The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

Poet Diane Gilliam Fisher, PhD, will be on campus tomorrow,  Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7:00 p.m., to give a reading at Falvey Library as part of the 15th Annual Villanova Literary Festival . Dr. Fisher’s most recent book,  Kettle Bottom , tells the story of the West Virginia coal mine wars of 1920-1921 through the individual perspectives and voice of characters affected by those events. The reading is the second in this year’s Literary Festival, sponsored by the Department of English. Along with Dr. Fisher, the festival will bring major writers from all over the country to Villanova’s campus, including Junot Díaz , a recent recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction . Keep an eye on the Department of English blog and homepage for future announcements regarding festival events. This event will be held in the Speakers’ Corner of the Library , and will be followed by a book sale and signing. Click here to read more about Dr. Fisher and the upcoming event. Graphic Design by Joan

Don't be surprised if you see a new face in the library this semester. Alexander (Alex) Williams, a Drexel University iSchool graduate student, is serving a six-month internship with Falvey's  Academic Integration and Information and Research Assistance teams. Alex is an alum of our Graduate English Program, earning his degree with us in 2011. Now, he is focusing on information services although he is also interested in competitive intelligence. He expects to graduate from Drexel in 2013. Alex earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature and religious studies from Stonehill College , Easton, Mass. While a student at Stonehill, Alex worked as a circulation aide in the library, an early indication of his future interests. Click here to read more of Alex's story.

Don't be surprised if you see a new face in the library this semester. Alexander (Alex) Williams, a Drexel University  iSchool  graduate student, is serving a six-month internship with Falvey's  Academic Integration  and  Information and Research Assistance  teams. Alex is an alum of our Graduate English Program, earning his degree with us in 2011. Now, he is focusing on information services although he is also interested in competitive intelligence. He expects to graduate from Drexel in 2013. Alex earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature and religious studies from  Stonehill College , Easton, Mass. While a student at Stonehill, Alex worked as a circulation aide in the library, an early indication of his future interests. Click here  to read more of Alex's story.

Congratulations to Dr. Dailey, whose book, The English Martyr from Reformation to Revolution , was published by the University of Notre Dame Press in December, 2012.

Congratulations to Dr. Ormsby-Lennon, whose book Hey Presto!: Swift and the Quacks has been selected by Choice magazine as a 2012 Outstanding Academic Title in the “Humanities, English and American” category. Check it out here!

You can start where everyone starts on the internet these days, at  Wikipedia . If you think you are ready to jump in and get your feet wet, check out this  article by Lisa Spiro , who discusses just how to get started.

A great article by Tom Scheinfeldt, " Stuff Digital Humanists Like ," defines Digital Humanities by its values. Unfortunately, defining Digital Humanities isn't that simple, and  A Short Guide to the Digital_Humanities  has sparked significant controversies over the definition. The full book of  Digital_Humanities  is also a great resource to get you started. To read an interesting contrast of the two sides of the definition debate, check out this  blog post.

To give you an idea of what can come of Digital Humanities, here are some projects that might pique your interest: NINES Catalog of Digital Scholarly Editions NEH ODH Other interesting DH-related projects include: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries , which stands as an example of transmedia storytelling and the future of texts.  See also Cathy Davidson's blog article about  Nick Sousanis' dissertation  about comic books written in comic book format.  These days you can do word analysis across multiple texts using  Google nGrams.

For more information about Digital Humanities and its impact on libraries, check out these useful links: What Is Digital Humanities and What's it Doing in the Library? What are some challenges to doing DH in the library? Additional hurdles to novel library services If you are looking for something close to home,  Falvey Library has its own DH initiative ,  Aurelius . Click here to learn more about the library's  online exhibit + DH projects .

Here are two powerhouse Digital Humanities Centers if you are curious to see their latest news and projects: Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities  

Just like all other academic fields, Digital Humanities already has a nice stock-pile of journals and news sources for your perusal: Digital Humanities Quarterly Journal of Digital Humanities Literary & Linguistic Computing Digital Studies / Le champ numérique News:  DH Now  ( submit your work/join DH registry ) ATCamp Philly

A lot of DH buffs and organizations have jumped on the Twitter band-wagon and are tweeting away with the latest DH info.  UCLA  has some great information about why they use Twitter in their DH classes. Check out these Digital humanists on Twitter to hear what they have to say: @dancohen  DH list @paige_roberts  DH list @amandafrench  DH women list @AnummaBrooke  DH/digital learning list If you are looking for more Digital humanists on Twitter, check out this  DH registry . 

Here are a few more useful resources and organizations: Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations ADHO resources CenterNet DH centers THATCamp THATCamp Philly Blackwell's Companion to the Digital Humanities

 As part of the English Department's Luckow Endowed Chair Graduate Speakers Series, Dr. James English, John Welsh Centennial Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered a talk to students and professors on the fascinating and encouraging information he has gathered in researching his book, The Global Future of English Studies .