The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

The Villanova English department is hosting the annual Literary Festival this upcoming semester. Write these on your calendar now, as you will not want to miss them! James McBride , author of Good Lord Bird : February 3 Bruce Smith , author of  Devotions : February 19 Claire Kilroy, author of The Devil I Know , March 17 Patricia Smith , author of Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah : March 31 Jay Cantor , author of Forgiving the Angel: Four Stories of Franz Kafka : April 16

Ted Howell (English MA '10, now a PhD candidate at Temple University) presented a well-attended paper on "Howards End and the Anthropocene" at the Modernist Studies Association annual Conference in Pittsburgh, PA.

Dr. Hugh Ormsby-Lennon recently published "Pinching Snuff: Dean Swift as Paralytic Gnomon in James Joyce's 'The Sisters,'" in  Swift Studies  29 (2014), 89-129.

On Saturday November 8th at 3:30 at the Modernist Studies Association annual Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, Dr. Megan Quigley participated in a round table on Weak Theory, joining scholars including Wai Chee Dimock, Eric Hayot, and Paul St. Amour, in presenting a vigorous investigation into this new approach to literary studies. She also chaired a panel earlier that day entitled "The Confluence of Breakdown."

Joseph Lennon, PhD, published an essay, “‘Antiquity and Futurity' in the Writings of James Clarence Mangan” in The Man in the Cloak: Essays on James Clarence Mangan. (Palgrave MacMillan, Nov 2014. pp. 53-83). Dr. Lennon also published a suite of poems, “Flatland Haiku Summer” in  The Midwest Quarterly  55.2, (Winter 2014, pp. 78-80). He presented a paper at the 2013 American Conference for Irish Studies, Dublin, Ireland, “Old Hungers, New Politics: Late 19th Century Fasts and Food Strikes” (June 14, 2014). He delivered a lecture at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin “Irish Orientalism: From Origin Legends to Celtic Revivals” (June 26, 2014).

Lauren Shohet, Luckow Family Professor of English, published “Caroline Court Drama: Forming History,” in  Yearbook of English Studies  44:  Caroline Literature , ed. Rory Loughnane, Andrew Power, and Peter Sillitoe (2014), 69-86.

Dr. Travis Foster published an article, “Campus Novels and the Nation of Peers,” in the Fall 2014 issue of  American Literary History .

Katharine McIntyre presented her paper, "'Time Be Time': The Intertwined Nature of Time and Technology in William Gibson's  Neuromancer " at the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association conference in Baltimore, MD on November 7, 2014.

Kristin Danella presented her paper, "Piers the Plowman: A Medieval Conservative in the Midst of 14th century English Rebellion" at the Southern Atlantic Modern Language Association last weekend (11/8).

On Tuesday, September 20 The University of Pennsylvania English Department selected Don James McLaughlin (Villanova Grad English Class of 2009) as the winner of its annual William Patrick Day essay contest. This was a contest in which any grad student can submit a piece of writing completed in the last year. Two professors then judge the submissions anonymously. McLaughlin's piece is part of his dissertation--tentatively titled "Color-Phobia: Rabies, Race Prejudice, and the Mad Cry of Analogy in U.S. Antislavery Print Culture."

On Thursday, October 7, over a hundred undergraduates gathered to take in a presentation about the Great Gatsby. Dr. Lutes performed a miracle of precalculation to order pizzas, we moved the chairs out of the way to make room for whomever might come, those of us in costume read our parts over, and then all we had was to wait. We started being surprised at around 50 students, but in the end over 100 students showed up. The goal of the evening was to remind them of what they knew of the Great Gatsby, and perhaps to challenge them to think about it in new ways. Dr. Lutes gave a quick presentation on new possibilities for reading The Great Gatsby , especially reminding the students how pronounced race is in the text. The four volunteer readers read a passage from the novel, the scene in which Gatsby shows Daisy his shirts and she bursts into tears. Then we broke into groups. The discussion was lively! Each student was eager to contribute what they remembered to the discussion, and

On October 6, the Villanova English Department took a collective study break in the form of our newest tradition - Coffee Break! Dr. Hicks, Dr. Radcliffe, and other professors were in attendance, along with undergraduate and graduate English students, for conversation and the all-important ingredient: truly good coffee.

