Speaking Out Against Sexual Violence Rally

Africana Studies 2013 Lecture Series

Please join the Africana Studies Program for its Spring 2013 Lecture Series -- Celebrating the Sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation!  The first lecture will be on Thursday, January 31st at 4:00 p.m. in the first floor lounge of Falvey Memorial Library.  Dr. Bill Blair, Liberal Arts Professor of American History at Penn State University, will consider "How and When to Commemorate Emancipation."

The following day, please join Africana Studies again at noon in the first floor lounge of Falvey for a reception to celebrate the launching of the website, "Memorable Days, the Emilie Davis Diaries, 1863-1865."  Dr. Judy Giesberg of the History department will provide a tour of the site and discuss this invaluable find.

First Literary Festival Event This Thursday

This year's Literary Festival begins with a reading from Salvatore Scibona on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 7 pm in the Radnor-St. David's Room (Connelly Center).

Salvatore Scibona’s first book, The End, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and winner of the Young Lions Fiction Award from the New York Public Library. In 2010, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and was included in the New Yorker’s “20 Under 40” list of writers to watch. Scibona’s short fiction has won a Pushcart Prize and an O. Henry Award. His work has appeared in The Pushcart Book of Short Stories: The Best Stories from a Quarter-Century of the Pushcart Prize, Best New American Voices, the New York Times, the New Yorker, and more. A graduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe and of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Scibona administers the writing fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Jason Burritt ('99) at Feb. 21 BRIDGE event

Villanova English alum Jason Burritt will be attending the BRIDGE Nonprofit Mentoring & Networking Event on Feb. 21 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m in the Dougherty Hall West Lounge.  He'll be talking about his pro-bono legal work.

Jason Burritt (English and French major 1999;  Villanova University School of Law, J.D., 2006) is a senior associate in the Business Immigration group in the Washington, D.C. and New York offices of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  Mr. Burritt handles all aspects of immigration and nationality law.  He represents clients across numerous industries, including financial services, information technology, pharmaceutical, insurance, and specialty retailers as well as colleges and universities.  He also regularly presents on immigration-related issues and has authored several articles on business immigration topics.  In addition, Mr. Burritt has extensive training and experience in the workforce authorization compliance area.

Mr. Burritt is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and serves as President of the Associate’s Advisory Board of the Lawyers Alliance for New York.  Lawyers Alliance for New York is the leading provider of business and transactional legal services for nonprofit organizations that are improving the quality of life in New York City neighborhoods. By connecting lawyers, nonprofits, and communities, the association helps nonprofits to develop affordable housing, stimulate economic development, promote community arts, and operate and advocate for vital programs for children and young people, the elderly, and other low-income New Yorkers.

Media Plan Case Competition / Washington Media Scholars Foundation

As its website says, “Washington Media Scholars Foundation provides the opportunity for college students to gain firsthand knowledge of the public policy advertising field, and to meet--and potentially work for-- leaders in the media industry.  The foundation organizes programs that connect deserving students with top executives from broadcast, cable, radio, digital, print, media research, planning and placement, public policy and major trade associations.”

 The Competition “challenges students to think strategically, take advantage of original methods of communication, and dive into the deep-end of marketing impressions, numbers and budgets. . . .  Teams of two have four weeks to create a strategic media plan based on a hypothetical special election referendum issue. Students work with actual, real-world, data from leading national research and ratings firms to create a media plan that will make the most effective impressions on their target voter. . . .  We realize that some students may not have the knowledge or background necessary to create an in-depth strategic media plan. That’s why we have created a step-by-step guide to participation, a suggested reading list and an online tutorial.”

Students are allowed to participate in the qualification round as individuals. Should they make it to the next round of the competition, they will be paired with another successful applicant. Teams who make it to the second round will have a 1 in 5 chance to make it to the finals in Washington, D.C.

You can find full information regarding the competition here.  The deadline to apply is February 12, 2013.

Site Visit to Financial Advisor AXA Advisors / Karr Barth Associates

At the site visit, you'll have an opportunity to meet alumni and other professionals. Put the skills you're learning in A&S into action! Practice your networking skills and make connections!  English majors are specifically invited.

Sign up today, as space for this event is limited.  Register for the event here.  You'll have to login with your Villanova ID to sign up.

Jeri Smith-Ready ('91)

Jeri Smith-Ready, a 1991 Villanova English-Honors graduate, has recently published the final book in her vampire DJ series. It's called Lust for Life. The other titles in the series are Wicked Game, Bad to the Bone, Bring on the Night, and a self-published novella, Let It Bleed.  Jeri is working on a new novel, as yet to be titled.  Visit Jeri's web site by clicking here.

Joe St. Arney ('04)

Joe was editor-in-chief of the Villanovan and graduated from Villanova as an English major in 2004.  He has been working as an editor at NJBIZ;  in a recent blog post his employer spoke of his many talents: "Joe is strong at many aspects of being an editor, and is the most all-around talented journalist I’ve met. But he truly excels at supervising staff;  he’s not just a manager, but a coach and mentor.  At NJBIZ, Joe was a master at taking reporters with no business experience and molding them into aces who could cover complicated industry beats. He was a motivating mentor who stayed late to rework their stories and give them ledes so someone would actually read the copy, took early morning runs to think of the perfect headline for their stories, stayed current on their beats so no news slipped through the cracks, pushed them—hard—to be better reporters all while watching for burnout. And doing it all while keeping everyone laughing."  To read the full post, click here.

Joe at work.

New York Women In Communications Scholarship

If you are female, reside in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.2, you may wish to apply for a New York Women in Communications scholarship.  One Villanova English major has already won a scholarship--Nkiruka Umegbolu, who was also awarded a full-time, paid internship in New York City. (Thanks to Nkiruka for bringing this scholarship to our attention.)

For more information about New York Women in Communications, click here.