Hi!
My name is Rakhee and I am looking forward to meeting you! I am a TLC fellow, and I am also completing my PhD in Geography. I study development in Africa, and I also love making ceramics.
“Every story I create, creates me. I write to create myself.”- Octavia Butler
I love making ceramics because the process reminds me to play! As a Zimbabwean who received a scholarship to pursue my doctorate in New York, I often placed a lot of pressure on myself to make the most of my blessings. Alas, the pressure often backfired! It took me a long time to learn that I read better, study better, and write better when I don’t place so pressure on myself and instead allow my natural creativity and curiosity to guide me.
I hope you remember that you are also here to play! Sometimes it takes hours and hours to make a ceramic piece, and at the end, I don’t like it, or maybe I love it and I break it. Making ceramics reminds me that we can always start again, and that if we play in the process, the outcome doesn’t matter so much yet can often end up even exceeding our own expectations.
One thing I am excited about this year..
..is teaching workshops on social science research methods. I love empowering students with tools to study and understand the world, and I am excited to see how you apply and develop the skills you learn to such a diverse range of fields and interests!
