Welcome to the blog for the Villanova English department! Visit often for updates on department events, guest speakers, faculty and student accomplishments, and reviews and musings from professors and undergraduates alike.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

English Department Advisory Committee 2014-15

Students on the Advisory Committee serve as consultants for the English department and as advisors for younger majors and prospective majors.  This fall they will also be involved in the planning of a variety of special events.  We have found the committee to be an invaluable departmental resource and would welcome your contribution to it. Please contact Prof. Michael Berthold if you are interested in joining.

Some members of this year's committee:  Jenny Lee, Aisha Chughtai, Kelly Kohler, Marielle Alexander

Marielle Alexander
malexan9@villanova.edu
I am a Junior English major with minors in Writing and Rhetoric and Psychology.  I plat to attend graduate school at Villanova for secondary education and go on to teach secondary school English.  I am also a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) and I volunteer at various university and community events.

Aisha Chughtai
achughta@villanova.edu
I am a Biology and English double major with minors in Spanish and Humanities.  My aspirations include attending medical school and pursuing global health initiatives, and my background as an English major will definitely help propel me in this career, because it allows me to bring new perspectives and ideas to an otherwise largely scientific field.

Eugene Gonzales (Junior)
egonza14@villanova.edu


Kelly Kohler
kkohler1@villanova.edu
I am a Junior English and Education major.  I am extremely interested in teaching English at the high school level and was fortunate enough to get a teaching internship this past summer.  In the future I hope to attend graduate school and continue to explore the possibilities presented to me by my degree in English.

Jenny Lee
jlee84@villanova.edu
I am a Senior English major from Haworth, New Jersey.  I am also pursuing a concentration in Writing and Rhetoric as well as a minor in Communications.  After graduating, I hope to go into online publishing and write articles for various digital platforms.

Danielle Sekerak
dsekerak@villanova.edu
I am a junior English major from Monroe, Ct.  Before stepping onto Villanova’s campus as a freshman, I made a pact with myself that I would graduate from college with a degree in something that I loved.  I did not want my college experience to be clouded with classes that I didn’t enjoy.  I had always had a special affinity for English, and although I came in as pre-med, I declared my English major first semester of my sophomore year.  Since then, I’ve taken a variety of courses, and what I have truly come to love about the English major is that when I read and write, I feel most like myself.  This major is very much a learning process and an expressive one;  I’ve learned more about myself while taking these classes than in any other classes. My English courses have definitely enhanced my attention to detail and my ability to properly articulate my thoughts; these skills—among others—have helped me in my roles outside of the classroom. For example, I served on the Orientation Steering Committee and was able to apply what I learned in the classroom to this campus activity. Although I am not entirely sure what I want to do after I graduate, I know that being able to critically think and then express those thoughts will help me in any job.

Lily Suh (Senior)
lsuh@villanova.edu

Kristina Sumfleth
ksumflet@villanova.edu
I am a Junior English major with minors in Irish Studies and Classics. I am an aspiring photographer who is currently aiming to go to graduate school for photography in New York City and eventually I would like to be a photojournalist for National Geographic. My favorite books are currently The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series and Jane Eyre.  I also have a penchant for poetry, especially the work of Emily Bronte, Edgar Allan Poe and William Butler Yeats. This past summer I studied abroad in Galway through the Irish Studies Program and also worked at a local newspaper in my hometown as a freelance photojournalist. While at Villanova during the year I am a photographer for the Villanovan, on the Judo Club, and last year I was a part of the Sophomore Service Learning Community.

Jessica Swoboda
jswoboda@villanova.edu
I am a Senior English major with a second major in Humanities on the Honors Thesis track.  I spent this past summer researching representations of grace in the works of Flannery O'Connor.  At the conclusion of the summer, I was able to make an argument about O'Connor's newly published A Prayer Journal (2013), based on the Thomistic account of grace, art, and virtue in Jacques Maritain's Art and Scholasticism (1920).  For my Honors Thesis, I'm using O'Connor as my gateway into the question: how is the supernatural represented in 20th century literature in a secular society? Aside from my interest in 20th century literature and love for the English major, I'm also a member of the Varsity Field Hockey team and a tutor in the Writing Center.