Bucknell University
Elaine Langone Center Terrace Room
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 7:00 pm
ENGL 290 – JONESTOWN RECONSIDERED:
A STUDENT RESPONSE PROJECT
On November 18, 1978, more than 900 Americans died in Jonestown, in the small South American country of Guyana. A U.S. Congressman was assassinated on a remote airstrip, along with 4 Journalists who were shot and killed. A woman slit her three children’s throats and then her own, and hundreds of men, women and children died in what appeared to be the largest mass suicide in history. Many ask and argue: was it suicide or murder?
Sixteen of us in English 290, have studied the history of Jim Jones and Peoples Temple, focused on characters, events, questions of religion, race, poverty, power, civil rights, sexuality, aspiration, identity, read narratives spanning the 1950s through the 70s, and attended lectures by survivors, victims’ relatives, and concerned artists.
We thank you for being here tonight to share some of our responses to Jonestown and Peoples Temple.
Heidi Schuerger: METHODISM, SOCIALISM AND JONESTOWN: REFLECTIONS ON FAMILY & SEARCH FOR COMMUNITY
Eli Evans: OUT OF THE DARKNESS, AWAY FROM THE FEAR: IMAGINED SERMONS CONTRASTED WITH JIM JONES’ SERMONS
Kiara Huertes: THINGS WE’D LIKE TO BELIEVE ABOUT JIM JONES
Allison Friedlander: A READING FROM “THE BOOK OF MARCELINE”
Allison Wright: CLAIRE JANARO: SURVIVING JONESTOWN, BEFORE AND AFTER
Jack Chen: IMAGINING: I WAS TIM STOEN
Chloe Drennen and Jess Gunther: JOHN VICTOR STOEN: A CASUALTY OF JIM JONES’ QUEST FOR POWER
Brandon Farrell: BOB HOUSTON: A QUESTIONABLE DEATH
Jess Gunther and Tim Bergen: LEO RYAN: A TRAGIC HERO
Meghan Carroll: A BROKEN BOND: MARIA KATSARIS AND HER FATHER
Matt Liguori: KATSARIS
Jack Chen: THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEPHAN JONES
Kate VanNess: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: JIM JONES AND STEPHAN JONES
Ben Barrett: STEPHAN JONES: JIM JONES GREATEST OPPOSITION – HIS SON
Ashlyn Trimmer: LEO RYAN: INTENTIONS OF THE INNOCENT
Matt Liguori: THE WAY THAT WE DIED
Kiara Huertes: THE AFTERMATH OF JONESTOWN: A FOUND POEM
Ben Barrett and Chloe Drennen: CHRISTINE MILLER: HEROISM IN THE FACE OF MURDER
Kiara Huertes: CHRISTINE MILLER AT JONESTOWN
Allison Friedlander: SURVIVORS: HYACINTH THRASH AND ODELL RHODES
Meghan Carroll: LOST VOICES: THE CHILDREN
Julianne Mammana: THE LAST DAY
Entire class: EPILOGUE
- ENGL 290 Course Instructor and Griot Institute for Africana Studies Director: Professor Carmen Gillespie
Jonestown Class Response Project Director: Professor Bob Gainer
ITEC Team: Debra Sarlin, Brianna Derr and Debra Cook-Balducci
Technical Directors: Jeffrey Campbell and George Lincoln
Technical Associate: Aaron Diebler-Gorman
Interim Assistant Director of The Griot Institute: Rebecca Willoughby
Griot Institute Assistant: Rebecca Gaffron
Elaine Langone Center Staff: Gina Stockdale, Mary Schramm and the ELC Custodial staff
Special Thanks to:
- Professor Carmen Gillespie – for her inspiration in conceiving both this ENGL 290 course and project, and for envisioning the Griot Institute’s complementary “Jonestown Reconsidered: Lecture Series.”
Fielding M. McGehee III – for his “Jonestown Institute: Alternate Considerations of Jonestown” Digital Website, an ongoing online repository for Jonestown scholarly studies created and housed at San Diego State University. Mr. McGehee’s website (and generous communication with us throughout the semester) has served as a major source of information and stimulation for the students in the ENGL 290 course.
Professor Rebecca Willoughby – for her facilitation of many course and lecture series components
Professor Shara McCallum – for her essential support on this endeavor