ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ

Kariuki Kirigia from Kenya joined ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ College Utrecht in 2009. Since then, he has completed a master's in Sustainable Development, a PhD in Anthropology and currently is Assistant Professor at the School of the Environment and African Studies Center at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Toronto. We sat down with Kariuki to find out more about his story and his work in economics and development. 

Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about how you decided to study at UCU?

I am Kariuki Kirigia, and I am currently an assistant professor at the School of the Environment and the African Studies Centre at the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Toronto. I’m from Kenya, and there is an interesting story behind how I joined UCU, especially considering I wasn’t even aware of what a liberal arts and sciences program entailed.

I finished high school in Kenya in 2006, and in 2007, I came across a research project that was being conducted in central Kenya. The project was led by two economics professors from the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), Joost de Laat and Matthieu Chemin. They were researching the impact of hydroelectricity on local livelihoods in central Kenya, and it so happened that my family was part of this community project. I was hired as a research assistant, having just finished high school, and I started working with a team of 13 other field officers.

At that point, my friend James Wangu '11 and I asked Joost if he knew of any opportunities to study abroad that included scholarships, as we didn’t have the financial means to pay for school fees. Eventually, we applied to UCU with assistance from Joost de Laat and some of the interns who had come to Kenya from UCU at that time. We had to do our interviews by phone from Kenya, and at the end of the process, we were awarded full scholarships to study at UCU. I ended up joining in January 2009.

Were you familiar with the concept of of liberal Arts and Sciences, or completely new for you at that point?

It was completely new to me. During the research project in central Kenya, I felt that the researchers were learning so much about our community as they conducted a detailed survey, asking people important and personal questions about their households. I found this very interesting because it gave me a new perspective on development issues—how people earn their livelihoods, how they think about politics, the quality of their lives, and how they believe it can be improved. I thought this was really important and fascinating, which led to my interest in what Joost and Matthieu were teaching, which happened to be economics. In Kenya, we don't study economics in high school; it's only offered at the university level, so they shared some economics books with me to help me familiarize myself with the subject.

In Kenya you get the opportunity to go to university based on your grades in high school, so I knew I was going to university. I was set to join the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Nairobi to study quantity surveying. I had attended Mang’u High School, a national high school that admits top-performing students from across the country. As expected, there were stories of those who had come before us receiving scholarships to study abroad. I was aware of the possibility of studying abroad through a scholarship, but I wasn’t very familiar with the kinds of courses offered at universities outside Kenya, apart from those we could choose from at local universities. Many people wanted to study medicine or engineering and pursue careers in those fields, but I believe there's a big difference between following a career path and going to university with a hunger to learn and explore. I think that’s what UCU showed me—it fed that hunger, not just to pursue a career but also to appreciate the art of learning.

Apart from economics, which disciplines were interesting for you to study at UCU?

I majored in social sciences, focusing on anthropology, economics, and development studies, and completed my thesis under the supervision of Prof. Paul van Lindert. I also minored in math and statistics, which blended nicely with the social science courses. Later on, my focus shifted to development, and all of those courses helped me understand global development much better. For instance, in anthropology, you have people challenging some of the macroeconomic ideas, while statistics allows you to analyze things quantitatively, and math helps make sense of the economic models used in developing countries. Everything came together nicely to steer me toward sustainable development, which I would say is my main focus now.

Are there specific courses or moments that impacted the course of your studies that you still remember?

I had many wonderful courses at UCU, but one course definitely stood out: an Anthropology course with Prof. Lonia Jakubowska called *Violence, Memory, and Trauma*. The teachings Lonia gave are still something I use today. It was the most impactful experience—the classroom discussions were engaging, and everyone was deeply involved. We discussed very distressing topics, and it could be quite emotional. Sometimes, people left the classroom in tears, realizing how closely intertwined some of the world’s most violent histories were with our own lives and trying to make sense of it all.

We were fortunate to have Lonia as the instructor. She had a remarkable ability to break things down and address the nuances of the material, helping us understand it in a way that has had a lasting impact. It wasn’t just about learning what had happened in the world, but also about how to personally analyze what’s happening and how to engage with theory and abstract concepts. For me, it was the most impactful course I took during both my undergraduate and master’s studies.

And what did you choose to focus on for your thesis?

I continued my interest in development by focusing on community-driven development in Kenya, with Paul van Lindert as my supervisor. I was drawn to his courses in development because they were so interesting and relevant to what I was trying to focus on in Kenya—improving the quality of life. When I started working on my thesis, Kenya had just adopted a new constitution and was moving toward devolved governance, which meant that models of government funding for public services were changing. I examined these models and observed how community development was evolving.

