About the Griot
The Bucknell Griot Institute for Africana Studies in a collaborative enterprise devoted primarily to the interdisciplinary exploration of the aesthetic, artistic, scholarly, and cultural products and intellectual currents of historical and contemporary Africana communities. The Griot Institute embraces narrative as a thematic and theoretical framework for its projects and programming.
Carmen Gillespie, Director
Carmen Gillespie received her Ph.D. from Emory University, and is a Professor of English and the Director of the Griot Institute of Africana Studies.
Her research, writing, and teaching interests are in American, African American, and Caribbean literatures and cultures and creative writing. || Read more about Carmen's teaching philosophy and her work with the Griot.
Rebecca Willoughby, Griot Institute Fellow
rebecca.willoughby@bucknell.edu
Rebecca earned her Ph. D. in English from Lehigh University, where she studied early modern dramatic literature and film.
In addition to her position at the Griot Institute, Rebecca is also part of Bucknell's Presidential Arts Initiative and teaches in the English Department.
Michelle Reed, Graduate Student Assistant
Michelle Reed is a first-year English graduate student from Michigan.
She loves creative writing, especially poetry, and hopes to teach writing at the university level someday.
Elyas Harris, Student Assistant
Elyas is a junior from Boston, Massachusetts majoring in Political Science and Education, and minoring in Dance.
Last year, he was President of Take 2, a performance troupe on campus and an active member of the Latino Dance Corner.
Heather Hennigan, Student Assistant
Heather is a first-year undergraduate student from Randolph, New Jersey.
She loves literature, creative writing and graphic design and plans to major in Literary Studies and minor in Political Science.
Doneeca Thurston, Student Assistant
Doneeca is a senior majoring in History and double-minoring in Religion and Sociology.
She plans to pursue a career in Public History after she graduates. She has studied abroad in Ghana and will be serving as the president of the Bucknell Black Student Union this year.
