The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

Detailed descriptions of courses can be found below the course list! Spring 2021 English Courses ENG 8260 Revenge Tragedy -  Dr. Alice Dailey ENG 8560 Institutional Fictions - Dr. Mary Mullen ENG 9640 Alone Together: Literature & Social Distance - Dr. Kamran Javadizadeh ENG 9730 British Literature & Medicine 1700-1900 - Dr. Joseph Drury GWS Courses that Count for English GWS 8000 Critical Perspectives on Gender - Dr. Jean Lutes ENG 8260: Revenge Tragedy Dr. Alice Dailey CRN 32463 Thursday 5:30-7:30 pm (hybrid) Revengers, Murderers, and Malcontents in Renaissance Tragedy One of the dominant features of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century drama is its preoccupation with spectacular acts of murder and revenge and with the psychological, social, familial, and political circumstances that motivate and justify violence. This course will study the formal traditions of revenge drama and the genre’s place within Renaissance debates about concepts of family, gender, ho...

This past Thursday evening, students and faculty met over Zoom for a casual discussion on teaching strategies, experiences, and practices. Dr. Heather Hicks, Dr. Kamran Javadizadeh, Dr. Mary Mullen, Dr. Evan Radcliffe, and Dr. Tsering Wangmo shared about their personal teaching styles, and about what teaching in the pandemic has been like for them. Second year graduate students Caitlyn Dittmeier and Olivia Stowell also described their experiences working as teaching interns this semester. Caitlyn (who is interning for Dr. Mullen's Irish Literature: Gender and History course) and Olivia (who is interning for Dr. Javadizadeh's course on Letters, Texts, and Twitter) each discussed what they've learned so far, and answered questions from the other students attending the roundtable.  First year graduate student Franki Rudnesky shared, "I'm so glad I attended the teaching roundtable. As a first year student, being a TA is something I'm looking forward to doing nex...

Our own Megan Quigley has edited and written for a special Print Plus edition of Modernism/modernity that investigates the legacy of T.S. Eliot in the era of #MeToo.  Quigley asks whether Eliot's poetry can still speak to contemporary readers, and inquires, "Should Eliot, who in 1957 married his secretary, 38 years his junior, now, in the era of #MeToo, be 'cancelled'?" Quigley goes on to note that "Eliot’s posthumously published racist verses, particularly in the aptly titled The Columbiad , may be reason enough to topple his still-towering status." And yet, notes Quigley, "Students born in the 1990s see their own experiences of sexual violence, economic precarity, and racism refracted in Eliot’s fragmented war-torn verse." Quigley then goes on to examine closely a reference to "pills" (and the subsequent scholarly annotation of that reference) in Eliot's "The Waste Land." According to Modernism/modernity , "The P...

 Coming Soon... "The Less Selfish Gene. Forest Altruism, Neoliberalism, and the Tree of Life." The Luckow Family Lecture, sponsored by VU English, will be delivered by Rob Nixon, Barron Family Professor in Humanities and Environment at Princeton University. The lecture will be delivered on October 27th at 5:30 p.m., via Zoom. Those who wish to attend should register in advance here . About the event: Why have millions of readers and viewers become magnetized by the hitherto arcane field of plant communication? We are witnessing a surge in public science literature that engages botanical research into forest sentience, forest suffering and the capacity of plants to commune with each other. The contemporary appeal of plant communication is rooted in a quest for alternative models of being, models more accommodating than neoliberalism. This talk will explore an ascendant understanding of forest dynamics, offering a counter-narrative of flourishing, a model of what Ge...

  Last Friday, the English MA grad students met over Zoom for a happy hour hosted by Caitlyn Dittmeier, Lauren Wilke, and Olivia Stowell. Besides chatting about classes, the students also introduced each other to their various pets and plants (pictured above). Be on the lookout for information about future Zoom happy hours and hangouts--they may become a regular occurrence! More details about future meetings to come via email. 

A Life of Rare Finds: Catching up with English Alumnus, Michael DiRuggiero By Caitlyn Dittmeier, 2 nd Year M.A. in English This week, I had the opportunity to connect with Michael DiRuggiero, a Villanova English alumnus and owner of The Manhattan Rare Book Company. Michael attended Villanova from 1990-94, graduating summa cum laude with a B.Ch.E and B.A. in English. As a former Villanova English and Biology undergraduate, I enjoyed hearing how Michael has been able to embrace the sciences and humanities throughout his academic and professional careers. I asked Michael if he would share a few memories from his time at Villanova. He immediately remembered Dr. L.W. Irwin, whose teaching of English Renaissance drama was transformative to his studies. Michael initially thought he would not be able to pair writing courses with intensive engineering requirements. Thanks to AP credits, however, he was able to carve out enough room in his schedule to pursue his high-school passion for lite...