With the current challenges posed by climate change, we are realizing that we need strong community involvement everywhere. It's not just a stage in development where certain objectives can be achieved, but rather, we need to support collective action from communities everywhere. In every challenge, the community provides the foundation for collaborative work.

How was your experience living on campus at UCU and joining the international community?

I remember Intro Week very well because I was late. I missed a good chunk of it because, at the time, it was difficult to get a passport in Kenya. Mine was delayed, and I arrived on Thursday, at the tail end of Intro Week. By then, everyone already knew each other, and I was the new student trying to meet people. Fortunately, I had my friend James from Kenya, with whom I had received the scholarship.

Social life at UCU was amazing because it was quite unique to have students from all over the world on a small campus. Many students were from the Netherlands, but there was also a large international community. I used to play football and twisted my ankles on that paved football pitch many times. The social life was great; people would plan dinners instead of going to the dining hall, allowing us to experience many different cuisines. We always celebrated various events, such as Independence Days from the many countries represented. For example, some African friends from Zimbabwe would announce, "Today, we’re having Zimbabwean food," and they would invite many people from campus. In this way, your network really grew through campus interactions, and the professors were also very approachable. It was a tightly knit community with a lot of diversity, which I really appreciated—it was quite transformative.

Sometimes, when I talk to colleagues who attended large universities, their experience of undergraduate studies is very different from mine at UCU. While it's common at many universities to have classes with hundreds or even thousands of students, the small classes at UCU provided a uniquely intimate learning experience. At UCU, for instance, you learn how to do presentations from your first class, while at some universities, students may never get such an experience due to the large class sizes.

Looking back, I wish I had gotten involved in more committees. We really wanted to establish an African Studies committee at that time but didn’t manage to pull it off. There were some vibrant committees like PoliticsCo, and DanceCo was fun—I took dance classes that I otherwise would never have tried, like flamenco and break dancing, thanks to Suki and Leonie, who were our dance teachers. I performed at the end-of-year DanceCo event in the Auditorium. I also enjoyed going to the gym often, and Maarten used to open the gym for me because he knew I was passionate about it. Additionally, I taught Swahili as part of my scholarship and was very involved in the UCU in Africa program. This program, alongside Lonia’s course, has had a lasting impact on me.

What was the next step for you after UCU?

The next step was to apply for master's programs at a few universities, and I was accepted to both the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Utrecht and the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Sussex. I chose Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ (UU) because it offered a two-year program and allowed me to stay in the Netherlands. Coming from UCU, I felt that spending just one year in a different country would pass too quickly, and I needed more time to reflect and process my experiences. I pursued a master’s in Sustainable Development and International Development.

During the first year, I had the opportunity to travel to Ghana to conduct a field study on food security. In the second year, I focused on food security and the floriculture industry in Naivasha, Kenya. I secured a research consultancy position with UU to examine the impacts of the Dutch floriculture industry in East Africa and its effects on local food security. This project was conducted in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and provided me with valuable experience researching in several African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

During that period, an opportunity arose to pursue a PhD in anthropology within a project investigating community-based conservation in East Africa. The project was called the Institutional Canopy of Conservation (I-CAN) Project, led by Professor John Galaty at McGill ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ in Montreal, Canada. I began my doctoral studies in 2015 and defended my thesis on October 22, 2021, just as the pandemic was ending. Afterwards, I held a postdoctoral position at Concordia ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ in Montreal before joining the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ of Toronto. I am currently jointly appointed in the School of the Environment and the African Studies Centre. I started teaching in the fall of 2023, so I am now in my second year of my tenure-track position. I teach a graduate course called Environmental Justice in Africa and an undergraduate seminar course on climate change, food security, and sustainability in Africa.

Do you feel having graduated from UCU and completed your PhD that your liberal arts and sciences education still has an impact on the way you approach teaching and research?

Absolutely. It has worked out very well, especially in areas where knowledge from multiple disciplines is needed. UCU provided me with a multidisciplinary foundation, with a major in anthropology, economics, and development studies, and a minor in statistics and math. The significance of attending a place like UCU is that it allows you to cover multiple aspects and analyze things from different perspectives. This approach is quite different from being trained in a single discipline when faced with challenges that require an interdisciplinary approach.

Beyond the multidisciplinary background, it also influences the way you become an educator. Whether teaching or supervising students, you encounter a variety of questions because students come from diverse disciplines. Having a broad background allows you to teach and understand students’ questions more effectively and engage in meaningful conversations with them. It’s truly rewarding to have that multifaceted background. UCU prepares you well; even if you take just one course in a certain area, it equips you to explore that field further on your own.