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.

Monday, February 27, 2017

Be part of the English department's 2018 London Experience...

and see Beowulf and Beatles manuscripts in the British Library.


The London Experience is an eighteen-week overseas study program that combines small academic seminars taught by a Villanova English professor (next year, Prof. Megan Quigley) with classes offered by the Arcadia University London Centre, Queen Mary University, Goldsmiths University of London and City University.  The program uses the whole city as a classroom.

For more information about the program, contact Prof. Quigley at megan.quigley@villanova.edu.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Mani Pedi: A Sketch Comedy Show


Let the merry melodies of the darling dystopian sisters guide you through the end of the world. A sketch show from Philadelphia's all gal comedy team, Mani Pedi. It's the apocalypse and it's a swell time. Mani Pedi has performed in festivals all over the country as well as to sold-out shows in Philadelphia.

There will be PIZZA before the show and an opportunity for students to learn more about the GWS program!

Visit the London Experience Spring 2017 Blog

The London Experience is an eighteen-week overseas study program that combines small academic seminars taught by a Villanova English professor (this year, Dr. Lauren Shohet) with classes offered by the Arcadia University London Centre, Queen Mary University, Goldsmiths University of London and City University.  As one spring 2016 student put it, "We use the whole city as a classroom."

This spring's students are regularly blogging about their various experiences in the city--visiting the Whitehall Banqueting House, viewing the Wallace collection in a decadent London townhouse, attending stage productions of Antigone and the history play Mary Stuart.  Click here to visit the blog and read more.

Students from this year's London Experience--Rowan Yeni, Felicity Petruzzi, Lisa Moore, and Marisa Sully--throwing up V's in Venice



Wednesday, February 15, 2017

London Experience Information Session


Cancellation: Queer Conscience, Straight State

Prof. Seth Koven's talk, "Queer Conscience, Straight State in World War I Britain," scheduled for tonight, has been postponed. GWS will provide a new date for the talk soon.


Sunday, February 12, 2017

Early Action Candidates Day

The department's February 11 open house for early action candidates was enthusiastically attended by a large number of potential Villanova English majors.  Current majors Luke Bozich, Imani Flowers and Dyala Kasim shared their own experiences with our visitors and fielded their questions.  The faculty representatives were professors Michael Berthold and Heather Hicks.

Luke and Dyala
Prof. Hicks, Imani and Dyala

Friday, February 10, 2017

Our first Coffee Break of the semester for English majors, prospective majors, grad students, and faculty will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 14th, at 4:00 pm in the English suite.  This one features Valentine’s Day chocolates and other treats.  And if you feel so inclined, bring a favorite love poem to read!


Sunday, February 5, 2017

The Interior

The Interior tells the story of performance artist Nico Wood Kos stepping off the path of academia and looking for a new trail in Yellowstone National Park. With an infant and a freshly minted Ph.D., Nico spent five months living in the Park’s interior, working to carve out a space for her art. In the spirit of self-reliance, Nico operates her own lights and sound from her tiny DIY stage.

Nico Wood Kos is an interdisciplinary theater artist, specializing in autobiographical solo-performance, group devising, and multi-media performance art.


Los Angeles Review of Books / USC Publishing Workshop, Summer 2017

The Los Angeles Review of Books / USC Publishing Workshop provides the opportunity for students to get the training, information and contacts they need to break into the publishing industry.

The publishing world has radically transformed over the past decade in ways that we haven’t witnessed since the invention of moveable type. This requires students interested in the industry to familiarize themselves with a new array of platforms for news and storytelling, while also thinking about the ways in which those platforms will change in the future.

The Los Angeles Review of Books / USC Publishing Workshop is ready to lead students into this exciting new era, positioning them for success while they acquire the training necessary for the new media landscape. The five-week intensive summer program will be hosted on the USC campus from June 25 – July 28 and is open to rising Juniors, Seniors, postgraduates and graduate students from any college or university, domestic and international, who are interested in pursuing a career in publishing.

