BHCC Celebrates Professor Caroline Kautsire’s Memoir "Some Kind of Girl: An African Girl Looking for America"

Monday, November 27, 2023

Bunker Hill Community College's One Book Program is celebrating the selection of its own faculty member, Professor Caroline Kautsire, for the 2023-24 school year. Kautsire's recently published memoir, "Some Kind of Girl: An African Girl Looking for America," details her journey of emigrating from Malawi to the United States and addresses themes of culture shock, identity, gender, race, class, and the challenges of navigating the immigration system. As an English and writing professor at BHCC, Kautsire's book has been integrated into the college's curriculum, sparking discussions, author talks, book signings, and student engagement throughout the academic year.

Caroline was recently featured in a Boston Globe article titled: “Bunker Hill’s One Book Program celebrates one of its own.” 

BHCC's One Book program was founded in 2007 by BHCC Professor and Chair of the English Department Jennifer Cohn and has been a BHCC faculty-run program ever since. The One Book is selected by a committee comprised of staff, faculty, and students to select a text that addresses contemporary issues. The committee discusses nominated titles from different angles, including discipline consideration, accessibility, and relevance of topics and themes before making a selection. The program engages the College community in a dialogue about a common text that addresses a current issue. Students, faculty, and staff share the experience of reading a text and examining its effects on our community. Faculty who incorporate the text into their curriculum receive copies for their students. Programming is provided throughout the year to continue the discussions that begin in the classrooms of various disciplines.

Last One Book selections have included works like "White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, and Writing" and "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Kautsire hopes her memoir will resonate with immigrants and provide insights for non-immigrants, encouraging a broader understanding of identity and cultural exchange in American communities. Visit the One Book webpage.