English Professor Cathy Staples at The Free Library

Part-Time Job Opportunity at Crimson Review

Matt Tausch from Crimson Review writes that "we are currently searching for a part-time SAT tutor. No experience is required. We will gladly train you if you meet the qualifications below. The position pays 25-40 dollars per hour, depending on experience."

Responsibilities:
1.  Have availability on any three weeknights, and Sundays. This doesn’t mean you’ll always be working these times, only that you can if need be.
2. Tutor approximately 10 hours each week. This will include both 1-on-1 sessions and group classes on Sundays.  We will train you so that you feel fully prepared by the time you tutor. All tutoring will take place in our Malvern office (967 E Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA).

Qualifications:
1. Have received, or be currently studying to receive, your Bachelors degree.
2. Have scored in the 90th percentile or higher on the SAT, ACT, or an equivalent test (GRE, GMAT and LSAT count). This number is somewhat flexible, so if you think you may be close, please apply.
3. Have reliable transportation to our Malvern office.

For more on the services provided, please visit the Crimson Review website.  If interested, please send your resume to Matt@crimsonreview.com to schedule an interview.

A Semester in New York Working for Sports Illustrated

Spend a semester in New York working at Sports Illustrated, for credit, in a paid internship position! English majors at Villanova have the rare opportunity to be chosen to be part of a co-op involving research, some writing, and the opportunity to learn from highly respected professionals in the magazine business. Each semester, one or two junior or senior English majors will be selected for this program. They will receive 9 credits for successfully completing the co-op (including writing a final report), and may also take a distance-learning journalism course for 3 more credits. They are also eligible to take some Villanova summer courses for no additional charge.

To apply to do the co-op in Fall 2018, e-mail the following to Dr. Heather Hicks (heather.hicks@villanova.edu):
--a letter of application, highlighting your skills and experience in writing and doing research;
--a résumé;
--two or three samples of your writing, which can include academic papers and published writing, whether in print or online (at least one published piece is recommended, though it is not required);
--two brief letters of recommendations from faculty or supervisors who know you
and your work well. They should send letters to Dr. Hicks (see above).

We will also review your transcript, but you do not need to send it. The deadline for applications is Monday, March 26, 2018. You may also submit your application in hard copy to the English department.

Students for the program will be selected based on their aptitude in writing and editing and their potential for success in the co-op. Work done in English courses on Sports Writing, Journalism, and Magazine Writing is particularly useful evidence.

Villanova is one of only three colleges in the country with this kind of arrangement with Sports Illustrated. We have Villanova English major alumnus Jim Gorant, class of 1989, to thank. Mr. Gorant is a former contributing editor at Sports Illustrated and the author of four books. His career in the magazine industry has included stints on staff at several magazines, and his freelance writing has appeared in more than three dozen publications.

For further information, contact Dr. Evan Radcliffe (evan.radcliffe@villanova.edu).

Thursday Coffee Break

We’ll be having our first Coffee Break of the semester this Thursday, Feb. 22nd, in the English Department Offices from 3:30-5:00.  There will be soft pretzels, cookies, and delicious coffee, and a chance to win a department t-shirt (or pick up a free one if you’re a new major).  Our Coffee Breaks are a great chance to hang out with other majors, graduate students, and English Department faculty members.   As a special bonus, faculty and several current graduate students will be present to answer any questions you may have about our MA program and the application process!

Wall Street Internships

Early Action Candidates Day: English Open House

English Majors Elias Papakostas, Alex Forgione, Kyra Kruger, Caroline Rini, Olivia Sigmund

With prospective majors in the lounge!

Majors + Future Majors!

Award Winning Journalist Sofiya Ballin

Research Rookies Working With English Professor Jean Lutes

Thanks to the support of VURF and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s Fund for Strategic Initiatives, Gia Beaton ’21 CLAS, Lucy Mileto ’21 CLAS and Jackie Solomon ’21 CLAS are enjoying their chance to assist Dr. Jean Lutes, associate professor of English, with what literary historians call a “recovery project.”

Dr. Lutes and her students are unearthing information about the life and work of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, an African American journalist, essayist and fiction writer whose work in the late 19th and early 20th century has been unjustly neglected by scholars.

“I’m introducing Gia, Lucy and Jackie to a fascinating writer whose work has received minimal attention—and as they learn about her, they are helping me introduce her work to others,” Dr. Lutes says. “They’re creating new knowledge along with me because we’re documenting unknown parts of Dunbar-Nelson’s literary career.”

In addition to conducting undergraduate research, students in the match program may participate in professional development seminars or present their research. For example, while Dr. Lutes will present at a conference in April 2018, Gia, Lucy and Jackie will be making a presentation of their own on Alice Dunbar-Nelson at Villanova University’s Undergraduate Research Symposium in September 2018. The first-year match program is a principal example of Villanova’s teacher-scholar model at work. When faculty welcome students as partners in their research, they engage in deep discovery that is truly collaborative.

“Working with first-year students gives me a chance to share my passion for my research as well as some of the of the nitty-gritty parts of the work I do—painstakingly comparing manuscript versions of a text to published versions, building a deep and nuanced understanding of what a literary text means and tracking down biographical details of an author's life to understand more about their vision and artistic choices,” says Dr. Lutes.

Lucy Mileto ’21 CLAS, Jackie Solomon ’21 CLAS and Gia Beaton ’21 CLAS

Frederick Douglass Transcribe-a-thon

Over two-dozen various members of the Villanova community celebrated Frederick Douglass' 200th birthday with a Transcribe-a-thon of Freedmen's Bureau Papers.  Established in 1865 to assist in the reconstruction of the South and to aid formerly enslaved individuals transition to freedom, the Freedman’s Bureau received letters, poems, labor contracts, etc., all handwritten by formerly enslaved individuals.

Literary Festival 20th Anniversary: Tyehimba Jess

The English department celebrated the 20th anniversary of of its yearly Literary Festival with a reception and reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tyehimba Jess on Jan. 30 in the President's Lounge.

The Literary Festival brings five award-winning, renowned and emerging writers—including poets, novelists, memoirists and playwrights—to campus each spring as part of the University's Creative Writing Program. During their visits to Villanova, the writers offer readings and discuss their writing with students in an English course specially designed around their work.

Prof. Alan Drew, Dean Adele Lindenmeyr, Tyehimba Jess, Prof. Heather Hicks

Junior English major Kamakshi Ranjan introduced Tyehimba Jess.

Casemate Publishers Internship

Casemate Publishers in Havertown, Pa., an academic book publisher, is looking for a student intern interested in book publishing.  The internship would involve assisting with marketing, publicity, editorial decisions, and mail.

The internship would involve at most 16 hours a week, and the company offers $8.00 / hour to the student.  Please contact Villanova alum Samuel Caggiula for more information:  sam.caggiula@casematepublishers.com

GWS Student Research Conference: Call for Papers

Literary Festival: Lesley Nneka Arimah

Happy 200th Birthday, Frederick Douglass!

Join us Valentine’s Day to celebrate Frederick Douglass' 200th Birthday with a Transcribe-a-thon of Freedmen's Bureau Papers! Established in 1865 to assist in the reconstruction of the South and to aid formerly enslaved individuals transition to freedom, the Freedman’s Bureau received letters, poems, labor contracts, etc., all handwritten by formerly enslaved individuals. We will digitize Black history together in this nationwide project organized by the African American Museum in DC.

Celebrate Black History Month