Chepchirchir Tirop is an historian of Kenya, East Africa and the Indian Ocean world. She is primarily interested in questions of post-independence nationalism. Specifically, she seeks to understand how different understandings of Kenyan identity and Kenyanness have been articulated through culture. Her previous work has looked at how Indian diaspora in Kenya uses different cultural forms and sites such as museum exhibits, music and literary forms to craft and claim Kenyan identity. Her current work and dissertation project tentatively titled "Athletics, State and Nation Building in Kenya, 1945-2020" explores the role of athletics in nation building in Kenyan history. In addition to histories of sports and nationalism, this dissertation is in conversation with labor histories and histories of the body to think through athletes' work and performance on local and global stages.
Chepchirchir is also interested in researching and teaching urban and literary histories of Africa through interdisciplinary methods. She is currently exploring digital forms of storytelling to make her work more accessible to a broader audience.