Prof. Travis Foster: Junior Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching

Congratulations to English professor Travis Foster, recipient of the university's Junior Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Prof. Travis Foster

More Scenes from the Cookout

Scenes from the English Department's First-Ever Cookout!

Special book cake baked by Prof. Lauren Shohet

Cookout Countdown

From Professors Hicks and Quigley at Costco:

"The English department is ready for its BBQ tomorrow at 4:30!  Hamburgers, veggie burgers, chips and salsa? Check!  See you there?"

CIA Internships

CIA Summer 2018 internships are open and posted on Handshake!

Opportunities are available in human resources, cartographer/editor/graphic or interactive designer, open source/foreign media analysis, scholarship programs, data science, cyber security, accounting/budget/finance, computer science/engineering, and more.

Some highlights:
-          Freshman, Sophomore
-          3.0 GPA
-          Washington, DC
-          Full-time, Summer
-          Paid
-          Some positions will say that they require two 90-day tours, usually one summer after sophomore year and one after junior year; however, there are differences depending on the position and office. The tours do not have to be completed consecutively.  Some programs also only require one 90-day “tour,” and each position will highlight that.

Open House for Admitted Students

Students newly admitted to Villanova visited the English department yesterday and talked with members of the Advisory Committee--Luke Bozich, Kate Kafka and Dyala Kasim--and professors Michael Berthold and Heather Hicks.  We hope our visitors will become the next generation of Villanova English majors!

Luke, Dyala and Kate in the lounge with visiting admitted students.

Dyala, Luke and potential new majors!

Advisory Committee in Action

Members of the department's Advisory Committee at the annual lunch meeting! 

Bloomsday Essay Contest

Calling all emerging Joyceans!  Submit your best essay on Ulysses or another Joyce text for the Rosenbach’s first annual Bloomsday Essay Contest. Critical essays welcome from undergraduate and graduate students in the Tri-State area. Winners will be announced on June 16, 2017, at the Rosenbach’s Bloomsday celebration. All participants are encouraged to attend but need not be present to win!

Requirements:
--Essays must be original work, unpublished elsewhere.
--Essays must be written in the English language.
--Entrants must attend a college or university in, or have a permanent address in, Pennsylvania,    New Jersey, or Delaware.
--Entries must be submitted from a valid academic address (.edu) by the essay’s author.
--Length should be between 2000-9000 words in length, excluding footnotes.
--Essays must be formatted in MLA style (12 pt, double-spaced, numbered pages) with MLA citation.
--Please include the essay’s title on the first page of the essay as well as in the Essay Title field below.
--To ensure blind judging, identifying information (name, institution) should ONLY be included in the submission form below, and not in the essay.
--Submissions that do not meet all the above requirements are not eligible for consideration.

Judges:
--Megan Quigley (Villanova University)
--Paul Saint-Amour (University of Pennsylvania)
--Janine Utell (Widener University)

Prize money:
--$300 for an outstanding paper written by a graduate student
--$200 for an outstanding paper written by an undergraduate student

All entries must be submitted by midnight EST on Monday, May 15. Please contact press@rosenbach.org if you have any questions or issues with the submission form.

Literary Experience in London 2017: The Churchill War Rooms

The Villanova gang and I took the tube to the Churchill War Rooms early on a Tuesday morning to avoid the crush of tourists that typically flock to the popular museum.  We stepped down into the bunker and were immersed in the world of wartime Britain.  Helpful audio guides led us through the maze of cramped, suffocating rooms while explaining what happened in each spot during World War II.  Specific rooms stood out to each of us: I liked the Map Room, Rowan and Marisa liked Winston Churchill’s bedroom, and Phil liked the disguised room which housed the direct line from the United Kingdom to the United States.

Lisa was particularly enthralled by the Churchill War Rooms, as she is interested in history and politics, and Winston Churchill is one of her personal heroes.  “If I could pick anyone from history, living or dead, and have dinner with them,” Lisa remarked, “Winston Churchill is definitely in my top three.”

Walking through the War Rooms, it was nearly impossible to imagine the large number of people who lived in such a dark, confined place for so long.  Often, we learn only about the important wartime heroes and not the everyday people who did so much to help the war effort.  One of the best parts of the museum was listening to and watching interviews with the regular people who lived and worked in the bunker in various capacities.  To me, they are the true war heroes.

