Stephanie Curci is an instructor in the English and the History and Social Science departments, a dorm complement in Tucker House, and an assistant coach for Girls’ JV Field Hockey. The creator of two websites, “Mapping the Haitian Revolution” and “Mapping Haitian History,” Curci is passionate about Haitian history, literature, and making learning materials accessible to all. In her free time, she enjoys solving puzzles, working out, and volunteering as a translator.
What do you find most rewarding about teaching English at Andover?
People. My colleagues are incredibly smart–smarter than I–and have such a diversity of reading, teaching, and writing experiences. I’m always learning from them. They’re some of the funniest and smartest people I’ve met on campus. And then the students. My time in the classroom is my favorite part of working here because kids are actually learning from each other, talking to each other. [They’re] thinking about things they perhaps haven’t been exposed to before, either because it’s a perspective in a book that they don’t have, or a question posed in a way they haven’t thought about before.
What advice would you give to students interested in pursuing the humanities in the future?
There’s all this pressure [around] the STEM focus that sometimes students feel like that is going to pay more, or that there’s a clearer path forward…We all need to learn about how humans have lived, and how humans figure out life…Even if that doesn’t become your job, I want my surgeon and my PCP to experience the humanities. I want them to develop empathy and read a variety of novels so they have empathy with a variety of people who are not like them. I want them to have considered ethical considerations. I want them to know multiple languages. I want them to have engaged with philosophy, storytelling, and being able to narrate a story and be able to create a narrative that matters.
You’re passionate about Haitian history and literature. What inspired you to conduct this research?
I grew up spending time every year in Haiti because my dad’s a pediatric surgeon and he did part of his residency in Haiti…When I was in college, I worked in Haiti for a non-governmental organization because I thought I wanted to go into international public health. Turns out I didn’t for a lot of reasons, but I would still go back, and then I did my masters in English. My thesis was on American writing about the Haitian Revolution in the United States pre-Civil War, s how American writers wrote about the Haitian Revolution before the Civil War, when we were still engaged in slavery in the nation.
Could you elaborate on the two websites you created regarding Haitian History?
In 2007, I created a website called “Mapping Haitian History.” Several weeks every year, I’d go around Haiti taking pictures of historical sites that were disappearing…I created a visual record of it so that people can do research on it without having to go there. [Also] so that the people who go to Haiti can see places that they might be near and can learn the history that’s all around them that they might not have realized was there… I convinced Dr. Jones that this would be a great idea for a class, and he came down to Haiti with me twice. We taught the course for several years and were really frustrated that there weren’t educational resources online that helped kids visualize this really difficult history of the Haitian Revolution…We had it translated into French, Creole, and Spanish, so that it was more widely accessible to people who are interested in it.
What is your favorite part of being a dorm complement?
Spending time with students in a way that’s not grade-driven or pressured. You get to know them as people. I like the hangout time, but I also find that I can talk to them about their work and help them strategize about how to frame a discussion with a teacher, [if they] think they’re giving too much homework, or how to be an advocate for yourself, or to talk about their family stuff. For students, the thing that we don’t advertise enough is that one of the greatest gifts of PA is that you have all of these adults around you who are not your parents. It’s nice to have models of people who are not your parents as well.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love to read. I’ve gotten addicted to puzzles. There’s this one brand of puzzles that I buy, and they all come with their own Spotify playlist. They’re these thousand-piece [puzzles]. I really like to work out for my insanity, and I really like the women I work out with. I like to travel. I like to volunteer as a translator. That’s fun for me because I get to use [a different] part of my brain.
What do you enjoy most about being an assistant coach for JV Field Hockey?
JV sportsmanship is one of my favorite things about JV sports in general… For field hockey, a lot of the players don’t go on to play varsity. They’re just there for the love of the game and for each other. Their support for each other is my favorite part; when we do silly games, when they put their head on the field hockey stick and spin around and run. I also love when we do JV field hockey Olympics. [It’s] hysterical, and some even fall down laughing.
What is your favorite song and artist?
My son and I love to listen to “Not Like Us” [by Kendrick Lamar] together in the car. He has to listen to the clean version. I was annoying them with some Chappell Roan earlier in the winter. My go-to pick-me-up song of all time, though, is “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers. It’s recorded so well, it’s got the perfect tempo for walking to class in the morning, and it’s great for spring. If you listen to it on your walk to class, you’ll be kinder and nicer to everyone you meet, and annoying things will annoy you a little bit less. It’s got a really good rhythm for walking.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
[One piece of] advice that someone gave me when I came here is to ask a lot of people the same question, and then Frankenstein your own best answer with what works for you and who you are and your gut. Whether that’s about how you handle a breakup, or how you handle an issue in class. Ask five people the same question, and then figure out what answer works best for you, as opposed to only having one go-to person. That’s partially about expanding your feedback loop.
