memoriesofmarc-blog

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Marc created the intellectual and emotional space that made my graduate school experience life-changing.   A group of us spent much of the 1980s in the Michigan program, and Marc was instrumental in ensuring we experienced “the life of the mind”—especially left politics–and that we believed we had a right to think of ourselves as intellectuals.   Our friendship group—which spanned a few cohorts—talked about things that mattered, repudiated competition, and engaged in a great deal of learning outside the classroom.  We had a real esprit de corps, and much of it was thanks to Marc.   I’ve been reading the tributes of his students describing how Marc cared about them and made them feel like they belonged, and I can attest that he has been that way for at least 40 years!  My first year of grad school was hard, as I felt didn’t belong in such an intellectual place (despite the Smith degree that I see many on this site share), and he convinced me that I did.   In response to my “Fitting in sure doesn’t seem hard to you, Marc,” he said something like “I was toddling around eating sausage hors d’oeuvres at faculty parties since I was five!”  His using cultural capital theory casually was typical of how he would use theory in everyday life and one of the things that made me realize that yes, theory is not opaque, and I can do this, too!  Encouraging people was a gift he gave freely, and it mattered.  The people he has loved and who loved him in return are many, and we will miss him terribly.

submitted by Irene Padavic

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Today would have been Marc's 63rd birthday. These last two weeks have felt like a century, and almost every day, I catch myself thinking of telling Marc something that happened in my day. Today, I spent a few hours in Marc's office going through his books, as this was the best way I could think to celebrate his life and passions. Amongst all the dust and receipts as bookmarks and tiny scribbled notes in the margins, I felt more connected to Marc than I had been these last few weeks. It felt like walking through his footsteps and almost like having a conversation with him. Consider donating to one (or all) of the three causes in honor of Marc: 1. Friends of the Homeless at www.csoinc.org 2. Hospice of the Fisher Home atwww.fisherhome.org 3. A fund to support student research in honor of Marc at www.smith.edu/giving (Click on the red "MAKE A GIFT" button on the top right hand corner, select the amount, check "Give in honor or in memory of..." and write "Marc Steinberg" in the box.)

submitted by Pia

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Marc’s Obituary written by Nancy and Rick

Marc W. Steinberg, a master teacher, scholar, and mentor to several generations of college students, passed away on June 7, 2019 at his home in Northampton. He died after a year-long struggle with pancreatic cancer. Marc was born on June 21, 1956 and grew up in Pittsburgh. He attended Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan, where he received a PhD in sociology. Marc was the Sydenham C. Parsons Professor of sociology at Smith College, where he had taught since 1994. Prior to his arrival at Smith, Marc had taught in the Sociology Department at Clark University in Worcester from 1991-1994. At Smith, he served as Chair of the Department of Sociology at various points (from 2004-2007, 2008-2009, and 2015-2017). Marc was a beloved professor to his students. His courses were always heavily enrolled and well-regarded by students. He taught courses on sociological theory, social movements, rock music, power, and politics. He was known to mark his lessons with deliberate gestures of quirkiness and comedy, to help students grasp difficult concepts and to be sure that they stayed wide awake. Marc worked particularly hard to help his students learn to write effectively and to develop their critical thinking and analytical skills. He kept in touch with countless students, mentoring them years after they had graduated from Smith. Marc was also a most helpful and thoughtful colleague to his peers. He read voraciously across a wide range of topics and routinely passed along notes of references to his colleagues when he came upon something he thought would be of interest to them. Marc conducted painstaking historical research on work and workers in 19th Century England for his influential first two books, Fighting Words: Working-Class Formation, Collective Action and Discourse in Early Nineteenth-Century England (1999) and England's Great Transformation: Law, Labor and the Industrial Revolution (2016), which received the Zelizer Award for Best Book in Economic Sociology from the Economic Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. Marc's most recent book, Beyond Betrayal: The Priest Sexual Abuse Crisis, The Voice of the Faithful and the Process of Collective Identity (co-authored with Patricia Ewick) will be published in the coming months. Based on extensive interviews with Church members, the book charts the development of a group of Catholics who, in the wake of the priest sexual abuse revelations, acted on their feelings of betrayal by redefining what the Catholic Church might become and, simultaneously, defined and redefined themselves. In addition to his books, Marc was the author of over 25 articles, receiving major awards for two of them, while writing numerous essays and book reviews, appearing on scholarly panels, and giving many conference presentations over the course of his three-decade long career. Marc is survived by his brother, Alan Steinberg, sister-in-law, Patty Mooney, nephew Jared Steinberg, and many close friends, including his close friend Sabina Knight. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to establish a fund in memory of Marc Steinberg to support student research either by check to Smith College, 33 Elm Street, Northampton, MA 01060 (please write Marc's name on the check) or online at www.smith.edu/giving (after selecting the amount, there is a prompt to enter the memorial name). Donations may also be sent to Friends of the Homeless: www.csoinc.org or Hospice of the Fisher Home: www.fisherhome.org, both of which were causes close to Marc's heart. Ahearn Funeral Home 413-587-0044 Published in Daily Hampshire Gazette on June 19, 2019

