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Kristen Roupenian

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December 2011

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I graduated from Barnard College in May of 2003. A few weeks later, I left for Kenya with the Peace Corps, where I spent two years teaching Public Health and HIV education at a small orphans' center a few hours from the Ugandan border. During that time, I began learning Swahili and first encountered the literary magazine that later became the focus of my dissertation. Once I returned home, I worked as a teacher's aide, a cashier at a bookstore, a freelance reporter, a nanny, and a research coordinator at Mass General Hospital before enrolling in the PhD program in English at Harvard in the fall of 2007.

My primary field of study is postcolonial and transnational literatures, with an emphasis on contemporary African fiction. My dissertation, I graduated from Barnard College in May of 2003. A few weeks later, I left for Kenya with the Peace Corps, where I spent two years teaching Public Health and HIV education at a small orphans' center a few hours from the Ugandan border. During that time, I began learning Swahili and first encountered the literary magazine that later became the focus of my dissertation. Once I returned home, I worked as a teacher's aide, a cashier at a bookstore, a freelance reporter, a nanny, and a research coordinator at Mass General Hospital before enrolling in the PhD program in English at Harvard in the fall of 2007.

My primary field of study is postcolonial and transnational literatures, with an emphasis on contemporary African fiction. My dissertation, "Dodging the Language Question: English, Politics, and the Life of a Kenyan Literary Magazine," investigates the artistic and linguistic strategies employed by the literary magazine Kwani? during a period of intense social and political upheaval. Since I've been at Harvard, I've been lucky enough not only to be able to return to Nairobi to continue my research, but to invite the editor of Kwani? to campus to speak before an enthusiastic gathering of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. Last summer, I also received a grant to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I volunteered at the Salaam Kivu International Film Festival and met a wide range of talented artists from from all over eastern and central Africa. One of the most rewarding opportunities I've had during my time here has been working as a research assistant for Caroline Elkins when she served as an expert witness on behalf of Mau Mau veterans who are suing the British government because of atrocities committed during the colonial period. You can read more about that fascinating subject here and here.

My teaching philosophy, which emphasizes clarity, cultural sensitivity, and ethical engagement, stems directly from my time as an educator with the Peace Corps. In addition to my two junior tutorials for English majors ("How to Write About Africa" and "The New Global Novel") I've worked as a TF in a variety of departments and programs at Harvard, including English, African and African American Studies, and Gen Ed. I am currently a tutor in History and Literature, advising junior and senior theses in the postcolonial field. I also teach in the wider Boston community in my role as a Community Awareness and Prevention volunteer with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. ...more

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Average rating: 3.62 · 16,920 ratings · 2,636 reviews · 10 distinct works • Similar authors

	Bad Behavior. Schlechter Umgang: Storys by Mary Gaitskill, Nikolaus Hansen (Translator), Kristen Roupenian (Goodreads Author) (Afterword) 3.87 avg rating — 14,067 ratings — published 1988 — 47 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories 3.61 avg rating — 12,481 ratings — published 2019 — 63 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cat Person 3.66 avg rating — 4,151 ratings — published 2018 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Milkwishes by Kristen Roupenian (Goodreads Author), Nella Beljan (Translator) 3.42 avg rating — 130 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Volume 0: Issue 5 by Emma Cline, Nada Alic (Goodreads Author), Jan Carson (Goodreads Author) 3.09 avg rating — 85 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Midlife: Photographs by Elinor Carucci by Elinor Carucci, Kristen Roupenian (Goodreads Author) (Foreword) 4.65 avg rating — 23 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Invite to Eternity: Tales of Nature Disrupted by Gary Budden (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Marian Womack (Goodreads Author) (Editor ), Leena Likitalo (Goodreads Author) (Translator) 4.09 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2019	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Clowns: The Unlikely Coulrophobia Remix by Bernie Mojzes (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Mari Ness, James Arias 3.88 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sommersprossen: Geschichten vom Auftauchen des Glücks by Elke Heidenreich, Zadie Smith, Virginia Woolf really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kattemenneske by Kristen Roupenian (Goodreads Author), Janek Lesniak (Narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Diverse voices and sparkling debuts dominate today's contemporary short story collections. For this roundup, we took a look at the...

Kristen is Currently Reading

Kristen is currently reading

The Labyrinth of the Scriptorium

by Hitoshi Goto

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Jun 09, 2020 07:03AM

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Raw Deal: The Untold Story of NYPD's Cannibal Cop

by Gil Valle (Goodreads Author)

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Jun 06, 2020 08:51AM

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Let's Go Play at the Adams'

by Mendal W. Johnson

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May 29, 2020 07:39AM

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Kristen’s Recent Updates

Kristen wants to read Running the Light by Sam Tallent	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Kristen wants to read London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Kristen wants to read Your Presence Is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Kristen wants to read Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks by Benjamin Hale (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Kristen wants to read A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness by Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Kristen wants to read American Reich: A Murder in Orange County, Neo-Nazis, and a New Age of Hate by Eric Lichtblau	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Dec 30, 2025 05:38PM · like

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Quotes by Kristen Roupenian (?)

“I wish I could change everything about myself but it's just—it's too late to do anything, that's the problem. It's all so fucked up, and I just don't who I am anymore, you know? Like, who is this person who made all these choices that I just have to live with? I look back at that person and I hate her, I hate her so much for what she did to me, that person is like my nemesis, my worst enemy, but the problem is, that person is me.”
― Kristen Roupenian, You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories

tags: change, identity, kristen-roupenian, own-worst-enemy, regret, sad, self-loathing, self-sabotage, you-know-you-want-this

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“But I guess that was the whole problem, at that point, my inability to deal with normal human interaction.”
― Kristen Roupenian, You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories

tags: antisocial, kristen-roupenian, social-anxiety, social-interaction, you-know-you-want-this

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“Perhaps the problem with adulthood was that you weighed the consequences of your actions too carefully, in a way that left you with a life you despised.”
― Kristen Roupenian, You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories

tags: life-lessons

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The Seasonal Read...: * Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD	3562	407	Aug 31, 2019 09:01PM
Horror Aficionados : HA 2019 A-Z Challenge!	176	291	Dec 31, 2019 04:32PM

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Kristen’s Quotes

“So when people say, Why aren’t your games more positive? I think it’s funny, because niceness doesn’t have to happen in a game. You should be nice in real life. You don’t have to play at niceness. You can just do it. Fighting is something to be minimized in real life. A good way to know that you’re playing is if you’re doing something you would never do in real life—like having a ridiculous fight.”
― Misha Glouberman, The Chairs Are Where the People Go: How to Live, Work, and Play in the City

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