A Eulogy for Jane Doe: Poetry and art project

A Eulogy for Jane Doe is a poetry and art project created by HRTS faculty Dr. Amalia Mora, a longtime adjunct instructor with the Human Rights Practice Program for which she teaches courses relating to gender-based violence. 

The project honors the lives of hundreds of women whose bodies remain unidentified in the United States and along the US/Mexico border. These women–referred to as Jane Doe–were the victims of homicide and other heinous crimes.

For the project, Amalia retrieved photographs of items and clothing found on ten unidentified women from FBI and DNA databases. She then commissioned artist Claudia Paraschiv to draw illustrations of the women’s items, which became the inspiration for a series of eulogy poems by Amalia and nine other poets celebrating their lives. The poems, alongside the illustrations, have been printed and framed, and are currently on exhibit at Woo Studios in Barrio Logan, San Diego until July 24, 2025. A closing reception will take place on July 19th at 6:30pm. 

Amalia hopes that this project draws attention to the ubiquity of gender violence, femicide, and all the ways we as a society discard and disregard women’s bodies and lives. But most of all, A Eulogy for Jane Doe is a project of collective mourning and celebration. It bears witness to and acknowledges egregious brutality while also striving to transform forensic objects from evidence of tragedy to evidence of simple moments of meaning and beauty. By imagining who the Jane Does may have been, the poets seek to give the women back a story, knowing it will never replace the one taken from them. 

A Eulogy for Jane Doe

Created by Amalia Mora

Illustrations by Claudia Paraschiv

Poetry by

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo 

Georgia Bermingham

Cathy Linh Che 

Jamie Estepa

Jolene Loveday 

Amalia Mora 

Aissa Perico 

Simon Petty 

Jacqueline Rose 

Paula Williamson