Congrats to our Spring Funding Recipients

This spring marks the beginning of a new chapter for the English department here at Villanova, as we are now able to provide competitive book scholarships and other funds to support both academic and professional experiences that emphasize exploration and growth. 

We are pleased to be able to offer the following scholarship possibilities to our majors: a merit scholarship for purchasing books, funding to support graduate school testing and application costs, funding to support an internship, funding to support study abroad, and funding to support an academic need or experience (such as supplies, or conference travel).

While English majors may apply for funds and scholarships more than once, preference will be given to students who have not received department funding in the past. Students may receive a maximum of $2,500 in funding over the course of their studies in the English Department.

We have received these funds from a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous. We are deeply thankful to them.

We are pleased to be able to share the names of some of our first recipients of these funds: Isabel Choi '25, Catherine Messier '24, and Kai Williams '25. Isabel Choi received funds to support a writing internship, Catherine Messier received funds to support studying abroad in Oxford, and Kai Williams received funds for studying abroad and an internship in London. Congratulations to these students!

While applications for funding are currently closed for spring and summer 2024, they will re-open this coming fall. We encourage our majors to apply! You can learn more on our departmental website.

Isabel Choi

Catherine Messier

Kai Williams

Writing Through Conflict in Belfast

Professor Alan Drew and students in his Writing Through Conflict course went to Belfast over fall break. They traveled to the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens University for workshops, seminars, and symposiums with Irish writers. Take a look at a few of their photos below!

Study at the T. S. Eliot International Summer School in London

Villanova students—consider spending a fantastic week in London at the T. S. Eliot International Summer School this summer! Famed British novelist, Ian McEwan will be giving the opening lecture and Villanova English's own Dr. Megan Quigley will be giving another! 

Dr Quigley says: "It’s a really amazing way to learn about Eliot’s works and life and his relevance in 2020. I’ve had fantastic seminars there with a mix of graduate and undergraduate students and just those interested in Eliot’s poetry, all learning in an immersive & exciting environment."

For more information and to register, see here. Registration for the school (July 4-12, 2020) is now open. Seats are limited and allotted on a first-come first-serve basis, as are some full and partial-tuition scholarships, so you are encouraged to apply early. You can also follow the school on Facebook, Instagram (tseliot_school), and Twitter (TSEliotSchool) for regular updates.

Dr. Quigley also encourages you to email her if you have any questions (megan.quigley@villanova.edu).

Writing Through Conflict: An Embedded Travel Course - Spring 2019

Villanova University & The Seamus Heaney Centre Queens University, Belfast

What is it?  Writing through Conflict is a full semester course which explores the important role of creative writing in confronting, protesting, and engaging with socio-political conflicts. The goals of this course are to study the work of established American, Irish, and other international authors who focus their creative eye on socio-political conflicts in their many forms, from poverty and racism to war and atrocity, and use these models as guides for the student’s own original creative writing. In this course students will examine the lens through which established writers view these conflicts, will analyze the elements of craft employed by those writers, and use similar techniques in their own creative writing.

As part of this course, students will travel to Belfast, Ireland over Villanova’s Spring Break to participate in an intensive creative writing conference.The students will participate in writing workshops, readings, and symposiums at Queens University’s Seamus Heaney Centre with famous Irish writers. They will also share their work in a student showcase on the final night of the exchange, all while touring the city of Belfast.

Where?  The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry is located at Queens University Belfast, and named after the late Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Heaney graduated from Queens in 1961 with a First Class Honours in English language and literature.  http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SeamusHeaneyCentreforPoetry/

When?  Spring Break, March 2-9, 2019.

Who?  Alan Drew is the author of the literary thriller, Shadow Man (Random House, 2017), which the Wall Street Journal named as one of the ten best mysteries of 2017, and the critically acclaimed debut novel, Gardens of Water (Random House, 2008).  His novels have been translated into a dozen languages and published in nearly two-dozen countries. 

Glenn Patterson was born and lives in Belfast. He is a graduate of the University of East Anglia creative writing course. He has written several acclaimed novels and co-wrote the screenplay of the film Good Vibrations, based on the Belfast music scene of the 1970s.

In addition to Alan Drew and Glenn Patterson, students will also work with Jimmy McAleavey, Leontia Flynn, and more distinguished faculty TBA.   

Cost?  $1,500 total, including:

• Round-trip flight and bus transfer from Dublin to Belfast
• Housing on Queens University Campus
• Breakfasts and most lunches and dinners
• Tours around Belfast

*Note:  New need-based scholarships are available from the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Center for Irish Studies.

How?

• Register for ENG 2003-001:  Writing Through Conflict and the one-unit co-requisite lab course on November 5th
• Apply for the program through the Passport system at the Office of Education Abroad before December 1^st here.

Contacts?  alan.drew@villanova.edu

Elizabeth Eby in Denmark

Senior English major Elizabeth Eby spent the spring semester studying in Denmark.  Below are pictures from her visit to Kronborg Castle, the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet. 

