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, October 31, 2017

Ways of Reading + Bookmark

Prof. Michael Berthold's "Ways of Reading" class with the new English bookmark!

Friday, October 27, 2017

Part-Time Job Opportunity at Crimson Review

A part-time job opportunity as an administrative assistant is available with Crimson Review, a standardized test prep company based in Wayne, Pa.

This is a flexible, part-time position (5-10 hours / week) involving basic office administrative tasks.  Responsibilities will include exam grading, light data entry, and organizational tasks. It is not a difficult job.  Hours are completely flexible except for 2-3 required hours on Sundays or Mondays. Most of the work will need to be done at the Crimson Review office adjacent to the Wayne train station.

Interested students should contact Craig Miller, Director of Operations, at ‭610-688-6441 or director@crimsonreview.com.






Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Ang Malenda's Summer Internship

Junior English major Ang Malenda had a revelatory summer internship experience.  Her narrative follows.

This past summer I had an internship at a non-profit, human services organization in New Jersey. My position title was “Photography & Communication” Director, which included a range of tasks that involved public relations, advertising, marketing and, of course, communications. Despite the varying assignments given to me, I found that nearly all of them were successfully completed with the help of my English background – even if it’s not a typical department title! I had a range of tasks that included writing weekly newsletters, brochures, operating social media, developing strategic communication plans and event planning. A task as simple as running a popular social media page had links to my English learning: writing a caption is a lot like writing a thesis. When social users scroll through Facebook or Instagram, they often need a captivating and informative caption that is short, otherwise they’ll continue scrolling. When it comes to writing target-marketed brochures and newsletters, I thought back to writing for all my (fabulous) English Department professors. Every professor has a unique objective that helped me build a different voice, which is definitely important when writing for vastly different audiences for the same organization. While it may not be in the title, being an English major positively impacted my summer internship experience.

Perhaps the most influential moment for me during my internship was when my boss, a Business Administration major in college, approached me at work one day. While I was worried I had posted a picture of my acai bowl on the organization’s Instagram by accident – rest assured, I hadn’t – she wanted to discuss some ideas she had for the company. Full of ideas, my boss struggled with putting all her thoughts into words to be presented to the board; luckily, I was there to help her and together we wrote up an entire proposal. Rest assured, I never felt more certain of my English major as I sat with my nonprofit boss, a business major, and helped her run an organization. After my experience this summer I feel almost ready to graduate college and enter the world of employment--almost, not until another National Championship, of course!

Ang Malenda


Monday, October 23, 2017

English Expedition Club Encounters Dracula

Beware.  Students from Professor Megan Quigley’s 1975 class and the English Expedition Club hit the Rosenbach Museum and Library on Saturday Oct. 22nd to take in the Frankenstein & Dracula exhibit and for a hands-on tour of Dracula materials with curator Ed Pettit.  Did you know that Bram Stoker originally intended to call Dracula just count Vampyre?  And that plenty believed at the time that vampires roamed the earth?  Let’s hope they were wrong….




Saturday, October 21, 2017

Majors Fair 2017

Kyra Kruger and Olivia Sigmund.  Olivia designed the poster.

Elias Papakostas conferring with a potential major.
Blaire Bernstein, Caroline Seymour, Elias Papakostas, Meg Carter.

Fall Reception 2017

Caroline Rini, Olivia Sigmund, Kaitlyn Mitchell and Elizabeth Eby with the new English bookmark.  Kaitlyn also spoke at the reception about her summer internship.

Lunch and conversation!


Prof. Jenny Joyce and Nora Manosca.


Sarah Wingo (English Liaison Librarian), new English professor Yumi Lee and Prof. Mary Mullen.


Prize winners!

Poet Dean Rader at Villanova

Poet Dean Rader visited Villanova this week and read from his new collection of poems, Self-Portrait as a Wikipedia Entry (Copper Canyon, 2017).  He has won numerous awards for his writing, including the 2016 Common Good Books Prize, judged by Garrison Keillor, and the 2015 George Bogin Award from the Poetry Society of America.



