Photo courtesy of Dr. Christina Bucher
Monday, March 9 through Friday, March 13, the Religion and Gun Violence in the USA class had their projects on display in the High Library of Elizabethtown College. Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion Dr. Christina Bucher taught the class for the very first time this semester. According to Bucher, the course is discussion-based with the students talking about the readings and sharing their opinions. Due to the course being a controversial topic, Bucher made sure to cover how to be respectful when disagreeing with another student’s opinion.
The class looked at “Collateral Damage” and it guided discussion on “the many ways that gun violence affects people beyond those who are injured or killed by guns,” Bucher said via email. They examined the impact of guns and suicide to find 66 percent of the time death by guns is suicide.
Another topic the course dove into was what active shooter drills do psychologically to students. Similarly, students also discussed in general guns in schools or other public places, such as the impact.
Religion is a key part of many people’s lives and dictates their values and beliefs, so the course examined various religious views on gun laws and violence. Bucher explained that students look at how various religious groups are taking action to prevent more gun violence in the U.S.
As a requirement for the class, students created a project that was then displayed in the High Library. “[T]he project had to have some ‘public face’ that brought attention to the problem of gun violence,” Bucher said. Students chose their topic to highlight in their work and had the freedom to work independently or in a group.
Students chose to showcase their understanding in many formats for the assignment. The projects were displayed on top of bookcases in the library on the main floor. Beside each was a plaque written by the creator of the project that covered what they represented in their display, as well as why they chose that aspect of focus. The projects consisted of many art forms such as 3D models, drawings, poems, binders and more. Some of the projects focused on aspects of gun safety, while others focused on statistics and current facts.
“I hope the students were integrat[ing] what they are learning in the course with their own beliefs about gun ownership and gun violence. I hope that anyone who saw the exhibit was led to reflect on the societal problem of gun violence,” Bucher said.
“I thought [the display] was an interesting topic. I think that if people really thought about [gun violence] and were educated on it, it would have more of an effect than it does right now,” sophomore Jamie Wood said via phone call. “Definitely a topic people should look into more because there is a lot of gun violence in our world today, and it would be good to eliminate as much of it as possible.”
Wood said she was fascinated with the projects on display and understood the significance behind each. She also appreciated the set up for the exhibit and thought it to be the best way to showcase the work of the students.
The future of the course is uncertain. Bucher plans to talk to the students at the end of the semester to see if they feel it would be a good course to continue. In the case the course is offered again, she would want to do the display projects again because of everything the students got out of it.
