Professor Adrienne Perry Highlights Under-Appreciated Poets in Forthcoming Co-edited Poetry Anthology "Other Legacies"

 

I recently had the chance to speak with Professor Adrienne Perry about her forthcoming co-edited poetry anthology, Other Legacies: Great Unsung American Poets. The book, co-edited by Kevin Prufer and Martin Rock, features contributions from 35 contemporary poets, each introducing a poet of their choice whom they feel has been neglected in literary conversations.

The book arose out of Professor Perry and her co-editors' work on the Unsung Masters Series, an annual publication highlighting the work of an under-appreciated poet. The publication has an associated reading series, for which Professor Perry served as co-host, in which several scholars and writers are invited to come together to read the work of one such neglected poet. Recognizing the value these readings brought to discussions of American poetry, Professor Perry and her co-editors sought to build upon this unique experience in the form of a poetry anthology–one that would notably differ from traditional poetry anthologies in its choice of poets. “While we really respect and revere many poetry anthologies, particularly in terms of contemporary American poetry, we often felt like there were these gaps in terms of who was represented and why,” Professor Perry explains.

To this end, Professor Perry and her co-editors sought out 35 poets whom they felt were specifically excluded from the literary canon on the basis of factors such as race, gender, class, and disability. When curating the list of poets, Professor Perry and her co-editors kept several questions in mind. “We’re always thinking of ‘who have we not heard from? Who is here or not here?’” Professor Perry says. “‘Do we feel that we’re getting enough different aesthetics and viewpoints to try to create this other narrative?’” For Professor Perry, a notable through-line that emerged from the selected poets is that many of them suffered from mental illness: “A number of poets who died prematurely didn’t have the care or understanding they needed to live longer lives in general but also to continue to write poetry and be part of a literary conversation,” she says.

Other Legacies also departs from typical anthologies by nature of its multimedia format. Readers can scan a QR code in the book’s opening pages which will take them to a digital timeline with several threads. One thread lists the publication dates for the featured poets’ works alongside the poets' biographies, while others track the publication of canonical American literary works and, more broadly, the span of literary movements across the 20th and 21st Century. This digital timeline allows readers to view the unsung poets’ work against the backdrop of the dominant narratives of contemporary American poetry. It’s a visual articulation of the book’s argument, Professor Perry says. “It can help to sometimes disrupt our sense of where these periods begin or end and who fits into them.”

With a forthcoming release on December 8th, Other Legacies promises readers a chance to discover their new favorite, unsung poet.

- Nikola Stojcic MA '28

Who’s Afraid of Woolfbot? Professor Megan Quigley and MA Student Tate Gibbons Explore the Use of A.I. Chatbots in the Classroom

Who’s Afraid of Woolfbot? Professor Megan Quigley and MA Student Tate Gibbons Explore the Use of A.I. Chatbots in the Classroom

By Nikola Stojcic MA ‘28

For many of us in the humanities, the encroachment of artificial intelligence usage into our academic lives has provoked feelings of wariness, to say the least. Indeed, what role is there, if any, for artificial intelligence in the field of English literature? For Professor Megan Quigley and 2nd year English MA student Tate Gibbons, the answer might look something like their custom chatbot, “The Lighthouse”--or, as it has come to be known, Woolfbot.

In her forthcoming article “Refined Out of Existence”: Modernist Impersonality Revisited,” Professor Megan Quigley describes how in the summer of 2024 she began studying the recently unarchived eight volumes of T.S. Eliot’s Complete Prose. To help her sift through nearly 7000 pages of prose and to better understand and evaluate the usage of A.I. for herself, Professor Quigley created a custom Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) she called Scofield 1.0, named after Eliot’s childhood friend and publisher of The Waste Land. Trained on the work of T.S. Eliot scholars, gender and race theorists, as well as literary theorists more broadly, Scofield would scan Eliot’s volumes to identify writings relevant to Professor Quigley’s research interests and offer its interpretations for the selected text. Importantly, Scofield was a closed bot, meaning it couldn’t share any of the data that Professor Quigley had inputted to outside sources. The project yielded insights regarding the limitations of A.I. collaboration, as both Scofield 1.0 and its successor, Scofield 2.0, analyzed Eliot’s work with the racial and gendered biases of the scholarly works it was trained on. For Professor Quigley, the next question became how these findings might prove useful in investigating the use of A.I. in the classroom.

In a zoom call, English M.A. student Tate Gibbons told me how Professor Quigley approached him in 2025 to help develop a custom chatbot for pedagogical purposes. “She pitched it as getting our hands dirty with A.I.” Tate says. “It became a way we could deal with it and not put our heads in the sand.”