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Marc was my advisor, a great professor and an awesome person. I am really sad to hear about his death and cancer diagnosis.

submitted by Sarah Tierney-Walker

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Thank you to Leigh Johnston for sharing this interview! 

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

I only took one class, Introduction to Sociology, with Marc Steinberg more than 20 years ago. I wasn’t a sociology major/minor, he wasn’t my advisor, we didn’t stay in touch beyond that class and I doubt he would have remembered who I was. But now, as a professor myself, whenever I think about pedagogy and try to come up with ways to improve my teaching, he continues to inspire. After all these years, he still sets the bar for what I aspire to do for my students (and I fall far short). I remember wondering how he managed to find the energy to care so much about us, even then. And now that I know how hard it is to be a good teacher, I am even more appreciative. Here are just a few of the things that have been seared into my memory and that I wish I could replicate:

He had every one of us schedule meetings with him individually in office hours in the first week or two of the semester just so he could get to know us.

He handed out placards to each of us that said something like “stop” or “I have something I want to say.” I forgot the exact wording, but we were supposed to raise it if we ever had something to say but were too timid to speak. I never used it and to my knowledge no one else did either, but I appreciated how he was always mindful of those of us who tended to be quiet in class.

He had a system where he was able to grade all of our papers with our names redacted (before LMS’s could do this automatically for graders) so as to be as fair as possible and minimize his own bias.

He used to play music as we filed into class. In particular, I recall him playing Sleater Kinney song and wearing a Sleater Kinney t-shirt. To this day, I don’t like going to my classroom early because I feel so shy and awkward hanging out or chatting with students in the classroom before class starts. But he made it seem like the most effortless thing to do, as if he couldn’t wait to get class started.

I asked him once for a letter of recommendation. And even though I’d only taken one class with him and I didn’t talk much, he handed me the thickest envelope ever and it made me wonder how he could possibly come up with so much to say about me (when I myself stick to 1-2 page letters for my own undergrads).

Thank you, Marc. 

submitted by Aya

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

So many wonderful Marc memories. He was an inspiring, kind, and thoughtful person who changed my life. He would go to Stop and Shop to buy discount holiday candy very early in the morning the day after every holiday and give out in class, especially when we were learning about tough theorists. We were eating Reese's Easter eggs all semester! He had the funniest t-shirts that read things like like "I am a Social Construct” and “Primates for Peace.” Once at the end of year Sociology department party, we had Indian food and it clogged the sink and he reached his whole arm down there and unclogged it. He was always biking around campus or to the YMCA with a helmet and telling us to wear our helmets! Marc cared about us improving our writing and would read drafts of essays and provide extensive feedback and supportive comments like “astute observation!” in addition to an entire page of typed comments he'd staple to the back of the essay. Often in class, he would ask his students to take a poll on who did the readings. He would go out in the hallway and have one student count how many of us had read. If he came back into the classroom and found that not many people did, he wouldn’t be mad or disappointed, but would adjust the lesson so everyone could understand and participate.

