[Xmca-l] Re: Joshua Fishman, R.I.P.

[Vera John-Steiner]

Joshua Fishman was a gentle soul even as a dean. I was at Yeshiva University for close to a decade and shared a year-long course with him reflecting our shared interest in language
and linguistics. He was passionate about Yiddish and always went home early on Friday afternoons even if a meeting was held at the Ford Foundation. He convinced me to do some work on bilingualism. And together we established an interdisciplinary program in Educational Linguistics. He was able to maintain a warm personal relationship even when faced with deep differences in politics. He was held in high regard by Navajo educators.

Vera
-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of mike cole
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2015 10:49 AM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Joshua Fishman, R.I.P.

Thanks for forwarding Peter, inquiring Robert, and providing article, Aria.


The final paragraph of the article on the problem of disappearing languages, published 20 years ago, might resonate with xmca readers:

Reversing language shift is a research field, it is an applied field, it is a cultural values field, it has new horizons, there are new things to do, things that are, if you like, differently focused than the ordinary school has been. And reversing language shift asks, “What happens with the mother tongue before school, in school, out of school, and after school?” so that it can be passed on from one generation to another. I started with a good question and I am ending with a good question and that is the question.
“What are you going to do with the mother tongue before school, in school, out of school, and after school?” Because that determines its fate, whether it is going to become self-renewing. That is my question for you, no joke!

On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 9:39 AM, Aria Razfar <arazfar@uic.edu> wrote:

> http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/jar/SIL/Fishman1.pdf
>
>
> Aria Razfar, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture Director of 
> Graduate Studies, Curriculum and Instruction University of Illinois at 
> Chicago
> 1040 W. Harrison St. M/C 147
> Chicago, IL, 60607
>
> Director of English Learning through Mathematics, Science and Action 
> Research (ELMSA) www.elmsa.org
>
> Webpage: http://education.uic.edu/personnel/faculty/aria-razfar-phd
> Tel: 312-413-8373
> Fax: 312-996-8134
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:
> xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Lake
> Sent: Monday, March 02, 2015 11:25 AM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Joshua Fishman, R.I.P.
>
> Thanks for sharing this Peter. Does anyone have an article of his to 
> share with us?
> Robert L.
>
> On Mon, Mar 2, 2015 at 11:37 AM, Peter Smagorinsky <smago@uga.edu> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > From: Rosalind Horowitz [mailto:Rosalind.Horowitz@utsa.edu]
> > Sent: Monday, March 02, 2015 11:34 AM
> > To: Peter Smagorinsky
> > Subject: Distribute to Listserv
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 2 March 2015
> >
> > Dear Colleagues.
> >
> > Language, Culture, and Social Science experts across the world mourn 
> > the loss of Joshua Fishman, Professor Emeritus, Yeshiva University, 
> > New York.
> > He was at the forefront of Bilingualism, Multilingualism, Language 
> > Preservation, Minorities and Language Shift and an advocate of 
> > Languages and Culture as a mark of Human Values.
> > The history of Professor Fishman’s life is a history of the 
> > Sociology and Psychology of Language and human preservation of 
> > tradition and
> culture.
> >
> > Rosalind Horowitz
> > Professor, The University of Texas—San Antonio
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Ofelia Garcia 
> > [ogarcia@gc.cuny.edu<mailto:ogarcia@gc.cuny.edu>]
> >
> >
> > Joshua A. Fishman (1926-2015)
> >
> > A beloved teacher and influential scholar, Joshua A. Fishman passed 
> > away peacefully in his Bronx home, on Monday evening, March 1, 2015.
> > He was 88 years old. Joshua A. Fishman leaves behind his devoted 
> > wife of over 60 years, Gella Schweid Fishman, three sons and 
> > daughters-in-law, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. 
> > But he also leaves behind thousands of students throughout the world 
> > who have learned much from him about sociology of language, the 
> > field he founded, and also about the possibility of being a generous 
> > and committed scholar to language minority communities. As he once 
> > said, his life was his work and his work was his life.
> >
> > Joshua A. Fishman, nicknamed Shikl, was born in Philadelphia PA on 
> > July 18, 1926. Yiddish was the language of his childhood home, and 
> > his father regularly asked his sister, Rukhl, and him: “What did you 
> > do for Yiddish today?” The struggle for Yiddish in Jewish life was 
> > the impetus for his scholarly work. After graduating from the 
> > University of Pennsylvania with a Masters degree in 1947, he 
> > collaborated with his good friend, Max Weinreich, the doyen of 
> > Yiddish linguistics, on a translation of Weinreich’s history of 
> > Yiddish. And it was through Yiddish that he came to another one of 
> > his interests ––that of bilingualism. In 1948 he received a prize 
> > from the YIVO Institute for Yiddish Research for a monograph on 
> > bilingualism. Yiddish and bilingualism were interests he developed throughout his scholarly life.
> >
> > After earning a PhD in social psychology from Columbia University in 
> > 1953, Joshua Fishman worked as a researcher for the College Entrance 
> > Examination Board. This experience focused his interest on 
> > educational pursuits, which eventually led to another strand of his 
> > scholarly work –– that on bilingual education. It was around this 
> > time that he taught what came to be the first sociology of language 
> > course at The City College of New York. In 1958, he was appointed 
> > associate professor of human relations and psychology at the 
> > University of Pennsylvania, and two years later, moved to Yeshiva 
> > University. At Yeshiva University he was professor of psychology and 
> > sociology, Dean of the Ferkauf Graduate School of Social Science and 
> > Humanities, Academic Vice President, and Distinguished University 
> > Research Professor of Social sciences. In 1988, he became Professor 
> > Emeritus and began to divide the year between New York and 
> > California where he became visiting professor of education and 
> > linguistics at Stanford University. In the course of his career, 
> > Fishman held visiting appointments at over a dozen universities in 
> > the USA, Israel, and the Philippines, and fellowships at the Center 
> > for Advanced study (Stanford), the East West Center (Hawai’i) the 
> > Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the
> Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, and the Israel Institute for 
> Advanced Study.
> >
> > Throughout his long career Joshua A. Fishman has published close to 
> > one hundred books and over a thousand articles. He has not only been 
> > prolific, but his original and complex ideas have been very 
> > influential in the academy, as well as extremely useful to language 
> > minorities through the world. His first major study of sociology of 
> > language, Language Loyalty in the United States, was published in 
> > 1964. A year later, he published Yiddish in America. In 1968, he 
> > published the earliest major collection dealing with language policy 
> > and management, Language problems of developing nations. In the same 
> > year, he edited and published Readings in the sociology of language, 
> > a
> first attempt to define the new field.
> >
> > By the 1970s Joshua Fishman’s scholarship was recognized throughout 
> > the world for its importance and its relevance about the language 
> > issues prevalent in society. In 1973, he founded, and has since 
> > edited, The International Journal of the Sociology of Language, a 
> > journal of excellent international reputation. Joshua Fishman has 
> > also edited a related book series published by Mouton, Contributions 
> > to the Sociology of Language (CSL), with over 200 titles. In both of 
> > these endeavors Fishman has encouraged young scholars to research, 
> > write and publish, supporting and contributing to the academic 
> > careers of many throughout the world, especially in developing 
> > countries. For years he replied daily to letters and e-mails from 
> > students from all over the world. His greatest motivation has been 
> > dialoguing with many about the use of language in society and 
> > answering student questions. The world
> was his classroom.
> >
> > While conducting an impressive body of research, and being 
> > responsive to the many who asked for advice, Fishman traveled 
> > extensively, encouraging the activities of those seeking to preserve 
> > endangered languages. He will be remembered by the Māoris of New 
> > Zealand, the Catalans and Basques of Spain, the Navajo and other 
> > Native Americans, the speakers of Quechua and Aymara in South 
> > America, and many other minority language groups for his warmth and 
> > encouragement. For a quarter-century, he wrote a column on Yiddish 
> > sociolinguistics in every issue of the quarterly Afn Shvel. He also 
> > wrote regularly on Yiddish and general sociolinguistic topics for the weekly Forverts.
> > Together with his wife Gella Fishman, he established the extensive 
> > five-generational "Fishman Family Archives" at Stanford University 
> > library. In 2004 he received the prestigious UNESCO Linguapax Award 
> > in
> Barcelona, Spain.
> >
> > Joshua Fishman’s prolific record of research and publication has 
> > continued until today, defining modern scholarship in bilingualism 
> > and multilingualism, bilingual and minority education, the relation 
> > of language and thought, the sociology and the social history of 
> > Yiddish, language policy and planning, language spread, language 
> > shift and maintenance, language and nationalism, language and 
> > ethnicity, post-imperial English, languages in New York, and ethnic, 
> > and national efforts to reverse language shift.
> >
> > His scholarly work with minority groups and with others engaged in 
> > the struggle to preserve their languages, cultures, and traditions 
> > has been inspired by a deep and heartfelt compassion that is always 
> > sustained by the markedly human tone of his most objective scholarly
> writing.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Edling mailing list
> > Edling@bunner.geol.lu.se<mailto:Edling@bunner.geol.lu.se>
> > http://bunner.geol.lu.se/mailman/listinfo/edling
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Myrna Goldstein, B.S.J., MATESL
> > Founder, Director
> > Are You in Your English File?®
> > Second Language Learning Research Center Eilat, Israel, formerly of 
> > Milan, Italy
> > e:  myrnaenglishfile@gmail.com<mailto:myrnaenglishfile@gmail.com>
> > Skype:  myinmi
> > t: 00972 (0)53 5255360
> >
>
>
>
> --
>
> *Robert Lake  Ed.D.*Associate Professor Social Foundations of 
> Education Dept. of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading Georgia 
> Southern University
> Secretary/Treasurer-AERA- Paulo Freire Special Interest Group P. O. 
> Box
> 8144
> Phone: (912) 478-0355
> Fax: (912) 478-5382
> Statesboro, GA  30460
>
>
>


--
It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an object that creates history. Ernst Boesch.