I am delighted and honoured to present this special issue of Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences (LATISS). Its purpose is one that is particularly meaningful to me not only professionally but also personally. As for so many others, throughout my graduate studies and especially while working on my thesis, Sue's work had a strong influence on me as a student. I was starstruck when I first met Sue some years later, and although I had my publisher's hat on, I was moved by the care and interest that Sue took in my studies once we delved into my student alter ego and I confessed how much her work had helped me formulate my own. An otherwise very intimidating encounter was softened by the warmth and generosity conveyed by Sue with her adviser hat on.
When the opportunity arose to work together on LATISS, I was thrilled to give the journal the home it needed. The journal's remit aligned strongly with Berghahn's publishing programme, which otherwise did little in educational studies but valued the important insights into fields that were too often lacking the vital lens brought by the social sciences more generally and anthropology in particular. Above all, the journal's aim to ensure the inclusion of critical factors such as gender, class and power in higher education research in order to more effectively analyse policy implications and reforms, and perhaps even enact change, resonated strongly with Berghahn's mission. All in all, the journal added to the learning/teaching field those much-needed scholarly nuances that have been Sue's hallmark throughout her career.
As the pages of this special issue very well demonstrate, Sue is not only a prolific scholar but also a dedicated mentor in supporting her students and colleagues – junior and senior alike. This generosity is also demonstrated time and again as editor, alongside Penny, in tirelessly encouraging and guiding early career researchers through the publication process in LATISS, as well as across many edited collections where she especially champions younger colleagues as a series editor. While her work continues to inspire those around her, not only in what she has written but how she has done so, alongside helping so many along the way – it's also the wonderful and generous human being that is Sue, who brings us all together in ways that create a truly unique ecology that is always such a pleasure to be part of. Let the party begin!
Susan Wright
Professor of Educational Anthropology, Institute of Educational Anthropology, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University
D.Phil. in Social Anthropology, University of Oxford, 1985
Diploma in Ethnology, Oxford University, Linacre College, 1973
BA (Hons) Modern History, University of Durham, St Aidan's College, 1972
Citation: Learning and Teaching 16, 3; 10.3167/latiss.2023.160301