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 app

The English Department Invites You to a Midterm Coffee Break! Come hang out with English majors, graduate students, and faculty and enjoy free cookies and gourmet coffee. Monday, October 6th at 4:00 p.m. in the Second Floor Lounge of Falvey Library (Located in the back area of the second floor). http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/english.html

A group from Villanova University, led by President Fr. Peter Donohue, went to the Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland, to meet with the Director, Fiach MacConghail, Chair of the Board, Dr. Bryan McMahon, and Abbey staff. Dr. Joseph Lennon, Director of the Irish Studies Program and a professor in the English Department, along with Tony Ponturo, Broadway producer and Villanova alumnus '76, discussed the coordination of the Summer Studio, a joint 3-week, Villanova-Abbey Theatre summer program, as well as a possible Abbey Theatre residency at Villanova University. To read our post about Dr. Lennon's meeting with the president of Ireland, click here . Dr. Joseph Lennon, Director of Irish Studies, Villanova University and Fiach MacConghail, Director of the Abbey Theatre President Peter Donohue, O.S.A., Ph.D., Villanova University and Fiach MacConghail, Director of the Abbey Theatre L-R: Oonagh Desire, Director of Public Affairs and Development; To

Dr. Joseph Drury will be giving a lecture on Matthew Lewis's The Monk  this lunchtime hour in the Fedigan Room. Please join us! Joseph Drury “Twilight of the Virgin Idols: Iconoclash in The Monk” 12:30 Monday, Sept. 29 in the Fedigan Room.

The English Department is hosting a recruiting event, coordinated by Dr. Jean Lutes, for undecided undergraduates to experience being an English major for an evening. The event will be a fun and accessible way to approach a familiar text. The evening will be facilitated by upperclassman English majors as well as Graduate English students, who will perform a dramatic reading of a passage and then lead breakout discussion groups. More graduate students are always welcome to assist with discussion groups. Let Dr. Lutes know if you are interested!

Dr. Joseph Lennon, Director of Villanova Irish Studies and Associate Professor of English, has just returned from a trip to Ireland with a retinue 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. L-R: Teresa O'Neill, friend of Villanova University and wife of Mike O'Neill Mike O'Neill, Vice President for Advancement, husband of Teresa O'Neill Dr. Joseph Lennon, Director of Irish Studies, Villanova University President Peter Donohue, O.S.A., Ph.D., Villanova University Ireland's President Michael D. Higgins Ronnie Delaney, Villanova alumnus '58, Chapter President Ireland's Villanova  Alumni Association Tony Ponturo, Villanova alumnus '74, Dean of Arts and Sciences's Advisory  Council Member George Kolb, Vice President for Alumni Relations Dr. Mary Madec, Director of t

Congratulations to class of 2014 Graduate English alum Lydia Browning and her husband, Zachary, who just welcomed their baby girl. Her name is suitably literary: Josephine May Browning.

A new certificate program in Education is now available. This option permits students who are especially interested in teaching secondary school to take coursework from the Villanova Education Department in tandem with their English coursework. Through the certificate courses, you can develop advanced teaching techniques, learn about lesson planning, and familiarize yourself with the uses of classroom technology, as well as cultivate more specialized knowledge in a range of areas of pedagogical theory and practice. The certificate includes three required courses and two electives, one of which can be satisfied by a graduate English course. To learn more, see the online  brochure . You can also direct questions to Dr. Edward Fierros, the Graduate Director of the Education Program, at  edward.fierros@villanova.edu .

The graduate school just introduced an interdisciplinary, graduate-level Gender and Women's Studies certificate. This option permits you to pursue specialized graduate coursework in Gender and Women’s studies while also earning your M.A. in English. The interdisciplinary 15-credit certificate program permits you to take courses focused on topics related to gender and sexuality from a wide range of graduate programs at Villanova, including History, Communication, Theater, Philosophy, Education, Psychology, Political Science, and the Law School. Two courses from your English M.A. can also be counted toward the certificate. To learn more about this program and how to apply, click here: http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/gws/academics/graduate-certificate.html. If you have questions, you can contact Dr. Lutes at jean.lutes@villanova.edu .

