Submitted by Ian Riise, Evergreen intern to ThurstonTalk
Like many professors at The Evergreen State College, Suzanne Simons’ teaching career has gone beyond the traditional boundaries of the college classroom. Her teaching covers a variety of fields, including journalism, creative writing, anthropology and sociology. Regardless of the subject, Professor Simons gives students an experiential quality to their learning from simply stepping outside the classroom to trips abroad.
Simons first came to Evergreen in 1996, drawn to the unique curriculum and “ready for a change.”
“I was a refugee from journalism,” she said, spending years as a newspaper reporter, and later an editor for the National Writers Union. Simons wanted to remain in a creative field where she could “continue to engage with others.” She sees parallels between teaching and journalism in this way, as they both require creativity, organization and interaction.
Professor Simons continues to publish work including her most recent articleon “women journalists of Muslim descent practicing journalism in the United States.” She also prepares anthologies with students. The most recent contained poetry, oral history and photography related to Grays Harbor County, which is available through the Evergreen and Timberland Regional Library.
Simons mentioned going to Qatar for The Asian Games and riding on a bus with the NAACP to Washington D.C. for a rally in the 80’s as “her most memorable experiences” as a writer.
In her teachings, Simons has recently been incorporating “more contemplative practices as a way to engage students with their creative process.” She feels that our lives are becoming somewhat fragmented in the 21st century, and through these methods students can become “centered and come together in the classroom.” Along with this, Suzanne believes in “rigor in the teaching and learning process,” and holds “high standards” when it comes to students’ writing.
I was able to experience these approaches first-hand last spring in a program called “In the Presence of Beauty,” which Professor Simons cited as one of her favorite course offerings. Because of her emphasis on teaching journalism and cultural topics she deals with many “heavy difficult themes.” Suzanne said the course was “a nice shift from those themes to exploring the beauty in the world.” In this course, the contemplative and collaborative approach was used frequently, as we were encouraged to think about beauty, and explore our thoughts with others.
Simons taught this class with recently retired Rob Knapp and Helena Meyer-Knapp, who she listed as some of her favorite colleagues. “Sara Ryan, who teaches labor studies, was an early mentor for me,” she said. “She’s about to become a dean for Evening and Weekend Studies here.” Another professor she admires is Howard Schwartz who she used to teach “Politics and Media” with during election cycles. In general though, Professor Simons said of her colleagues, “all have been special in many different ways.”
Among Professor Simons’ most rewarding experiences at Evergreen were her Middle East field programs abroad. She said these were her response to 9/11 as she wanted to “give students opportunities in the Middle East in a variety of countries and communicate with people on various levels.” The goal was to show students the “diversity between Middle Eastern countries and visit both metropolitan areas and indigenous communities in deserts.”
During these trips, students would work on a project of their own and present their photography, art or writing through readings and exhibits when they returned to Olympia.
Outside of the classroom, Simons said that lately she enjoys salsa dancing and birding, as well as “concerts and spending time with my family, friends and my dogs.” Currently she’s teaching a course called “Religion, Society, and Change,” as well as writing at the Tacoma Evergreen campus.
