Marshall bids farewell to Dr. Karen Li Simpkins, who retired from Marshall at the end of the Spring 2007 semester, having taught in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology for 31 years.  She began her undergraduate studies at Marshall, enrolling in the Lab School for student teachers.  Then, in 1962, Simpkins transferred to the American University of Beirut, where she received a joint degree in Sociology, Arabic, and Middle-East Studies.  After finishing her B.A., Simpkins pursued graduate studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she obtained a M.A. in Cultural Anthropology, followed by a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland).  Although Simpkins wanted to remain overseas to work, opportunities for anthropologists were abundant in the United States in the late 1970s.  Thus, after teaching for a year in Denmark and Edinburgh, Simpkins returned to Marshall as an instructor in 1976. 

 Viewing retirement as a sabbatical, Simpkins plans to conduct research and publish now that she will no longer be teaching.  She will spend six months of each year in the United States and the other six months in Bali, where she was granted permission to build a studio apartment on religious land.  Her research will focus on the parallels between the Appalachian and Balinese cultures, including the way in which they are viewed by other groups.  Balinese cultures are seen as puzzles, with positive and negative stereotypes attached to them.  In particular, she will examine how stereotypes are used to refer to both societies and how the individuals that inhabit these regions maintain their autonomy.

As a gift, her students presented her with a glass globe etched with the world and engraved: “Thank you for giving us the world.”  MU-ADVANCE and the Marshall community thank Dr. Simpkins for more than three decades of service. 

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