[csaa-forum] Sad news: Elspeth Probyn, Professor Emeritus, Gender and Cultural Studies

[Rob Cover]

Dear cultural studies colleagues,

The below is posted on behalf of Dr Shawna Tang (Gender and Cultural
Studies, The University of Sydney), as the CSAA and the wider international
cultural studies community mourns the heartbreaking loss this week of
Professor Elspeth Probyn, a key foundational scholar in our fields and a
much-loved colleague and friend to many.  We will miss her enormously but,
with gratitude, we acknowledge her critical insights and generosity have
shaped Australian cultural studies and will never be forgotten.

_________________________________________________________________

We are mourning the loss of *Emeritus Professor Elspeth Probyn* who passed
away in the early hours of 8 April. Her passing leaves a deep ache in our
hearts.



Elspeth shaped Gender and Cultural Studies in Australia and internationally
with a fierce intellect and a generosity of spirit — all with a kind of
party discipline. She was always present at faculty seminars and postgrad
presentations, often the first to ask an intellectually generous question
or express her appreciation. She exemplified, par excellence, what it means
to take academic practice seriously. Whether it was a draft article, a
grant application, a promotion document, or even an abstract, she could
always be relied upon to offer the most incisive and helpful feedback — the
kind that didn’t leave you in despair, but made the path forward feel
possible, even easy.



Elspeth’s contribution to the Cultural Studies Association of Australasia,
and the wider world of cultural studies, gender and queer studies
internationally was profound. She took an intense, critical and engaged
interest in the work of others, especially the nascent ideas of early
careers and postgraduates. Scholarly conversations with her often continued
outside of formal sessions, unfolding in post-conference social
activities where
she tirelessly fostered intellectual exchange that blurred the lines
between academic labour and pleasure. For Elspeth, cultural studies is
ordinary practice - a means of creating connections and a sense of
belonging.



Generations of scholars have been touched by her critical brilliance and
her unwavering care.



Vale, Elspeth — lodestar to generations of scholars in gender and cultural
studies, and far beyond. We are all bereft.



   -- Dr Shawna Tang, Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at The
University of Sydney
<https://www.sydney.edu.au/arts/schools/school-of-humanities/gender-and-cultural-studies.html>
.
_________________________________________________________________

 ____________________________________________
*Professor Rob Cover, PhD  *[he/they]
[Working on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri and Taungurung people]
Profile:    http://rmit.academia.edu/RobCover

*Professor of Digital Communication, *
*RMIT University (Melbourne)
<https://www.rmit.edu.au/about/schools-colleges/media-and-communication/research>*

*Director*,* RMIT Digital Ethnography Research Centre
<https://digital-ethnography.com/>*
*Convenor*, Digital Hostility and Disinformation Lab
<https://digitalhostility.org/>
____________________________________________


*Rob's books: **Queer Youth Suicide, Culture and Identity: Unliveable
Lives?* - *http://bit.ly/qys2012 <http://bit.ly/qys2012>*

*Vulnerability and Exposure: Footballer Scandals, Masculine Identity and
Ethics* - *http://bit.ly/VulnExp <http://bit.ly/VulnExp>*

*Digital Identities: Creating and Communicating the Online Self* -
*http://bit.ly/DigIdentities
<http://bit.ly/DigIdentities>*

*Emergent Identities: New Sexualities, Genders and Relationships in a
Digital Era* - *http://bit.ly/Em-Id <http://bit.ly/Em-Id>*

*Flirting in the Era of #MeToo: Negotiating Intimacy* (with A Bartlett and
K Clarke) - *http://bit.ly/flirting-book <http://bit.ly/flirting-book>*

*Population, Mobility and Belonging: Population Concepts in Media, Culture
and Society* - *http://bit.ly/populmb <http://bit.ly/populmb>*

*Fake News in Digital Cultures* (with A Haw and J Thompson) -
*https://bit.ly/fake-news-digital
<https://bit.ly/fake-news-digital>*

*Identity and Digital Communication: Concepts, Theories, Practices* -
*https://bit.ly/Id-Dig-Com
<https://bit.ly/Id-Dig-Com>*

*Identity in the COVID-19 Years: Communication, Crisis and Ethics* -
*https://bit.ly/COV-id-23b
<https://bit.ly/COV-id-23b>*

*Queer Memory and Storytelling: Gender and Sexually-Diverse Identities and
Trans-Media Narrative* (with R Prosser) - *https://bit.ly/QueerMem24
<https://bit.ly/QueerMem24>*


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