iris

Iris Marion Young, professor of political theory at the University of Chicago, died a few days ago. The blog has been inactive while I've tried to figure out what to say.

Iris wasn't a professor I was very close to in the department. I took a class with her, but she didn't read my comprehensive exams or my MA. However, she was always a presence. Teaching classes, holding office hours, talking to people in the halls and the Pick elevator. And she was always eminently Iris, even when she was sick--or maybe especially when she was sick: a "take no BS" kind of person, but also one who listened intently and insisted on giving everyone their say. Which sounds like a contradiction, but Iris pulled it off.

I'm borrowing someone else's observation when I say that, unlike many profs, Iris lived her politics. Her commitment to a truly democratic ethos wasn't restricted to her writing, but extended to her daily academic life. It could make for a lenghty class discussion, but also inspired a great deal of respect. And, for me, a lot of thought about what it means to be a political professor.

Iris was classy and compassionate, determined and dedicated. I'll miss her.