The two received funding via a VITAL (Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning) grant to participate in a ChatGPT pilot program in 2025, which, per a report written by VITAL graduate assistant Wittney Hammeke, aimed to “explore innovative, pedagogically grounded ways to engage students through the intentional integration of ChatGPT tools into their courses.” To this end, Professor Quigley and Tate designed The Lighthouse, aka Woolfbot, for use in two of Professor Quigley’s Fall 2025 classes–one undergraduate and one graduate–both focused on Virginia Woolf’s work. Professor Quigley and Tate introduced the bot as a homework assignment for the undergraduate students and as an in-class exercise for the graduate students. The Woolfbot project was set up to be optional for both classes and included a bibliography of “Critical A.I.,” with articles explaining the potential threat of A.I. to the humanities. Students could engage with Woolfbot or write a short piece explaining their critique of engaging with A.I. in the literature classroom. The aim for both groups, according to Professor Quigley’s reflections in the VITAL report, was to see “whether students’ engagement with the bot would elicit the kind of extratextual reflections—on language, self, consciousness, etc.—that might deepen their understanding of Woolf’s fiction.” 

So what does interacting with Woolfbot look like, exactly? Its role, Tate says, is that of a theoretical “close reading partner” that will prompt you to question the meaning of a passage and to consider deeper meanings of the text. And while the bot was not in any way designed to encapsulate Virginia Woolf’s personality, that doesn’t mean it’s without a personality of its own. Indeed, the bot has an “ostensibly scholarly” persona, which is “supposed to sound like if you asked someone a question in a seminar and they gave you a three paragraph response that they had written in advance.” Additionally, although Tate and Professor Quigley made attempts to tone down the trademark “back-patting” behavior of ChatGPT, it is still prone to commend you on your expert analysis. It might also get passive-aggressive if you happen to question its authority (after testing and purposely needling the bot myself, I can confirm this).

Initial reactions from students using the bot apparently ranged from “true appreciation for extended ‘personalized’ debate to horror about talking to a bot about life and death.” But setting existential questions aside for the moment, did Woolfbot achieve its purpose on a pedagogical level? The answer depends on who you ask: “In general, for both [undergraduate and graduate] classes, there were some people who thought it was useful as a critical A.I. exercise and then fewer people who thought it was useful as a literature exercise,” Tate says. In particular, the graduate class felt the bot’s grasp of Woolf’s work was not yet solid enough to provide any literary benefits; however, many of the grad students nevertheless found the exercise to be enjoyable and a helpful illustration of the critiques and questions facing use of A.I. in literary studies.

For Tate, the opportunity to train the bot using the most advanced model of ChatGPT available at the time provided a learning experience of a different sort. “It is able to make some of these kind of fine argumentative moves that really feel like something you would see in a graduate paper, which is kind of unnerving and as a grad student, it’s not something you want to see an A.I. is capable of,” he says. “I wouldn’t have thought A.I. was capable of that if I weren’t working with these advanced models.” 

So what is the future of The Lighthouse? When I followed up with Professor Quigley over e-mail, she notes future classroom uses of the bot would continue to be optional, with those opting out required to write a critical article about their decision to do so. She says this “has proven a very useful exercise as people give voice to fears about data centers, unemployment, plagiarism, etc.” Additionally, she and Tate would revise the bot to ensure its responses are framed in terms of questions, rather than answers, to better elicit students’ own analysis.

Asked about what she hoped students took away from the assignment, Professor Quigley says, “I hope that they thought long and hard about large language models, data sets, and how their approach to reading as students might differ from the way A.I. analyzes a text.”

Professor Quigley and Tate presented their work on The Lighthouse at the VITAL 2026 Teaching and Learning Strategies (TLS) Program, as well as at a faculty retreat. Professor Quigley’s forthcoming work includes an article on speculative fiction and AI for the Cambridge Companion to Literature and A.I, and a book project “on fan cultures and reading modernism which connects to the work of Impersonality and A.I.” She is currently on sabbatical.

Professor Mary Mullen visits University of Notre Dame for a panel on her recently published book "Race, Violence and Form: Reframing Nineteenth-Century Ireland"

On Wednesday September 9th, Professor Mary Mullen visited the Keough-Naughton Institute at the University of Notre Dame for a panel discussion of her recently published co-edited volume Race, Violence and Form: Reframing Nineteenth-Century Ireland. Working alongside co-editor Renée Fox and contributor Amy Mulligan, Professor Mullen's book aims to deepen understanding of the often-overlooked literature of nineteenth-century Ireland by "employing new methodological frameworks that expand how we understand the global, racial, formal, periodized, and political scope" of works from the era.

The book is indebted to the work of retired University of Notre Dame Professor Sara Maurer, who Professor Mullen says "helped dreamed up the collection."

