In Memoriam

Susan Christopherson (1947–2016)

Bibliographic Data

ID12913895
AuthorsMeric S Gertler, Morgan Thomas (0000-0002-1610-3499), Amy Glasmeier
Year2017
Volume11
Issue1
Pages211-219
Publication date2017-12-29
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1752-1386 • E-ISSN: 1752-1378
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/cjres/rsx032
OpenAlexW2791465707
LanguageEN
References cited5

Susan was a dear and long-standing friend and colleague. I first met her in the first year of my Master’s studies at Berkeley in 1977, when I enrolled in Allan Pred’s human geography seminar, along with Susan, Michael Storper and a small handful of equally interesting and stimulating colleagues. Even at that very early stage in her academic career, Susan struck me as someone who was unusually poised, experienced and remarkably wise beyond her years. She was also unfailingly warm, open and generous—both intellectually and personally. Perhaps because we shared a northern upbringing—hers in Minnesota, mine in Ontario—we naturally gravitated towards one another. Her Nordic roots and Minnesota perspective seemed to confer upon her a lifelong fascination with—and affection for—all things Canadian. I think she secretly felt that Canada, with its public healthcare and its more fully elaborated welfare state, represented a kinder, gentler place that her own country might one day become. She was fond of saying “Of course, you Canadians have this all figured out” or “We have so much to learn from you Canadians”. In fact, Susan and I shared many other affinities besides our northern roots and affection for all things Canadian. As scholars, we both came to appreciate the value of comparative approaches to social science. Susan had a deeply developed sense of the intellectual gains to be made by comparing social systems in different political economies. And she adopted this as a central device in so much of her work

Affection · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Canadian Identity and History · Psychology · Regional resilience and development · Rural development and sustainability · Law · Social Psychology

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