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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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Kristen Roupenian’s books

Average rating: 3.68 · 3,579 ratings · 696 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	You Know You Want This 3.70 avg rating — 2,608 ratings — published 2019 — 30 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 3.63 avg rating — 962 ratings — 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
	Clowns: The Unlikely Coulrophobia Remix by Mari Ness, Bernie Mojzses (Editor) , James Arias 3.73 avg rating — 11 ratings — 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

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10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works

by Dan Harris (Goodreads Author)

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Dec 22, 2018 12:14PM

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The Damnation Game

by Clive Barker (Goodreads Author)

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At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails

by Sarah Bakewell

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Kristen wants to read Cosmic Consciousness - A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind by Richard Maurice Bucke	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
Apr 14, 2019 11:21AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Cosmic Consciousness - A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind by Richard Maurice Bucke. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Cosmic Consciousness - A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind by Richard Maurice Bucke <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kristen wants to read How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone by Yourself by Robert Paul Smith	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 The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz (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 Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown	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 rated a book it was amazing The Last Stone by Mark Bowden	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 rated a book it was amazing Melmoth by Sarah Perry	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 rated a book it was amazing How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett	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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Quotes by Kristen Roupenian

“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

tags: life-lessons

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“There must be a German word for this feeling, when the elaborate contortions of your own thinking rose to the surface and became suddenly and unpleasantly visible. Like walking past a mirror in a crowded mall and thinking: Who is that dude with the terrible posture, and why is he cringing like he expects someone to punch him, I'd like to punch him—oh wait, that's me.”
― Kristen Roupenian, You Know You Want This

tags: exposed, kristen-roupenian, self-hatred, thinking, untranslatable, you-know-you-want-this

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“He'd never empathized with Rachel more than he did in those moments, imagining what it would be like to be innocently eating lunch with a person who had been acting for all the world as though he liked you, who had given you no hint that anything was bothering him at all, when suddenly, out of nowhere, wham, it turned out you were completely wrong about him, and that everything he'd been telling you was a lie.”
― Kristen Roupenian, You Know You Want This

tags: breakup, deception, kristen-roupenian, rejection, relationships, unspoken, you-know-you-want-this

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