 

The book at the heart of the discussion.

Professor Mullen with fellow panelists Renée Fox and contributor Amy Mulligan.

Professor Mullen with retired University of Notre Dame Professor Sara Maurer.

by Nikola Stojcic MA '28

Faculty Appreciation on the Field: Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown named MVP

Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown was named MVP (Most Valuable Professor) during the Women's Soccer Faculty Appreciation Day game. Dr. Filling-Brown was nominated by Avrie Nelson (#6), who is in her English 1975 course along with her teammate, Tea Gambardella (#2). Both players were excited to recognize their English professor as one of the day's MVPs. This moment was extra special for Dr. Filling-Brown, who values following her student athletes' games. Nelson and Gambardella are currently undefeated as the Women's Soccer team heads into conference play this weekend. Dr. Filling-Brown notes that they are amazing student athletes. 

With excitement building for the upcoming weekend, this year's Faculty Appreciation Day was extra special for both the student athletes and the faculty members cheering them on. 

Dr. Filling-Brown is pictured below during the MVP recognition at halftime and with Allison Venella, Senior Associate Athletic Director of Student Athlete Development:

The Featured MVPs (Most Valuable Professors)

"V's Up!"

With Allison Venella

- Juliana Catania MA '28

Spring 2027 Sneak Peek for First-Year Students

Each year we like to highlight English courses we feel would be a good fit for interested first-year students. Here is a partial list of upcoming spring courses we'd encourage first-year students to try!

SPRING 2027 UPPER-LEVEL ENGLISH COURSES

First year students welcome!

 

Note: There are no pre-requisites for any of these courses

 and course numbers don’t indicate difficulty

 

2003 Intro to Creative Writing MW 4:45-6:00, Cathy Staples

Designed for students who wish to experiment with composing several kinds of creative writing: short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. 

 

2009 Writing the Traditional Novel TR 11:30-12:45, Alan Drew

A creative writing workshop course designed for students eager to leap into the complex process of writing a novella or short novel. Students will close-read short novels to analyze elements of craft and workshop sections of their own novel in-progress.

 

2013 Writing of Memoir TR 2:30-3:45, Tsering Wangmo

Memoir is an opportunity to understand life. This writing workshop provides students with practical skills in reading and writing about the events, memories, places that inform their lives.

 

2022 Writing through Conflict TR 1:00-2:15, Alan Drew

In this creative writing workshop, you will study contemporary Irish/Northern Irish writers while working on your own creative pieces. Over semester break, you will travel to Belfast for a week of seminars and creative writing workshops at the Seamus Heaney Centre.

 

2023 Journalism MWF 12:50-1:40, Kate Szumanski

Introduces students to key techniques of news gathering and news writing. We will also explore the principles and rules that guide the writing of news pieces, editorials, and features.

 

2024 Scriptwriting MW 3:20-4:35, Michelle Filling-Brown

In this creative writing course, students will study drama and techniques that lead to developing characters, crafting stories, and writing scenes. In the collaborative scriptwriting workshop, students will work as authors, editors, and critics, ultimately each crafting a one-act play.

 

2302 Literature of the Apocalypse TR 1:00-2:15, Heather Hicks

One of the oldest forms of narrative, apocalyptic literature is more popular - and powerful - than ever. Starting with Revelation, this course traces this tradition through fascinating poems, stories, novellas, novels and films to the present day.

 

2991 English Majors in the Workplace M 1:55-3:10 for first 10 weeks of the semester, Michelle Filling-Brown

Through reflection, conversation, and practical exploration, students will gain a clearer understanding of the many professional and academic pathways open to English majors, from publishing, education, and law to nonprofit work, business, media, and graduate study. Students will build essential career skills, including crafting polished résumés, writing compelling cover letters, developing effective interviewing strategies, and networking with Villanova alumni.

 

2994 Reading and Community T 5:30-6:45 for first 10 weeks of the semester, Mary Mullen

Studying the kind of reading that takes place outside of the classroom in book groups and community reads, this course practices reading in community while studying hot new books selected by students in the course. Please note: this is a one-credit course.

 

3181 Irish Epics, Visions & Hauntings TR 8:30-9:45, Joseph Lennon

A study of Irish literature from its origins in the world of Celtic mythology, epic and saga through the development of Anglo-Irish literature. 

  

3250 Shakespeare TR 11:30-12:45, Lauren Shohet

This course studies the plays and/or poems of Shakespeare. It may be focused on a particular genre of Shakespeare's work, a period in his career, or a topic. The course seeks to develop students' appreciation of Shakespeare's artistry and relevance.

