[Xmca-l] Ruqaiya Hasan

[Phil Chappell]

Many on this list will know of Ruqaiya Hasan's work and may even have joined in an XMCA seminar we had back in the mid noughties. She was a great advocate of intersections between Vygotsky, Halliday, Bernstein and Marx.

I'm sad to pass this message on.

Phil Chappell

Dear SFL Friends

With great sadness I have to tell you that Ruqaiya passed away suddenly yesterday afternoon.  She suffered heart failure, brought on by the stress of the cancer and the infection, which had so weakened her body. Fortunately Michael was with her at that moment, and for some time beforehand.  

I have just spoken with Michael, and want to reassure you that he is doing well in these circumstances - as courageous and determined as you know he would be.

There will be a small funeral service in Sydney next week.  The time and date are still being arranged, and details will be posted when they are available.  There will also be a much larger scholarly event to celebrate Ruqaiya's life and work, and to keep it moving forward, later in the year at Macquarie University.

A wonderful life, an immense scholarly contribution, an extraordinary friend to so many people around the world.

Best regards,
Geoff Williams