Karestan Chase Koenen
Associate Professor, Columbia University
Karestan Chase Koenen is an associate professor at Columbia University as well as an adjunct professor at Harvard University, where she teaches about psychological trauma. She also is a former Peace Corps volunteer. The following is excerpted from Koenen’s May 11, 2011, testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on the Peace Corps at 50. I joined the Peace Corps in 1991. It was clear from the beginning that my country, Niger, was dangerous. Also clear was the Peace Corps staff inadequacy in dealing with the effects of danger on volunteers. For example, one week during our…
