My name is Sime (in Persian: visage, face, look) Daad (in Persian: justice, also quite ironically: outcry!). I joined Lincoln HS since its re-opening in 2019 where I have truly enjoyed working in a dynamic environment with such a friendly and collaborative team, and such a great body of students. Born in Iran, I earned my BA major in English language and literature, a minor in French, and a master’s degree (ELA) from Tehran University in 1981. I was married in the 1970s. My husband and I have brought up three wonderful children (a son and two daughters), two of whom are married, giving us four lovely grandchildren. While our married son and daughter do not live in the US, our youngest daughter lives in Bellevue.
I have been an educator for three-plus decades, a published author and translator, and a certified interpreter. I am fluent in Persian and English, know some French, basic Arabic, and beginner Spanish. Early in the 1980s, I got a permanent position with the Department of Education (Iran) as a high-school teacher while also teaching English academic writing, EFL, and literature courses at higher education institutes as an invitee instructor. In the 1990s, I transferred to Tehran international High School where I served as an IB (International Baccalaureate Diploma Program) teacher of English language arts for ten years, and simultaneously as an IB coordinator for five years and been an examiner (English) as well as a principal examiner (Persian Lit) with them to date. In 2003 I was admitted to UW to pursue my doctoral degree in comparative literature, a goal that I had postponed for over two decades for family reasons.
At UW, I taught Persian and English language courses, Persian literature and film as a TA, and then introductory courses to comparative literature (2003-2013) as a lecturer. Before joining Seattle Public Schools in 2017, I taught courses of English language including academic writing and immersion English at Highline CC, Shoreline CC, Edmonds CC, CityU, and the International Program at UW. In the meantime, I worked as a certified medical and social interpreter /translator for a few years.
Aside from working in education, I have published several essays, reviews, and textual analyses on world literature and language teaching in Persian and English. Among my published books, there is a translation of Jerome McGann’s Modern Textual Criticism released in 2007, and an encyclopedic bilingual dictionary of literary concepts and movements from a comparative perspective (A Glossary of Literary Concepts). The book has been well-received by academic audiences in Iran and has gone through three revised editions and ten reprints, including the recently enlarged edition released in Nov. 2021. In English, aside from multiple conference papers, I have published a book chapter (“Accented Texts”) drawn upon my doctoral dissertation.
Working at high school brought me back to my original home as an educator. The positive vibe from the Lincoln community inspires me with the passion not only to drive several miles a day to work but also (hopefully) to go LYNX for many more years!!