The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

Don James McLaughlin, ‘09, was awarded the Diane Hunter Prize for best dissertation in English from the University of Pennsylvania. The award, which Don James received in September 2018, goes to the best dissertation in English submitted during the previous academic year. His dissertation is entitled  Infectious Affect: The Phobic Imagination in American Literature . Don James was awarded his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in July 2017. He held a Visiting Assistant Professorship in English at Swarthmore College in 2017-2018. Following this appointment, he has accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professorship in 19th-Century American Literature at the University of Tulsa, beginning in the fall of 2018. Don James has also been awarded the Hench Post-Dissertation Fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society, 2018-2019, for the purpose of conducting research in their collection of early American newspapers, rare books, and manuscripts, as he turns his dissertation into a b

Dr. John Kurtz, the faculty Managing Editor for CONCEPT, the interdisciplinary journal for graduate students in the college, is looking for students to serve as either editors or peer reviewers. From Dr. Kurtz: "We are looking for graduate students who are interested in sharing their scholarship and/or serving as Peer Reviewers for the 2019 issue. The graduate students will be receiving direct emails about CONCEPT later in the semester, but interested students can contact me anytime. Please let me know if you have any questions about submitting papers, positions on our editorial board, or anything else about CONCEPT. I thank you in advance for your support of this tradition of graduate student scholarship." Email Dr. Kurtz at john.kurtz@villanova.edu with any questions!

The GWS semester events are officially in swing so mark your calendars for this coming Monday, October 1st as we welcome Dr. Jim Ferris of the University of Toledo for poetry and performance.  Was Your Mama White? Excavating Hidden History Poetry / Performance by Dr. Jim Ferris, Professor, Ability Center Endowed Chair of Disability Studies, University of Toledo MONDAY, OCTOBER 1ST, 5:00 PM COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT STUDIO GAREY HALL Sponsored by: The Dept. of Communication, The Center for Peace and Justice Education, Gender and Women’s Studies, The Office of Disability Services, and Africana Studies Jim Ferris is a poet and performance artist. He is author of Slouching Towards Guantanamo, Facts of Life, and The Hospital Poems , which won the Main Street Rag Book Award in 2004. Ferris, who holds a doctorate in performance studies, has performed at the Kennedy Center and across the United States, Canada and Great Britain; recent performance work includes the solo pe

Students interested in participating in Villanova’s Irish Summer Studio program are encouraged to attend an informational meeting on Tuesday, October 2nd, at 3:30 pm in the Theatre Department's Green Room in the ground floor of Vasey Hall. Dr. Valerie Joyce (Theatre) and Dr. Joseph Lennon (English), as well as students who have participated in the program, will be present at the meeting to explain the program and how students can go about getting involved. The Irish Summer Studio From the studio to the stage, students in the program will study the workings and history of Ireland's world-class national theatre while developing their own theatre skills, knowledge, and practice. Students from Villanova will work alongside students from Irish and other universities and be taught by practitioners and professors from Ireland and the US. Student work will culminate in a showing of final work at the Lir, Ireland's National Academy of Dramatic Art and guided by Abbey Theatre p

UVA has issued a CFP for their upcoming conference, "Attachment and Affect," taking place March 22-23, 2019. Abstracts are due January 2, 2019 . Lisa Ruddick (UChicago) will deliver the keynote and Rita Felski (UVA/SDU) will run a master class on attachment for conference participants. Rita's planning to workshop the first chapter of her current book project, Hooked: Art and Attachment . Visit our post on the Conference Opportunities page for all the information! As always, remember that if you decide to submit proposals to any conferences, be sure to consider applying for funding. See the Graduate Studies Office’s webpage on Conference Travel Funding . Remember also that you have to apply for the funding before you attend the conference, and that you don’t have to wait for your paper or abstract to be accepted before you apply. (In recent years, the funding has tended to run out early in the spring semester.)

Prof. Megan Quigley was a Visiting Scholar at Merton College, Oxford, this summer, working in the Merton College Library and Oxford’s Bodleian Library.  Researching the relationship between the poet T. S. Eliot and the genre of the novel, Professor Quigley spent her time looking at the Frank Brenchley T. S. Eliot Collection, focusing on the private correspondence of Eliot (he was a student at Merton), as well as at drafts and editions (also fascinating was the diary of Vivienne Eliot,  Eliot’s first wife who collaborated on sections of The Waste Land and who died in an institution).  This work is for Dr. Quigley’s new book project on Eliot.  She has organized a round table at the Eliot society conference this September at Emory University, stemming from her work at Oxford, entitled, “Reading The Waste Land with the #MeToo Generation."

Thank you to the English graduate students who volunteered their time and painting skills this past weekend to the Academy at Palumbo! Service day volunteers, including English grad students Christie, Nick, Daniella, Alex B, and Brian

Thanks to all who came to our Welcome Back reception last Friday!

From Dr. Lucky: "That’s me in front of August Wilson’s childhood home in Pittsburgh. I saw ‘King Hedley II’ on Friday, May 11, 2018. The play was staged and performed in the back yard. It was my final to see performed in the ten-play cycle."