Marc would always go to Smith admissions events and talk to prospective students even though they had no idea what sociology was. In 2015 I worked for the admissions office as a blogger for prospective students and he let me do a silly “meet a Smith professor" interview for the blog. He shared some fun facts with me like he has a pocket watch collection and a favorite walking blue pig stuffed animal :) I looked back and found the interview here https://smithieleigh.tumblr.com/post/132876063309/interview-with-my-sociology-professor-marc

Once, I told Marc about something frustrating that was going on in another class with a different professor, and he called my dean and advocated for me until he thought I got justice. On the first or second class of every semester, he would bring his digital camera and take pictures of students holding cards with our names and pronouns. He would then make these photographs his desktop screensaver until he had all of our names memorized because he really cared. He’s the reason I had such a positive academic experience at Smith. In the year since I graduated, we kept in good touch, and I would always excitedly email him when I saw something in the real world that reminded me of what we’d learned in class. He gave me a lot of great reading recommendations and I have a list of books he suggested that I haven’t gotten to yet. When I get to them, I know I’m going to want nothing more than to discuss with him. Marc gave me a new way to look at the world. I going to miss him so much.

Submitted by Leigh Johnston

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Even though it was expected, it's still a blow. 

I met Marc in 2006 when I was a Lecturer at Smith College fresh out of graduate school. I instantly thought of him as a quintessential small liberal arts college professor. When you're a Visiting Assistant Professor or a Lecturer (anywhere, not just at Smith) it's not really a very prestigious gig. You teach a lot, and aren't expected to stick around for very long. So, students and faculty don't really invest too much time or energy in you. I felt pretty alone in those days. 

But Marc was a very kind mentor and colleague to me in the three years at Smith, and even afterward, in my three years as a Visiting Assistant Professor at UMass Amherst. We had lots of lunches and conversations about teaching, mentoring students, and the profession. He was a generous guide to the teaching life. All along, he wrote countless recommendation letters for me, offering near-weekly check ins. 

In the years since I was on the job market, I saw Marc at the YMCA a lot. He had a condition that was improved by exercise and so we would often see each other almost everyday. We would chat about his classes, his family in Pittsburgh, my writing. Usually while he was on the bike or I was on the elliptical. Lately we'd talk about his health and he had said that it had taken a turn. He didn't want to talk about it, and just shook his head and kept his headphones on. I didn't think it would be the last time I saw him but, when I didn't see him for three straight visits to the gym, I assumed the worst. I am not sure when I'll step into the cardio room and not look for his wide headband and headphones. I'll miss our regular chats.

Since I heard of his passing, I went through my syllabi and accounted for all the forensic evidence of where I borrowed ideas from his syllabi, including offering students the "Rules of Engagement." There are probably a few other things that I'll carry with me for a while.    

Professor Bob Zussman wrote that Marc was an incredibly decent person, and I would totally agree. I'll miss him a lot.

Take care, everyone. 

submitted by Jonathan Wynn

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

I am so sad to hear this news. I had no idea he was even sick. Marc was my sociology minor advisor. I graduated in 1996 and every time I went back to campus for reunions there were always two people I wanted to check in with: Marc and Randy Frost (my psych major advisor). Marc was so fun and funny and quirky and I loved his classes. What a loss for the Smith community. 😢

submitted by Chris Parker

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Marc was truly a gem and inspiration to so many students, especially to us burgeoning sociologists. His quirky humor, graphic t-shirts, passion for theory and generous spirit will be sorely missed ❤️

submitted by Dominique Adams-Romena, Smith College Class of 2013

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Generous Colleague

Marc has always been a generous colleague and a brilliant scholar. I had read his work before meeting him, and was so impressed with his intellectual acuity. What a pleasure to realize that this was combined with a truly sweet and generous nature. I benefited enormously from engaging with Marc. I had the good fortune of being an on-again off-again member of the social movements group located at Smith, and I always learned from his interpretations and readings of the works we read together. His comments on my own work were tremendously helpful. We also were in contact over various students, and his enormous commitment to students was so lovely to witness. There are no words to express my sorrow, to all of those who were lucky enough to be closer to Marc than I am. But I am grateful that I had the opportunity to learn from him, both how to be a good sociologist and how to be a good person.