Interested in The Great Gatsby? Want to get some experience planning an event centered on a literary classic? The English department is hosting an event designed for first-year students, and we need students to help us. The English Department has started doing more outreach to the undergraduates (especially freshmen) to be sure that our department and major remain visible to them now that there is no freshman English course in the core requirements for the university. Last year we held a very successful event called "Wildcat in the Rye" in one of the freshmen dorms. The concept was to talk about a book that is taught in high school and explore how it is approached differently at the college level. A faculty member talked briefly about Salinger's novel, and then there were breakout discussions run by graduate students. Around 90 freshmen attended the event (which also included free pizza and cookies). This year, we're going to have a similar event, "The

Graduate English students are welcome to enroll in this Liberal Studies graduate-level study abroad course as an elective to supplement their MA in English. Graduate Liberal Studies presents Currents in GreekHistory: a semester long odyssey into the Greek past and present. Course Code LST 7201-001 In addition to selected readings for in-class discussion of Greek history and culture, students will travel to Greece for two weeks to visit ancient, Byzantine, and modern sites and to use facilities of the Harvard Hellenic Center in the beautiful city of Nafplion, first capital of Modern Greece. In addition to tuition, the approximate cost per student is $2750. The course will be offered in the spring semester, 2015. Those interested should contact Dr. Alexander Varias at Alexander.Varias@Villanova.edu to arrange meetings and interviews in the early fall, or the Director of Graduate Liberal Studies, Dr. Marylu Hill at Marylu.hill@villanova.edu about enrollment details.

At this auspicious season of the year, when Pumpkin Lattes are making their appearance in summertime, the beach and autumn overlap over Labor Day weekend, and school still seems still a bit premature, one species is even more confused about the season: the Villanova Graduate English student. So happy to be back in the library and the classroom and once again surrounded by the smell of books, this student can be sighted in carefully chosen locations with a cup of coffee in one hand and a thick book in the other. The winter hibernation begins early and he will likely remain in his cozy burrow until the snow melts. Welcome back, everyone!

Jon presented his paper, “Mercy through Catholicism: Apocrypha in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice,” at the New Voices Graduate Conference on Origins, Identity, and Authenticity at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA in January 2014.

The Free Library of Philadelphia invites prominent authors to speak in a densely-packed season of events. Tickets for Fall 2014 Author Events are currently on sale. Subscription Orders We're pleased to continue to offer Flexible Subscription Packages. Purchasing a subscription package is a great way to show your support for this award-winning program. Please note that your event selection is subject to ticket availability. Call 215-567-4341 to place your subscription order. Single Ticket Orders Order single tickets online at freelibrary.org/authorevents or by phone at 1-800-595-4TIX (4849). Free Events No tickets or reservations are required for free Author Events. Seating is first come, first seated. Visit us online for details about all of these events and more. See you at the Library! ----------------------------------- Ticketed Author Event Series Highlights David Lynch | The Unified Field Thursday, September 11, 2014 at 12:00 PM A discussion about The Un

We recently received the following update from one of our alumni, Ashley Esposito, who graduated in December of 2013: This coming August I will begin as the Collection Development and Assessment Librarian at Shippensburg University (a tenure-track, faculty position). Since I finished my Villanova degree last summer, I will be able to enter at the Assistant Professor level.  I'm not sure if Lauren mentioned it to you, but she was kind enough to serve as one of my references. I just wanted to thank you and the graduate English department for everything you've done. I know that I couldn't have attained this goal without the additional credentials afforded by your program. I also strongly believe (though I couldn't have known at the time) that not getting the Falvey position worked out for the best, since this is really an excellent opportunity for me and will certainly set me on a career path to grow professionally and possibly even become a library administrator at

Chiji Akoma has been elected President of the International Society for the Oral Literatures of Africa (ISOLA), at the Society's 10th biannual conference at Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire in June 2014. Akoma also presented a paper at the conference titled "Language, Orality, and Nigerian Popular Music." Akoma was also in Nigeria this summer for research on Igbo popular theatre. While in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, he made two television appearances: one in the Igbo language show, "Ugegbe," where he was interviewed on his research work on Igbo drama and on the subject of Igbo as an endangered indigenous language. He also appeared on the English language Sunday breakfast show, "A.M. Express," on that country's national television network, to speak on the publishing challenges facing younger writers in Africa.

In July, Megan Quigley's article, “Why ‘East Coker’ is Still Shocking: The Annual East Coker Lecture” was published in The Journal of the T. S. Eliot Society. (2014) 34-49. http://www.eliotsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Journal-2014-contents.pdf

Joseph Lennon, PhD, published a suite of 23 haiku, "Flatland Haiku Summer" in Midwest Quarterly (Winter 2014 (55:2) pp 78-80). He also presented a paper at the 2014 American Conference for Irish Studies, entitled "Old Hungers, New Politics: Late 19th Century Fasts and Food Strikes" (June 14) and delivered an invited lecture at the Chester Beatty Library, entitled "Irish Orientalism: Origin Legends to Celtic Revivals" (June 27).