Monday, October 16, 2017

English Expedition Club: Frankenstein & Dracula Exhibit at the Rosenbach

When: Saturday October 21 at 12:00 p.m.
Where: The Rosenbach Museum and Library
Why: Blood, Guts, Gore and Modern Science meet Literature

Details:
Join the English Expedition Club for a timely exhibit in this month of ghosts and ghouls on Dracula and Frankenstein at the Rosenbach Library, near Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square.  At 12:00 Curator Edward Pettit will meet with Villanova students to show pages of the Dracula manuscript and discuss the history of this great collection in Philadelphia.  Space is limited for the hands-on tour.  Please email Professor Quigley (megan.quigley@villanova.edu) by Wednesday 12/18 if you’d like to join the hands-on tour.  We will also tour the Frankenstein & Dracula Exhibit between 12-2!  No need to RSVP for the exhibit.  The cost of admission is covered by the English Department.  I look forward to seeing you!

Address:
Rosenbach Museum & Library
2008-2010 DeLancey Place
Philadelphia, PA 19103
DeLancey Place is located between Pine & Spruce Streets, in Philadelphia's historic Rittenhouse Square
district.

Directions:
Public Transportation:
SEPTA
- Regional Rail to Suburban Station, 16th & Market

(if desired, then: - Route 17 Bus via 19th & 20th Streets)
SEPTA
There is a 10:47 train that arrives in Suburban Station at 11:21
There is a 11:17 train that arrives in Suburban Station at 11:50
There is a 12:17 train that arrives in Suburban Station at 12:50
There is a 12:47 train that arrives in Suburban Station at 1:21

It is approximately a ten minute (FAST) walk from Suburban station to the Rosenbach. I highly recommend taking the earlier train to make it to the library on time.

Driving:
When available, street parking is free for two hours.  There are several parking garages located on 20th Street a few blocks north, near Walnut Street and Chestnut Street.  I find parking there very difficult.  If you decide to drive, leave time for parking and traffic.



Friday, October 13, 2017

Prof. Cathy Staples: Review of Orion on the Dunes

English professor Cathy Staples recently published a review of Daniel G. Payne's Orion on the Dunes:  A Biography of Henry Boston in The Massachusetts Review.  You can read the review here.


Friday, October 6, 2017

Greetings from Recent Graduate Sydney Czech

A message from recent Villanova graduate and English major Sydney Czech (class of 2017)!

Hello, fellow Literary Wildcats,
I just started at Penguin Random House as a Library Marketing Assistant a little over a week ago. Here at PRH, they have rows and rows of “Take” shelves where you literally can just take books home with you, even some that aren’t officially published yet! As I was browsing through the take shelves, I happened upon Professor Drew’s Shadow Man and got so excited. I brought the book back to my desk and shared with my team how awesome it was to have a Villanova professor published here! Although I never had Professor Drew, I have always heard great things about him and I'm super excited to start reading his book. So, overall, not only is it great to have a little piece of Villanova with me here in New York, it’s also a remembrance of all the great professors that I had at Villanova that got me to where I am today.


Thursday, October 5, 2017

Prufrock!

Junior English major Alex Forgione was part of last night's Prufrock event.  She reports:
The event had a great turn out and it was a lot of fun! After we read the poem aloud, professors  Javadizadeh and Quigley shared some fascinating background information about the poem and T. S. Eliot. Then, we broke up into groups and discussed specifics about the poem. All of our conversations were very productive and insightful;  hopefully we inspired some people to declare English as a major!



Sunday, October 1, 2017

Prof. Quigley's Classes Visit the Rosenbach

Graduate and undergraduates in Prof. Megan Quigley's James Joyce classes visited the Rosenbach museum and library on Delancey Street and saw the Ulysses manuscripts on Saturday.  Curator Elizabeth Fuller shared with the classes the ins and outs of the collection and Joyce's unusually fecund editorial methods!