The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

The Villanova University-Abbey Theatre Exchange program was established in 2011, linking the University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with the prestigious national theater of Ireland. As a development of this historic intellectual and artistic partnership, Villanova has announced an “Abbey Theatre Internship Grant,” which will provide a University student with the funding to travel abroad and work for the Abbey Theatre for eight weeks during the summer of 2013. In addition to bringing the finest Irish theatre practitioners to Villanova, the exchange program now provides a grant for a Villanova student to intern at the Abbey Theatre during their prominent summer season. The University’s exchange program with the Abbey Theatre has created a bridge between the renowned Irish institution and Villanova’s Irish Studies Program and Theater Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The collaboration brings some of Ireland’s preeminent theatre practitioners to the Unive...

Students gathered at our annual Ph.D. forum to share some pizza and learn about the Ph.D. experience. Speakers were: Ted Howell, who completed the program several years ago and is now a Ph.D. candidate in Temple's English department; Dr. Travis Foster, who recently received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a specialization in American literature and joined our faculty this year; and Dr. Brooke Hunter, who recently received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas at Austin with a specialization in medieval literature and also joined our faculty this year. Each speaker briefly shared their perspectives on the pros and cons of pursuing a Ph.D. in English and their experiences in their programs. They also discussed strategies for choosing programs and optimizing the Ph.D. application. It was a great time for everyone. Keep your eye out for the forum next year!

Hello, my name is Mary Beth Harris, I graduated from the Villanova Masters Program in English Literature in 2011, I am currently pursuing my PhD at Purdue University, and I am a bad listener. As an M.A. student with PhD aspirations, I received a lot of good, thoughtful advice during my time at Villanova. Some of this was hard to hear because it felt like everyone was telling me what a bad idea getting a PhD was. I heard how difficult and competitive doctoral work is, how the job market is an evil no-man’s land designed by the devil himself to crush all hopes and dreams, how tenure is going the way of the dinosaurs, and how even if you are one of the lucky few to get a job that job will only continue to grind your soul into dust. Let me be clear, I am not dismissing the earnestness of this advice, nor the caring spirit in which it was offered. Moving on in graduate school is a risk, and if you want to take it seriously you need to be fully aware of these risks. More importantly, once I ...

Back on campus after a few rough days of hurricane weather, Dr. Thomas' 19th Century British Literature class is excited to get back to discussing Dickens' Hard Times .