Adds Elizabeth, "It's hard to tell, but I'm sporting my English department t-shirt. The castle is situated in Helsingør (Elsinore in English), a quaint Danish town. One of the highlights of my visit was the chance to explore the casemates, which are dark underground passages where soldiers would hide from enemies back in the day.  My visit to the castle made me excited to take Dr. Dailey's Shakespeare class this fall!"

London Experience Information Session

Frances Kenney: Summer Study in Japan

Senior English major Frances Kenney studied in Japan this summer.  Her narrative of the experience, with pictures, follows.

Over the summer I had the opportunity to study abroad in Tokyo, Japan, with about 60 other students. The program consisted of a six-week language intensive course, a homestay, multiple field trips, and many opportunities to learn about Japanese society and culture. Our dorms were located in the heart of Tokyo, which was perfect for accessing major tourist spots.

We enjoyed a three-day excursion to the picturesque Nikko, home to Toshogu shrine and beautiful mountainside views. Students were able to stay in a Japanese ryokan or inn. The rooms were furnished with both western style beds and traditional Japanese futons. A few rooms had tatami matt floors and sliding doors, which are standard in most traditional style Japanese homes.

Frances (right) in the English department t-shirt in Nikko (the farthest the t-shirt has ever been from Villanova!)

Nikko

Toshogu Shrine

Japanese Inn

There are many character cafes in Japan, particularly in the city. These cafes serve food in the shapes and colors of popular anime or game characters. One cafe in particular was the Chibiusa Cafe, a limited edition cafe on the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills in honor of the 20th anniversary of popular anime/manga series, Sailor Moon.

Chibiusa Cafe

My classmates and I got to visit the Tokyo Skytree for our class field trip. The Tokyo Skytree is 2,080 feet tall and is the second tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The viewing area has glass floors where you can look down at the cityscape below you. The Skytree also has 8 floors full of shops for buying clothes, games, anime merchandise, or sitting down for some fine Japanese cuisine.

Skytree

The view from Skytree

Tokyo is home to many unique districts such as Harajuku, Akihabara, Ikebukuro, and Shibuya. Harajuku is known for its influence on fashion, which is exemplified by Takeshita Street, a strip of stores offering the most wild and up-to-date clothing options. Akihabara, also known as electric town, is full of maid cafes, game arcades and anime merchandise shops. Ikebukuro is famous for Sunshine City, a large shopping mall which contains the Pokemon Center store, where you can find anything and everything Pokemon. In Shibuya, there is always something to do, whether it’s visiting the famous Hachiko Statue, crossing the crowded Shibuya Scramble, shopping at Shibuya 109, or enjoying a night of karaoke with friends.

Pokemon Center store in Ikebukuro

The program offered an optional weekend homestay in a small town called Mobara just outside of Tokyo. Before meeting our host families, we spent a day with students at the local high school. Each of us was divided into groups and participated in fun activities to help the students, who were currently learning English. Later on, many of the female students participated in a tea ceremony held in honor of our visit.

Frances at Mobara High School

My homestay family was very kind and welcoming! They had two children around my age, and a corgi named Nana. Together we enjoyed a barbecue, visits to local shrines and temples, and also some time at the beach! The view was amazing, and it was nice to get a view of the ocean without crowds of people in the way.

Mobara Beach

My final trip was to Sanrio Puroland. Think Disneyland, but for popular Japanese characters like Hello Kitty, Pom Pom Purin, and Cinnamoroll. The indoor park offered many attractions from rides, parades, and shops to character cafes with elaborate food designs. I ordered Cinnamoroll curry and a chocolate dessert. Your eyes aren’t fooling you, the curry was actually blue. Thankfully, it tasted good too!

Sanrio Puroland

Blue curry at Sanrio Puroland

One of my favorite aspects of the program was the E-pal system. Each of us was assigned a native Japanese student with whom we kept in touch before arrival and were able to meet once we landed in Japan. My E-pal, Teppei, was an 18-year old student studying English. He showed a few of us around  Akihabara and helped us practice speaking Japanese. I also became friends with many other E-pals who took us to Tokyo Dome, haunted houses, Odaiba City, and many karaoke bars. When the time arrived, saying goodbye was very difficult!

Frances' e-pals

Christie Leonard in Russia (part 4)

Christie and the English t-shirt at Peterhoff (to date, the farthest the shirt has travelled from Villanova).

Christie Leonard in Russia (part 3)

The final resting place of the Romanov family is in the Peter and Paul Fortress Cathedral. Once the capital was moved from Moscow, all royalty were buried in this cathedral instead of the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin. Catherine the Great is also buried here.





Trotsky was held in the Peter and Paul Fortress for a time.

Catherine the Great’s Summer Palace is immense. This palace was built as a rest stop for the Empress, since she needed another palace on the way to another palace. Its grounds include a replica of a Chinese garden and village with a bridge, guarded by statues of severe-looking Chinese men. Chinese porcelain was worth its weight in gold, and palaces decorated during this era often had a room done up in “Oriental” design with silks, carved wood, and other Chinese motifs. 

This is the view of the Peter and Paul Fortress from Trinity Bridge – one of my favorite places in the city. The sea breeze and the sunset reminded me of the beaches back home. We crossed this bridge on our way to dinner, and the promise of pizza amidst all the Russian food enhanced the walk across the bridge. 