Eric Doyle presented a paper, titled "Race and Mythic Landscape in Ben Bova's Mars" at Mythcon, the annual Mythopoeic Society conference, on August 10, 2014.

In conjunction with her 2014 summer research grant, Sam delivered a 60-minute presentation on evolutionary discourses in J.R.R. Tolkien's work at at Mythcon, the annual Mythopoeic Society conference, on August 10th, 2014.

Teddi presented a paper on Harriet Jacobs and the Gothic at the National Association of African American Studies annual conference (February 2014) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

On Saturday, May 17, the Graduate English faculty and students gathered in the English department suite to honor the students who received their degree that day. For most, the academic stress of the semester was over, and the mood was light. The students who graduated that day had just wrapped up theses and field exams, although several students who had extended their thesis deadlines were also in attendance. Future plans were explained, goodbyes were said, and two years generally determined to be not quite enough time. We will miss all of our graduates, and we wish them the best.

This post by guest blogger Dr. Heather Hicks. Our very own Dr. Jean Lutes was interviewed on NPR's national radio program Morning Edition this morning about the 150th anniversary of the birth of Nellie Bly, the famous female reporter. Dr. Lutes has recently edited a Penguin Classics edition of Bly's news stories. The new edition can be found on  Pengun's website. And here's the link to the interview.

The Thesis and Field Exam Symposium took place on Saturday, April 26th. Seven presenters explained either completed or ongoing projects to an audience of Graduate English faculty and fellow first- and second-year students. The Symposium is designed as a format for thesis-writing students to present their work to the rest of the department. The environment was relaxed but thoughtful, as many students and professors expressed interest in the students' arguments and posed questions to clarify or expand their points. The presenters and their work are listed below: Adam Hembree: "Creating Negation: 'Playing the Villain' with Iago and Richard III" Teddi Hermes: "(In)Visible Women: The Visual in Black Women's Literature" Katie Parks: "Rediscovering Teresa Deevy"    Caroline Blasi: Solving Mysteries: Where the Gothic and Detective Story Meet"   Susan Peders

The Second Lady of the United States will be speaking at this year's commencement ceremony. She has ties with the Villanova Graduate English department, as she received her master's degree here in 1991. She went on to get her doctorate in Education at the University of Deleware. She currently teaches at a community college and advocates for recognition of community colleges as an important means of educating America's workforce. You can read the official article  in the Villanovan  for more details.

I hope that someone will be celebrating my birthday 450 years from now, though Shakespeare may not have expected this kind of fete: On April 23, Villanova's English Department, under the leadership of the wonderful Dr. Alice Dailey, celebrated Shakespeare's 450th birthday with a book-shaped cake, a Hamlet-inspired student film, and Shakespearean door prizes such as Hamlet finger puppets. A surprisingly large and energetic crowd filled the Old Falvey Library Reading Room, where a large screen held a projection of Dr. Dailey's "@Shakespeare" live tweets, and a birthday cake for Shakespeare sat next to birthday-cake flavored Oreos. This party whimsically assumed that Shakespeare would be quite caught up on both technology and 20th century desserts had he managed to live long enough. Old-fashioned readings of favorite passages were presented alongside a student film that, in a postmodern, non-chronological way, explored the what-ifs in Hamlet&

The Yawp staff wanted our readers to become a little more familiar with the experience in the daily lives of Villanova Graduate English Students. Currently our crop of second-years is working to polish thesis and field exam, most of them trying to finish by the end of the semester. We decided to check in with Katie Parks, who is writing about Teresa Deevy, a 20th Century Irish playwright.  The Yawp: Katie Parks. How are you? Does this email find you in the midst of writing? Katie Parks:  Hi, Yawp ! I am doing well this semester. I am currently in the midst of editing and revising my thesis. Draft. Revise. Draft. Revise. Lather, rinse, repeat. TY: Is thesis writing everything you hoped it would be? Has anything surprised you about this process? KP:  I'm not really sure what I hoped thesis writing would be like, but the process has proved that this kind of venture requires a great amount of organization and discipline. I have been surprised continuously by my researc

