LAJSA Remembers David William Foster
David William Foster, the distinguished and collegial scholar who served as President of LAJSA from 2006-2009, died on June 24, 2020 in Phoenix. At the time of his death, he was Regents’ Professor of Spanish and Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University, where he had taught since 1966, and was serving as Faculty Head of Spanish and Portuguese. He was also the longtime editor of the journal Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana.
David was born in Seattle on September 11, 1940, and held his BA, MA, and PhD from the University of Washington. His first post, 1964-1966, was at the University of Missouri at Columbia. During his lengthy tenure at ASU, he served as visiting professor at numerous universities in the United States and Latin America. He was an enormously prolific researcher, having published over one hundred books either as sole author, editor, or co-editor. While he first emerged as a student of peninsular literature and seemed to be heading toward a career as a medievalist, after a Fulbright to Argentina he transformed himself into a Latinamericanist and dedicated most of his efforts to the study and teaching of Argentine and Brazilian cultural production.
While David’s extensive research covered many fields, beginning with the 1991 publication of his pioneering Gay and Lesbian Themes in Latin American Writing he became best known as a leading figure in LGBTQ studies of Latin American writing and other cultural forms. He always spent a good deal of time talking with his students and former students, and he may well have been drawn into Jewish Studies by certain of his disciples who were enthusiastic about this area of research. The critical anthology that he coordinated, Latin American Jewish Cultural Production (2009) testifies to his eagerness to collaborate with scholars of Latin American Jewish culture. In his own work, David took a special interest in Jewish playwrights and photographers and taught several courses on Latin American Jewish topics, including an NEH Summer Seminar in Buenos Aires. He joined LAJSA early on and was a loyal member, participating in LAJSA conferences and related events. He was the primary organizer of two LAJSA International Research Conferences, the 2007 one held at the Biblioteca Nacional in Buenos Aires and the 2011 one at ASU.
Over his lengthy career, David directed many dissertations, including those of several lajserxs. He founded ASU’s doctoral program in Spanish and Portuguese and served for lengthy stretches as graduate advisor. In 1989, he received the annual award for Outstanding Graduate Mentor from the Graduate College at ASU. As word of his death spread, numerous scholars who had never been official students of David’s or attended ASU expressed on social media how much they valued the advice and encouragement that they had received from him.
At LAJSA, David will long be remembered not only for his scholarship, but for his leadership of the association, for his enthusiasm, and for his generous and sagacious mentorship and collegiality.
