Sunday, September 21, 2014
Karen Trosset: 10 Years with The Today Show
1987 Villanova graduate and English major Karen Trosset is a producer for NBC News. Since 2003, Trosset has worked with NBC producing special projects and exclusive interviews for the “Today Show,” “Dateline,” and “Rock Center.” Prior to NBC, Trosset worked her way up from her first job at ABC News as administrative assistant to the producer of “Good Morning America.” Her work has taken her all over the world, and she has covered events such as the Gulf War, the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the papal succession in Vatican City. Trosset has won six Emmy Awards, the 2001 Peabody Award for coverage of September 11, and the 2010 More Award for Media Orthopedic Reporting Excellence.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Emily Tifft's Supreme Court Summer Internship
Villanova English and GWS major Emily Tifft had a summer internship in the Curator's Office of the Supreme Court. Emily's narrative about the experience follows.
Sitting in the English gateway course "Ways of Reading," I thought I understood Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies. Somehow, however, all of the many lessons from Professor Megan Quigley seemed much more pressing when Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the one asking the in-depth questions about the book’s literary insights.
This summer, I had many such literary debates and discussions with Supreme Court Justices, attorneys, ambassadors, and, on occasion, tourists. How is this possible? This summer, I worked as the Visitor Programs Intern in the Curator’s Office of the Supreme Court of the United States. In this position, I gave daily public lectures in the Courtroom about the history, architecture, and function of the Supreme Court. I led private tours around the building for family, friends, and personal guests of the Justices. I compiled research for the Court’s Curator on extrajudicial activities of all former Supreme Court Justices, and created scavenger hunts for children through the dozens of Justices’ portraits in the Court’s main hall. Each day at the Supreme Court was different; whether I was consoling a swarm of angry protestors or entertaining female judges from Afghanistan, I was constantly busy, always learning and growing as a leader.
My summer experience at the Supreme Court was life-changing. It inspired in me a passion for politics and a deepened interest in gender’s relation to law and government. And while my summer consisted of conversations both literary and legal, my English major was a force that continually opened doors for me based on my reading and writing skills. I am forever grateful for the skills the major has given me—and I cannot wait to see how I will continue to use those skills in my next professional pursuit.
Sitting in the English gateway course "Ways of Reading," I thought I understood Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies. Somehow, however, all of the many lessons from Professor Megan Quigley seemed much more pressing when Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the one asking the in-depth questions about the book’s literary insights.
This summer, I had many such literary debates and discussions with Supreme Court Justices, attorneys, ambassadors, and, on occasion, tourists. How is this possible? This summer, I worked as the Visitor Programs Intern in the Curator’s Office of the Supreme Court of the United States. In this position, I gave daily public lectures in the Courtroom about the history, architecture, and function of the Supreme Court. I led private tours around the building for family, friends, and personal guests of the Justices. I compiled research for the Court’s Curator on extrajudicial activities of all former Supreme Court Justices, and created scavenger hunts for children through the dozens of Justices’ portraits in the Court’s main hall. Each day at the Supreme Court was different; whether I was consoling a swarm of angry protestors or entertaining female judges from Afghanistan, I was constantly busy, always learning and growing as a leader.
My summer experience at the Supreme Court was life-changing. It inspired in me a passion for politics and a deepened interest in gender’s relation to law and government. And while my summer consisted of conversations both literary and legal, my English major was a force that continually opened doors for me based on my reading and writing skills. I am forever grateful for the skills the major has given me—and I cannot wait to see how I will continue to use those skills in my next professional pursuit.
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| Emily Tifft, center, with her fellow Curatorial interns in the Supreme Court's private library |
Dr. Joseph Lennon Meets with the President of Ireland and the Irish Prime Minister
Dr. Joseph Lennon, Director of Villanova Irish Studies and Associate Professor of English, has just returned from a trip to Ireland with a group of Villanova administrators, including Father Peter Donohue. The visit included meetings with both the President and the Prime Minister of Ireland to discuss the ongoing work of Villanova's Irish Studies Program.
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| Teresa O'Neill, Mike O'Neill, Dr. Joseph Lennon, VillanovaPresident Peter Donohue, Ireland President Michael D. Higgins, Ronnie Delaney, Tony Ponturo, George Kolb, Dr. Mary Madec |
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| Discussing Villanova's Irish Studies program |
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Prof. Lisa Sewell Wins the Tenth Gate Prize
LISA SEWELL is the WINNER of the First Annual Tenth Gate Prize!
English department professor Lisa Sewell has won the 2014 Tenth Gate prize for her poetry manuscript, Impossible Object. The prize includes a cash award of $1000 and book publication in the spring of 2015. The imprint was founded to honor and publish mid-career poets.
Impossible Object is Sewell's fourth poetry collection, following the chapbook Long Corridor (Seven Kitchens Press, 2009), and full-length collections Name Withheld (Four Way Books, 2006) and The Way Out (Alice James Books, 1998).
Says Series Editor Leslie McGrath, "Lisa Sewell's poems are shot through with an adhesive intelligence born of the accretion of craft, discernment, and engagement with the world. This is exactly the kind of collection for which the Tenth Gate prize was developed."
Sewell is also co-editor, with Claudia Rankine, of two essay collections that focus on 21st Century North American poets. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Ploughshares, Paris Review and Harvard Review. She has been awarded a Leeway Foundation Grant and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This is the first annual award of the Tenth Gate Prize, an imprint of The Word Works. Impossible Object will be available by advance order for $17 plus $4 shipping and handling at The Word Works website (click here) or from SPD.
English department professor Lisa Sewell has won the 2014 Tenth Gate prize for her poetry manuscript, Impossible Object. The prize includes a cash award of $1000 and book publication in the spring of 2015. The imprint was founded to honor and publish mid-career poets.
Impossible Object is Sewell's fourth poetry collection, following the chapbook Long Corridor (Seven Kitchens Press, 2009), and full-length collections Name Withheld (Four Way Books, 2006) and The Way Out (Alice James Books, 1998).
Says Series Editor Leslie McGrath, "Lisa Sewell's poems are shot through with an adhesive intelligence born of the accretion of craft, discernment, and engagement with the world. This is exactly the kind of collection for which the Tenth Gate prize was developed."
Sewell is also co-editor, with Claudia Rankine, of two essay collections that focus on 21st Century North American poets. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Ploughshares, Paris Review and Harvard Review. She has been awarded a Leeway Foundation Grant and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This is the first annual award of the Tenth Gate Prize, an imprint of The Word Works. Impossible Object will be available by advance order for $17 plus $4 shipping and handling at The Word Works website (click here) or from SPD.
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| Prof. Lisa Sewell |
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