Assistant
and then Associate Professor at Ohio University before joining us at the
University of Liverpool in 2006. In Liverpool, Steve served as Director
of the Research Institute of Latin American Studies, and was also
programme director of our MA in Latin American Studies. He was
instrumental in developing an interdisciplinary research network in
Liverpool devoted to Children, Childhood and Communities. Steve will be
remembered in particular for his passionate interest in the Shuar nation
in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and for his commitment to the defence of the
Shuar people’s rights to determine their own culture and identity. A
Fellow at the National Humanities Center in 2008/9, Steve was planning
fieldwork later this year to complete his collection of life histories
of Shuar women. He was developing a series of ambitious projects that
would have continued to challenge prior notions of indigenous politics,
culture and identity in the Amazon and beyond. Steve was a valued
colleague and an exceptional interlocutor who will be greatly missed by
all those whose lives he touched. I am sure that those who knew Steve
will wish to join colleagues in Liverpool in remembering his family and
friends in your thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time.

Please do not hesitate to direct any enquiries to Charles Forsdick, Head
of the Department of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies, University of
Liverpool (craf at liv.ac.uk <mailto:craf at liv.ac.uk>).

-----

It is with sorrow that I mark the passing of Steve Rubenstein. For me,
he was a man of great warmth, kindness, passion and compassion, an
idealist who believed in the power of education and the intellectual
vocation to make a difference – for the better – in the world. I got to
know Steve at a conference in Goldsmiths when he spoke about the Shuar
and found his subtlety of mind, thinking and speaking immensely
engaging. More recently I met Steve at a meeting of the Standing
Conference of Centres of Latin American Studies. The depth of his
thinking and feeling made his comments, even on the vital yet
bureaucratic matters of university life, not only profound but also
profoundly political. Thinking about him now, I think it was his
capacity to interweave these two elements – thought and emotion – which
was for me the hallmark of his unique intellectual style. As SLAS
President I would like to take this opportunity to mark Steve’s
contribution to Latin American studies. Not only was he Director of
RILAS at Liverpool and a committed member of the Standing Conference
committee, he was instrumental in organising the SLAS Annual Conference
at Liverpool in 2008 and was more generally a great supporter of the
Society and especially those studying Latin America at Liverpool. It was
through these everyday practices (as Steve might have said) that he
enriched the world. On behalf of the Society, I send our heart-felt
condolences to Steve’s family and friends. We will miss him.

Lucy Taylor, SLAS President,
Aberystwyth, 11 March 2012.