Interview Without Words, Jonathan Gill

By Veerle Fanoy

–Teacher Jonathan Gill in an interview on Dutch culture, potential careers and writing a book.

Born: September 23, 1964 (same as John Coltrane!)
Education: Columbia University
Previous jobs: Journalist in West Virginia, movie extra in Israel, corporate speech writer in New York, hotel cleaner in Athens

If you were the mayor of Amsterdam, what would be the first thing you would change?

What do you dislike most about the Dutch culture?

What have AUC students taught you?

What were you like as a student?

How do you feel about the world of academia?

If you were to switch careers right now, what profession would you pursue?

Describe your book ‘Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America’.

You teach the course called ‘counterculture’, which Wikipedia defines as ‘a subculture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society’. What is something in mainstream culture that you want to counter?

How does your wife feel about you inviting all your students to your house on the last day of the semester?

Q10 — What characteristic would a person who is the complete opposite of you definitely have?

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