The annual Thesis and Field Exam Workshop is coming up! When: Thursday, September 27th, 7:30 PM Where: SAC 300 All graduate students are welcome to attend, regardless of whether they are finishing up their degree this year or later. Although it is most important for any student who will be finishing this spring, everyone should consider attending. We will go over important information regarding the thesis and field exam process including the timeline, requirements, deadlines/graduation, and examples from recent graduates. We’ll also have pizza! RSVP to Evan at evan.radcliffe@villanova.edu by 5pm on Tuesday, September 25th!

Adecco is hiring full- and part-time Test Item Writers for work with the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ in the following disciplines: Mathematics, Art History, Music Theory, World Languages, History, Social Sciences, English, and Science. Test Item Writers will conduct research and write test questions for standardized tests, critically review test questions written by other team members, and adhere to ethical standards and comply with the laws and regulations applicable to this position. Required experience & skills include teaching experience in a school or educational center (desirable), strong writing skills, knowledge of MS Word, Excel, and Outlook, ability to quickly learn new technological systems, and ability to work in a highly collaborative environment, meet strict deadlines, and receive and implement constructive feedback. A Master’s degree in one of the disciplines above or in Education is preferred. Salary is $28.00 per hour. Please visit https

The Community College of Philadelphia is hiring part-time faculty in English. A current faculty member writes, "there are a few perks of teaching part-time at CCP: 1) CCP students are amazing, and many colleagues (faculty & staff) are phenomenally invested, introspective, and caring. 2) CCP hires full-timers from the adjunct pool. In fact, the college is contractually required by the union to hire some percentage of current adjuncts when they interview for full-time positions. So, unlike many universities, teaching part-time can potentially lead to getting hired full time. 3) CCP's union has been relatively strong over the years, and this means better benefits than most colleges offer to adjuncts: decent starting pay per credit for the region, more seniority pools, partial contributions to health care, and eventual partial retirement contributions. 4) CCP offers lots of great faculty-led professional development. In particular, there's currently a lot of energy

Looking for a volunteer opportunity this coming weekend? The St. Thomas of Villanova Day of Service is coming up this Saturday, September 15 ! Join fellow English graduate student and graduate assistant Nick Manai, who is organizing a service group at the Academy at Palumbo in South Philly. Last year, our group helped paint, clean, and reorganize some classrooms and administrative offices. Jobs this year will likely continue cleaning, painting, and rearranging! The high school is located at 12th and Catherine Streets (just below South Street) and will take place from approximately 9:30AM-2PM (if you need to arrive early or leave late, that is no problem at all). If you plan to bring significant others or family members, that's fine too, just please let Nick know ahead of time. The official deadline for registration for the event via the Villanova website has already passed, but that does NOT mean it's too late to sign up! See Nick's email address below, and contact h

Stephen Reaugh, who graduated with his MA in English this past May (2018), has been accepted and is currently enrolled in Washington University in St. Louis' English and American Literature PhD program. Stephen has also just been  cast  in two shows at Washington University in St. Louis! He’ll be playing Dr. Scott in the  Rocky Horror Picture Show  and Roy M. Cohn in  Angels in America . He has also had several poems, including “Pectus excavatum,” “The Wreck,” “Days of 1998,” and more published in  Hawai’i Review  (you can check them out  here ). Lastly, his piece “All in Good Fun” was recently published in  The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review , an online and print literary and arts journal. Congratulations and great work, Stephen!

There is a graduate student retreat being held this coming Saturday, September 8 from 9:30am – 5:00pm at the St. Raphaela Center in Haverford, PA . The deadline to register is today , September 6! The theme of this year’s retreat is “ Finding Home, Forming Community .” This will be a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the journey that led you to Villanova and connect with other graduate students. For more information about the retreat (and to register), visit here . Any questions should be directed to Michelle Sherman at  michelle.sherman@villanova.edu .

The department is proud to announce that Prof. Lauren Shohet 's 2004 essay, "The Banquet of Scotland (PA)," initially published in Shakespeare Survey 57, has been chosen for The Peter Holland Collection, the editor's selection of the best essay published in this journal of record for each of the past 20 years. The collection is available for free here .

Five of our beloved graduate students, and one recently-graduated undergraduate, participated in the Irish Theatre Summer Studio, which took place over the summer from mid-July through early August. Angela, Alex E., Ashley, Michelle, Lia, and Caitlyn spent three and a half weeks in Dublin and Galway, and were joined by seven theater students, three from Villanova and four from University College Dublin. The program was led by Drs. Joseph Lennon and Valerie Joyce. Working in collaboration with the Lir Theatre, students participated in a variety of theater workshops (movement, voice, directing, devising, etc.) and were able to spend some time in small groups devoted to playwrighting. At the end of their time in Dublin, all Summer Studio students put on a performance of the “scenes” they had written during their time at the Lir. Along the way, students attended a variety of plays put on by the Abbey Theatre, he Gate Theatre, the Peacock, and the New Theatre. Our grad students also

The Humanities Education and Research Association has issued a CFP for their 11th Annual Conference, to be held on 6-9 March, 2019 at The Wyndham Hotel in Philadelphia. Click here to visit the full posting on our Conference Opportunities blog page ! Also, remember that though this conference is nearby, if you decide to submit proposals to any conferences, you should consider applying for funding. Though, you can only apply for funding once per academic year, so if you are interested in other opportunities, you may want to skip requesting funding for this one. See the Graduate Studies Office’s webpage on Conference Travel Funding . And remember that you have to apply for the funding before you attend the conference.