submitted by Joya Misra

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

I had Marc for my intro to sociology class, and as a scared little first year, he made me feel like I had a place. He encouraged my ideas and made me feel like I was important in the classroom dynamic. I had him for this spring semester, and a few months in when I heard he was taking a medical leave, I was shocked. Even through his personal battles he brought only positivity and kindness to the classroom. He achieved what few teachers can; he made his students feel important and supported. ❤️

submitted by @wwwtd

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Marc was my advisor and pivotal to my attending and getting into graduate school as well. He was such a thoughtful, giving, dynamic teacher, and person. This is such a loss.

submitted by Nancy Wang

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

I will always remember the things Marc did to keep us engaged as students. He taught Theories of Society the semester I took it, and he did things like stand in a container of water on his desk and throw candy at people to keep us focused on what was otherwise pretty dry material. I remember being impressed that he did all of this because I knew deep down he didn’t have to make the effort—we were required to take the class anyways, but he chose to make it as interesting as he could, because he wanted us to learn.

He was always committed to teaching us and gave full attention to people when they spoke in class or asked questions. I was going through some stuff personally when I was taking classes with him, but I never felt judged. I felt like he worked hard to have everyone feel welcome in his courses, and to make sociology and particularly the more dry and theoretical parts of it feel accessible.

I’ll always remember how kind, unpretentious, and genuine he was. How he wore a baseball hat, jeans, and a T-shirt every day—how he made us laugh—and how I definitely became a better student of sociology because of him.

submitted by @queerartofwinning

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

I haven’t been able to think of a single thing all day since I heard. What a tragic loss: Marc’s spirit is/was so utterly unique. So gentle and so deeply thoughtful: he really looked closely at everything in the world, and he was so kind and sensitive and funny. I have so many vivid memories of him doing wacky things like talking about hegemony and then suddenly exclaiming, “Candy!” when he saw a Starburst lying randomly under someone’s desk. He moved so freely between the world of ideas and the world of triviality, and he was willing to really take on any perspective in order to understand it. A beautiful, brilliant, adorable man.

Marc exuded tremendous respect for his students’ intelligence, and you could really feel the warmth of his being, that he was rooting for you to succeed.  There was a special twinkle in his eye, and he recognized everyone individually, honoring their presence in class.  Someone in class recognized another student’s outfit from a catalogue, which prompted Marc to tell the story of the time he was walking across another college campus for an interview, all dressed up, when a student stopped him and told him the page number of that suit in the J Crew catalogue.  Someone said, “Bring in the suit, Marc!” and he did, in the next class: he brought in the pale green/grey suit from home to show us all, which made us feel honored, like we were his friends.

There will never, never be another being like Marc Steinberg.  

submitted by @english118-blog-blog

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

One day Luc and I were walking by Marc as he made photocopies in the copy room in Wright Hall, and Marc looked up and looked at us as we passed.  Luc said, “He always has a special way of looking, like he really sees you, like he attributes great importance to you.” That is so true!  Marc really looked intimately at things around him, really seeing them instead of looking through them.  What a lovely, lovely, indescribably special man!  I feel astonished and heartbroken that Marc has physically left this world.

submitted by @english118-blog-blog

[memoriesofmarc-blog]

Marc always tried gently to get the quiet students to join in class discussion: he was so sensitive to people’s vulnerabilities.  He saw the way people were seeing.

submitted by @english118-blog-blog