2008 Woodie Awards
Former professor Sim, 'a true original,' dies at 35
Her research on Arab media and mentorship of students continued through cancer battle
By: Matt Won, Opinion Editor
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: News
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Her death came as a surprise to many in the community, including some of her former students still at Macalester. Romina Takimoto '08 said she was "devastated."
"I am so shocked at her death," Takimoto said. "I loved Professor Sim, she was someone that was a big support and really believed in me."
Professors and students alike remember Sim as an engaged and active educator. "She really cared about her teaching, she really cared about her scholarship," said Humanities Media and Cultural Studies Professor Clay Steinman, who served on the search committee that hired Sim.
Sim joined the Macalester community in 2003 in a joint position teaching classes that fused international and media studies, and were cross-listed between the International Studies and HMCS Departments. She left the school in 2006 when her contract was not renewed. The search continues for her replacement.
One of Sim's former students, Claudia Leung '08, offered a portrait of Sim and her work after Macalester. "I went to visit Soek-Fang Sim in her home in San Diego on a beautiful Sunday morning this past August," Leung wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly. "We sat on her porch in the sunshine and had bagels and coffee as we talked about her latest draft of a book on Al Jazeera, and her research in Qatar, witnessing the planning for their new international English-language channel. She showed me a book she'd been reading on cancer-fighting foods, and her subsequent newfound interest in organic chemistry.
"She asked about the people she missed at Macalester, and I gave her a care package that a few of her students had put together for her. She laughed and got a kick out of the variety of things we had thrown together, from durian wafers to the Buddha finger puppet which she said she would use to demonstrate a theoretical perspective in one of her classes. She expressed how gratifying it was to have lasting relationships with her students-her favorite part about teaching."
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