Russia Study Abroad group at Peterhoff Palace, Peter the Great’s own Versailles and fountain garden.

Christie Leonard in Russia (part 2)

We also visited Novodevichy convent and cemetery. Peter the Great imprisoned his sister in the convent after a failed coup that he suspected her of organizing. The Cemetery is famous for its graves – each person (famous people only, unless you’re very, very wealthy) has a uniquely designed grave that reflects his or her personality or achievements. Here are Chekov’s and Gogol’s graves. I was expecting something a little more eccentric on Gogol’s (like a Nose?).



Saint Petersburg – Venice of the North or City of Death and Disease? The genre (coined after the fact) of the Saint Petersburg text is characterized by themes of unnaturalness, the macabre, death, bad weather, more death, and more bad weather. During its construction, thousands and thousands of serfs perished in the swamps. Wolves (which no long lurk near the city) killed workers; many more were taken by diseases and parasites in the water (which still lurk in the water today). Fortunately, my experience of this eclectic city included no death.



The Bronze Horseman was commissioned by Catherine the Great to Peter the First. (The monument contains both Russian and Latin: Petro Primo Catharina Secunda.) Pushkin’s famous poem “The Bronze Horseman” features this statue. Some of its themes are death and bad weather.



Saint Isaac’s Cathedral is breathtaking. The columns are made of tiny pieces of lapis lazuli and malachite, fit together to look like a seamless, fluted column. This is one of several iterations of the cathedral. The first was a small wooden church, constructed quickly so Peter the Great could marry his barmaid love (who later became Catherine I, Empress of Russia). The subsequent churches all sank into the swamp, but this version didn’t! We climbed to the top for an incredible view of the city.

During the Soviet era, this cathedral was a Museum of Atheism and thus a popular fieldtrip destination for Soviet schools. Our tour guide had gone to school then and referred to it as “brain-washing school.”

This sign for a speed bump at the entrance to the Peter and Paul Fortress reminded me of the Little Prince’s drawing of the snake that ate the elephant.

Christie Leonard in Russia (part 1)

From English major Christie Leonard:
I visited Moscow and Saint Petersburg in May with a great study abroad group. From browsing museums and galleries to paying (and probably getting ripped off) for squat toilets, we navigated Russia despite the language barriers with various degrees of success. I have over a thousand pictures and more many stories, but here’s a handful:



We visited one of the most iconic buildings in Russia on our first day in Moscow – Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square. According to legend, Ivan the Great took out the architect’s eyes so that he could never create anything as beautiful again. (That didn’t really happen, though, thank goodness.) We walked from our hotel near Paveletskaya station to Red Square; after crossing the Moscow River, we could see the Kremlin towers and the Cathedral’s domes come into view.
Seeing the Cathedral in person was a strange experience; photographs prepare you to some extent, but the style is so different from anything in the States that it appears almost as if it rose from the pages of Hansel and Gretel. I couldn’t decide if it looked more like a painted cardboard model or a jaunty mosaic, and yet it wasn’t a fantasy, but an immense, breathtaking – dare I say sublime? – structure designed and built by human hands.

The Tsar Cannon was cast in 1586. It’s 20 feet long, weighs 39 tons, and stands guard near the Kremlin cathedrals. Russia is incredibly fond of large things: the Tsar Cannon’s friend, the Tsar Bell, lies just a few yards away – all 202 tons of it.

Can you guess who ordered the construction of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower? Legends say that Ivan the Great used to drop small animals from the top of the Bell Tower. It had more productive uses though;  its 21 bells are the first to ring on church holidays, signaling all the other churches in Moscow to ring theirs.  Napoleon had a go at the tower in 1812, but was thankfully unsuccessful in destroying it.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation was almost blindingly bright on the day we visited it; its golden domes symbolize flames of heaven. 

The Dormition Cathedral is dedicated to Mary, the Theotokos (“God-bearer”). An icon of the Dormition crowns the arching doors of the Cathedral, depicting Mary’s Assumption and her reunion with God.

We visited the State Duma while we were in Moscow. That was a rather… interesting experience. We went to the four major “Oppositional” parties (whose leaders are Putin’s friends, according to the Duma worker who gave us a tour). The Liberal Democratic Party (which is actually a fascist party) gave us party bags full of party things like hats, a book of Party songs, buttons, and a watch.

We also encountered a very dour-looking man who introduced himself as a prominent member of the Communist Party. He was eager to take a group photo with us, though for some reason this request sounded rather ominous coming from him. I was amused to discover that the Communist Party office lounge sports a red grand piano in the corner. So much depends upon a broken piano / glazed with bright polish / beside the red couches. (Christie is at the far right in this picture.)

Abbey Theatre Summer Studio

Summer Program in Galway: Information Session

Abbey Theatre Summer Program

Emily Frankenberry in Denmark

Current Villanova English major Emily Frankenberry is studying abroad this semester in Copenhagen and is blogging about her experiences.  To read entries from the blog, click here.

Emily and bike in Copenhagen.