Current Villanova graduate English student Lee Nevitt won a prize at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Conference for Best Graduate Essay. The conference is organized annually by the Gender and Women's Studies program and showcases the work of undergraduates and graduate students from area schools. Lee's paper focused on the novels The Good Soldier and Mrs. Dalloway , particularly paying attention to the repressed homosexuality of the characters John Dowell and Septimus Smith. He argued that the investment of both protagonists in war service and its attendant social values (upholding the institution of marriage, fostering the imperial myth, and valuing a violent masculine identity) is at odds with their socially prohibited desire, resulting in characters who are fundamentally at war with themselves: a fact that is crystallized in their inability to feel grief and express desire through language.

Travis Foster's "Sex before Sexology" class will be presenting a mini-conference at 7:30 PM on April 22 and April 29. Location and a full schedule can be found below or at http://sexbeforesexology.wordpress.com/ . SCHEDULE April 22 7:30 – 8:10 p.m. INTIMATE NARRATIONS Jonathan Kadjeski, “ Ormond , or a Frozen Witness: Reading Antimimetic Narrative through the Paralipsis of Intimacy” John Polanin, “’Born of the smoke and danger of death’: Political Productions of Sexual Identities” 8:10 – 8:50 p.m. READING BODIES Katie Miller, “Fate and Predestination in The Hermaphrodite and ‘The Amber Gods’” Theresa Kircher, “Simultaneously Sexed: A Transgender Reading of Winterson’s Written on the Body and Butler’s Gender Performativity” 8:50 – 9:00 Break 9:00 – 9:40 p.m. BIRTH IT SLANT Samantha Vitale, “Perpetuating Progeny: Racial Reproductive Politics in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl ” Lee Nevitt, “Queer Reproduction and Its Contents” Apr

Dr. Lennon published an essay, "The Starvation of a Man: Terence MacSwiney's Hunger Strike and Famine Memory" in the final volume of the four part book series: Memory Ireland: Explorations in Irish Cultural Memory (2014). He published an essay, "The Starvation of a Man: Terence MacSwiney's Hunger Strike and Famine Memory" in the final volume of the four part book series: Memory Ireland: Explorations in Irish Cultural Memory (2014). He published three poems in the "Literary Miscellany" in the Ulster Tatler (July 2013) "Ophthalmologist’s Ring," "Circle," and "Spree." He also presented a paper at the 2013 American Conference for Irish Studies, entitled "Staged Authenticity in Marina Carr” and another "Unfixable Antiquity in the Writings of James Clarence Mangan" at the 2013 Southern Regional American Conference for Irish Studies at Emory University, where I also sat on a panel on contemporary Irish po

Dr. Lauren Shohet, Luckow Family Professor of English, led two seminars for scholars, on "Forms of Time," at the Shakespeare Association of America conference in April. She published an essay entitled "Macbeth: The State of the Art," in Continuum Renaissance Drama: Macbeth, ed. John Drakakis and Andrew Hiscock (Arden). The i-pad app of Othello she edited for Luminary Shakespeare was released in fall 2013; it includes her commentary stream “What is a Self?” and a swipe gallery of Othello images from the Folger Shakespeare Library, plus commentary, curated and authored by Shohet and Peter Holland. She also delivered an invited lecture to the Northeast Milton Seminar on "Eve as New Media Scholar" at the University of Connecticut (November) and a paper on "The Fragrance of the Fall" at the Conference on John Milton in Murfreesboro, TN, in October. As a member of the Shakespeare Association of America Program Committee, she recently completed a term p

Megan Quigley presented a paper at the annual Modern Language Association Convention in January in Chicago. Her paper, entitled, "Woolf, Wittgenstein, and Nonsense: The Voyage Out as Therapy," was chosen for the International Virginia Woolf Society sponsored panel. Dr. Quigley also published a book review on Carrie J. Preston's Modernism's Mythic Pose: Gender, Genre, and Solo Performance in Modern Drama.