When we finished touring the museum and went to the gift shop, we were amused by pictures of Churchill seemingly throwing up the Villanova ‘V’ and by World War II propaganda pieces and quotations reminiscent of the Villanova fight song.  After a few quick edits, we were able to combine the two.

In all, our visit to the Churchill War Rooms was especially fun and informative, and everyone had a good time while learning a lot about World War II-era Britain.

Rowan Yeni ‘20 and Marisa Sully ‘20 repping Villanova at the Churchill War Rooms - photo: Felicity Petruzzi

Read more posts from the Literary Experience in London 2017 blog here.

A New Day for American Gothic

On the last class before Easter Break "American Gothic" uncharacteristically ventured out of darkness and claustrophobia and into the April sunshine for a discussion of The Stepford Wives!

Talk and Q & A with Joe Ansolabehere

English Department Spring Colloquium

Open Mic

Third Annual Villanova Poetry Slam

On April 6th and 7th, Villanova Poetry Society hosted Villanova’s third annual poetry slam. The event featured Neil Hilborn, a renowned slam poet, and students from Villanova and neighboring universities. Both nights included passionate and talented participants who share a love for poetry. This event exposed students to an influential art form and gave poets the opportunity to perform their pieces in a fun and encouraging environment.

Thanks to our judges, Kamran Javadizadeh, Shauna MacDonald and Gracie Stagliano. Thanks also to our sponsors, the English department, GWS, IGR, the Honors Department, & CAT. Also, a special thanks to our advisor Lisa Sewell for her contributions.

Special congratulations to our finalists:  Victoria Cho (third place), Yolanda Jordan (second place), and Clif Porter (first place)!

VPS hopes to keep this tradition alive by creating more opportunities for slam poets to perform, so look out for us in the fall!

Clif Porter, Yolanda Jordan, Victoria Cho

VPS members with Neil Hilborn

GWS Student Research Conference

Every spring, the Gender and Women’s Studies program organizes the Gender and Women's Studies Student Research Conference to highlight and celebrate gender focused work produced by students from across the university during the previous year. Undergraduate and graduate students present their work on panels or through performance.

Congratulations to all our English majors who participated in this year's stimulating conference!

Particular congratulation to essay prize winners Laura Tscherry (best graduate paper) and Steve Purcell (best undergraduate paper)!

Laura Tscherry, Prof. Megan Quigley, Steve Purcell

Literary Festival: Jennifer Haigh

English Department Teach-In: “Fact or Fiction: How to Read the News Critically”

Please attend this Friday's teach-in with English professors Alice Dailey, Joe Drury, Heather Hicks and Jean Lutes.  Professors Hicks and Drury will be running the teach-in on the topic, “Fact or Fiction: How to Read the News Critically.”

In an age in which the veracity of news reporting is being routinely challenged, how can we tell what news is fact and what is fiction?  Members of the English Department will provide you with strategies for reading critically in this unsettling moment in our history.  Along the way, we’ll consider how the present moment compares to the early era of print, discuss why the press is important to democracy, and look at some recent “fake news” to hone our critical reading skills.

The teach-in will take place at 12:00 pm on 4/7 in Speakers' Corner, Falvey Library.

Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their tales

A performance by E. Patrick Johnson, Carlos Montezuma Professor, Northwestern University
Monday, April 10 at 7 PM
Communication Studio, Garey Hall

Co-sponsored by VU Pride and the Departments of Communication and English

Villanova Poetry Slam

For questions about the event, contact English major Alex Forgione (aforgion@villanova.edu).  Says Alex, "We hope this event will help raise an interest in poetry on our campus and introduce students to an impactful and creative art form! Students have the opportunity to perform their slam poem for the chance to win up to $200. Neil Hilborn, a renowned poet among the slam poetry community, will be emceeing and performing (he's best known for his poem "OCD"). Sign ups for the slam can be done online at http://bit.do/VillanovaPoetrySlam or on the first day of the slam at 7:00 pm. We will also raffle off prizes, including two tickets to see the Nobody Safe Tour with Migos and Future, as well as two tickets to the VU Spring Concert with St. Motel!"

Dr. Evelyn SImien: Ida B. Wells Lecture

English Department Essay Awards

Valerie Steele: Chanel and Her Rivals

Warrior Writers