 

3507 Strange Cases: Imagining Health & Illness TR 1:00-2:15, Joseph Drury

Explore literary responses to pivotal developments in medical science and practice from the eighteenth century to the present. Study works that engage with the new ideas about illness, treatment, and disability that arose alongside changing understandings of the human body.

4000 American Literary Tradition I  TR 1:00-2:15, Kimberly Takahata

What makes literature “American?” Who gets to decide? This course examines how literary traditions developed and changed in nineteenth-century America, with a particular focus on race, citizenship, colonialism, and history-making.

 

4618 Harlem Renaissance TR 11:30-12:45, Crystal Lucky

F. Scott Fitzgerald called the years between the wars the “Jazz Age.” Folks uptown recognized that a Renaissance was happening in Harlem. Students will study major works by African Americans written during the 1920s and 1930s.

 

4646 Race and Ethnicity: American Novel MW 3:20-4:35, Yumi Lee

This course examines a fascinating range of contemporary US literary texts to explore the ways that gender and sexuality intersect with race, class and other categories of identity to form our experiences of selfhood, community, national belonging, and power.

 

4652 Letters, Texts, & Twitter MWF 10:40-11:30, Kamran Javadizadeh

How does writing bring together distant lovers, friends, family? We'll read letters, the digital forms (social media, instant messaging) that have replaced them, and their representation in novels, poems, and essays to explore how intimacy forms across distance.

 

4691 Work & Play in Contemporary Literature TR 10:00-11:15, Michael Dowdy

This class explores representations of work and play in contemporary cultural texts from the Americas. We will consider how stories, poems, films, and songs depict the struggles and joys of various jobs: “dirty” (i.e., coal mining), “unskilled” (i.e., crop picking), “professional” (i.e., sports), and more. In these innovative texts, oppositions between work and play break down and creative forms of solidarity and community emerge.

 

4702 Authors On & Off the Page TR 4:00-5:15, Adrienne Perry & Tsering Wangmo

Do you love to write? Dream of visiting with authors to discuss their work and the publishing world? This course combines creative writing workshops with literary analysis and the chance to hob-nob with prestigious authors during the Villanova Literary Festival.

You can view a complete sneak peek of spring courses on our courses page.

 

MVP (Most Valuable Professor) Goes to Cathy Velez

Cathy Velez, a beloved English adjunct faculty member, was honored at a recent Villanova Women's Soccer game for Faculty Appreciation Day. This recognition happened during halftime where she was titled one of the game's inaugural MVPs... Most Valuable Professors. Professor Velez, who has taught English 1975 for many years, was touched by the kind gesture and celebration. Attached below is a photo of Professor Velez at the game. Go Nova, Go Cats! 

- Juliana Catania MA '28

Celebrating Dr. Alice Dailey's Recent Publication: "Love Poem with Ectoplasmic Materializations"

Dr. Alice Dailey developed a photography-writing project, titled “Love Poem with Ectoplasmic Materializations,” in collaboration with her son, Adam Dailey. This past August, Tupelo Quarterly published this project in a folio on collaboration. 

Page 8 of "Love Poem with Ectoplasmic Materializations"

Led by a fascination with creating analog spiritualistic photographs, Dr. Dailey found herself experimenting with several mediums outside of the process of photography itself. What started as a project to recreate Victorian spiritualist photographs transformed into her recently published photography-writing project, “Love Poem with Ectoplasmic Materializations.” Dr. Dailey describes this project as originating from a desire to understand the creation of analog spiritualist photographs alongside the theory of embodied practice as a form of historical knowledge. 

“The project thus began with no writing or narration planned. I simply wanted to make pictures,” explains Dr. Dailey when asked about the creative process. 

As Dr. Dailey embarked on the journey of learning analog photography and darkroom printing, her son, Adam, was simultaneously discovering his passion for music. While initially unplanned, this parallel led Dr. Dailey to invite Adam to create alongside her. Serving as a model and contributing a piece of his own composition, Adam’s efforts in this partnership unveiled hidden insights about collaboration itself. Dr. Dailey describes this project as “not only a collaboration but a piece about collaboration and transmission.” Relating back to her interest in the field of performance studies, this piece as commentary on both collaboration and transmission explores Dr. Dailey’s initial interest in the theoretical argument that bodies transmit knowledge across history through repertoires of repeated action. 

When asked about the final project, Dr. Dailey states, “although the written components are mine, they were composed in conversation and process with Adam, an artist I admire and with whom I feel privileged to collaborate”. At its core, collaboration is the inspiration, process, and product of “Love Poem with Ectoplasmic Materializations.” 

Watch the video form, or read the written piece, here: https://www.tupeloquarterly.com/editors-selections/love-poem-with-ectoplasmic-materializations-by-alice-dailey-adam-dailey/

- by Juliana Catania MA '28