The Villanova Women's Professional Network and Graduate Women in Business are holding an annual "Marketplace Cafe" networking event and would love to extend the invitation to current female graduate students and alumnae in Arts & Sciences. The event is designed to connect graduate students and alumnae, and will feature "A Candid Conversation about Confidence," facilitated by Kimberly Strickland, SPHR, Market Inclusion Leader, PwC. What: "Marketplace Cafe," a Sunday brunch networking event When: March 30th, from 11am to 2pm Where: West Lounge of Dougherty Hall on Villanova's campus. PLEASE REGISTER: http://www1.villanova.edu//villanova/business/about/wpn/events/marketplacecafe14.html

Sam Vitale, first year English graduate student, was recently awarded a Graduate Summer Research Fellowship. During the summer 2014 term, She will undertake a research project to examine the relationship between J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Darwin. Specifically, she plans to investigate the character of Gollum; for instance, Darwin's claim about "changing conditions of life" suggests that Gollum's ocular evolution--his "throw-back eyes"--are the result of his subterranean environment. She hopes to present my work at the Mythopoeic Society's annual August conference and perhaps publish in their accompanying journal, Mythlore.

Villanova's Gender and Women's Studies Program is offering a new interdisciplinary graduate course during the Fall 2014 semester. Course Code: GWS 8000-001 Course Title:   Critical Perspectives on Gender Professor:       Dr. Jean Lutes Schedule:       Wednesday 5:20-7:20 PM An interdisciplinary study of gender, women, and sexuality, this course surveys contemporary developments in feminist, gender, and queer theory. It also applies those theories to a variety of topics, such as the representation of gender, the history of sexuality, the science of sexual difference, gender in the workplace, and gender in the digital age. Throughout the semester, we will consider how ideas about gender are bound inextricably to ideas about race and class. Likely theorists include Sandra Bartky, Karen Barad, Simone de Beauvoir, Lauren Berlant, Judith Butler, Patricia Hill Collins, Michel Foucault, Elizabeth Freeman, Judith Halberstam, Alison Jaggar, Chandra Mohanty, and Eve Sedgwick. E

Beginning this June 2014, the Abbey Theatre Summer Studio will be open to dedicated graduate students. The Studio will be an intensive study of the Abbey, its history, literature, performances, and operations—and it runs from June 1-20 in Dublin Ireland. The cost, including tuition and housing, will be $3500. Students will also have to pay for airfare and food. For students on Tuition Fellowships and Graduate Assistantships, tuition remission will cover both the cost of the program and housing. The course will have a performance element, as well as a written scholarly element, and count for 3 graduate credits. Selected graduate students will also be responsible for assisting and directing undergraduate discussions and rehearsals. If you are interested in this opportunity, please talk with either Heather Hicks or Joseph Lennon at your earliest convenience. Places for tuition remission students will be limited. ACCOMMODATION: Housing and breakfast will be provided at Unive

The 2014 Literary Festival begins with a reading from critically acclaimed fiction writer David Gilbert on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 7 pm at Speaker’s Corner in Falvey Library. 

Please join us this week to hear a lecture by Travis Foster, who teaches in the Graduate English department. His lecture is entitled "Darwin, Jewell, Freud, and the Ecology of Queer Life," and will take place at noon on Wednesday, January 29 in the Connelly Center.

The BRIDGE society is hosting a networking event for those interested in banking, education, food & beverage services, health, hospital administration, intellectual property, investor relations, insurance, IT, law, marketing, pharmaceuticals, publishing, small business, or more entrepreneurial endeavors after receiving your degree. Research suggests that alumni networking is one of the most important avenues to securing a good job, and these events are a unique opportunity to take advantage of Villanova's professional alumni network. INVITATION: BRIDGE Society LAS in Business Mentoring & Networking Event - Thursday, January 30th at 6:00pm Dear Students, You're invited to the BRIDGE Society Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) in Business Mentoring & Networking event on Thursday, January 30th at 6:00pm in the Villanova Room. This event was designed in response to requests from our alumni and recruiters who recognize the value of your LAS degree in business-related

Guest post by Dr. Heather Hicks. As graduate director, I have searched for a viable means of helping alumni and current students to connect with each other for a number of years. After meeting recently with Kevin Grubb, an expert on social media at Villanova’s Career Services Office, I have decided that LinkedIn is the best platform for this effort. You can access our new networking group for current students and alumni of Villanova’s Graduate English Program by going to the LinkedIn site at https://www.linkedin.com/ , and then searching for “Villanova Graduate English Program.” At the group page, you can request to join the group. The group provides an ideal opportunity for you to see the range of careers that alumni of the program have pursued, and it gives you a quick and convenient way to benefit from their professional knowledge and experience. So far, close to 50 alumni of the program have joined the group, and I expect more to join in the coming weeks. The group will also