The Workshop offers a foundation in both traditional and innovative platforms, offering lectures, seminars and panels in book, magazine, and online editing; digital and print publishing; SEO and audience metrics; and the financial and business side of publishing. Participants will learn from a broad selection of experts who specialize in various aspects of the publishing industry, including editors, art directors, book historians, literary agents, marketing professionals, writers, web coders, developers, and digital innovators from organizations like the Paris Review, WW Norton, Penguin Random House, LIFE VR, LitHub, LA Times, Melville House, Dorothy: A Publishing Project, Goodreads, Boing Boing, USC/Annenberg, The Institute for the Future of the Book, and others.

We offer a large number of tuition-free and reduced tuition fellowships—making the program affordable for more students and enabling us to work with colleges, universities and other institutions to shape a rich and diverse cohort. Dedicated to achieving 100% placement for students, the Workshop offers access to industry leaders and innovators at the forefront of the publishing world. By increasing accessibility for people with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, we can have a profound impact on the future of publishing—and thus a profound impact on our culture itself.

If you would like more information, please visit the LARB/USC Publishing Workshop website or feel free to email us at publishingworkshop@lareviewofbooks.org.

Career Fairs

This week's Career Fairs provide the perfect opportunity for seniors to enquire about post-graduate opportunities as well as underclassmen for summer internships, externships and leadership programs. ALL students are welcome. Employers that are attending are listed in the Career Fair app (download Villanova Career Fair Plus in the app or Google Play store). This is an event for freshmen too;  freshmen can filter employers by "first-year friendly."

As our chair, Dr. Heather Hicks, says, "we have recent English majors working not only in marketing, publishing, and journalism, but also in finance, consulting, and at high tech companies.  Don’t be afraid to visit any and all of these fairs and strut your stuff."

Employers who will be attending the Tues., 2/7 Communications, Media & Marketing Career Fair (10AM-1PM, Villanova Room, Connelly Center) include AOL/Huffington Post, IPG Mediabrands, Tierney, FTI Consulting, J&J, Gregory FCA, NBCUniversal/Telemundo, Nature’s Bounty, and WHYY.


Saturday, February 4, 2017

Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales

This performance is based on excerpts from Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South--An Oral History (2008). The narratives were collected between 2004 and 2006 from black gay men who were born, raised, and continue to live in the South. E. Patrick Johnson is Carlos Montezuma Professor of Performance Studies and Chair of African American Studies at Northwestern University. A scholar/artist, Johnson has performed nationally and internationally and has published widely in the area of race, gender, sexuality and performance.


Humans of Villanova University

Humans of Villanova University (on Facebook) recently featured the following conversations with current English majors.

Steve Purcell (from 1/30/17):
"What inspired you to want to be a professor?"
"It's a way for me to both teach and keep learning because I really want to share the interest in Literature that I have, but I also want to keep exploring it. That's why I like the research side of it. I like that I can keep learning independently but then kind of integrate that into a classroom."

"What's your main area of interest?"
"I've done a lot of early modern research so I've done a lot of Shakespeare-era Tragedy. I'm writing about Milton for my senior thesis. Also, abroad in England I studied Romanticism and I really like that era in the sense that all of the writers are philosophers at the same time."

"What do the Romantics and the early moderns etc have to say to us in 2017?"
"I think that the Romantics are really interested in the relationship between the individual and society and community. I think that's something we talk about a lot in politics, contemporary philosophy, and just living our lives. The way that they approach that is helpful because it's different from how we think about things in our own lives and in academic discourse, and I think having that perspective can be very rewarding."

Steve Purcell
Colin Lubner (from 9/13/16):
"What are you most excited about going into your senior year?"
"I added an English major last year so 7/10 classes coming up will be English. it's going to be a lot of writing but it will be fun. I want to be certified in both Math and English which I think is unique. I'm writing on my own a lot lately too - mostly fiction. I'm currently working on a novel with my professors and I'm hoping it turns out cool."

Colin Lubner