The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

Our own Dr. Megan Quigley will be featured in an upcoming BBC radio documentary, "Hold on Tight: The Women of the Waste Land," which will debut on Nov. 3rd. You can listen to the documentary, which will examine the influence of various women on T.S. Eliot's life and work, here . You can read more about the women in Eliot's life, particularly in light of the recent unveiling of his letters to Emily Hale, in The Guardian, here . Dr. Quigley is quoted at length in that article. Here is a small example: “What does it mean when ‘pills’ means almost nothing? Editing shows our values – what we think is important for scholars to know and for students to learn... When I was a student, we were told that a proper study of The Waste Land was about exploring references to mythology, religion and literature – but of course relating these subjects to Eliot’s life, and our reception of it in the present day, is also really revealing.” Professor Quigley

Spring 2023 Graduate English Course Offerings Read on for info on our upcoming spring courses. Registration opens on Oct. 27th! ENG 8106 Love & War in Medieval Romance Dr. Brooke Hunter CRN 33293 Thursday 5:20-7:20 pm Medieval romances—the mode of literature that tells stories of chivalry, ladies, love, and martial prowess—shaped ideas about everything from racial and cultural identity to best practices for flirting. Focusing on the romances of King Arthur and other English heroes, this course will consider three main questions: how romances structure the experience of love, sexuality, and gender; how romances shape the practice of religion and notions of religious otherness; and how romances construct ideas about peoples ( nationes ) and political power. We will trace the romance and its conventions from the early origins of the form in historical epics through the addition of courtly love narratives as we also examine works that challenge and critique these conventions. By n

In conjunction with the exhibit on illustrated and military maps co-curated by our own Christoforos Sassaris MA '22, Falvey Memorial Library and the Office of Veterans and Military Service Members will soon be presenting an exhibit talk and reception. Invited speakers will discuss maps, their history, their use, and what the future holds for them in the military and beyond. The event will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Speakers’ Corner, Falvey Memorial Library.  According to Falvey Library, "The event will feature remarks from Francis A. Galgano, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and the Environment and US Army Lt. Colonel (Retired), followed by a roundtable discussion joined by Ken DeTreux, MA, MPA, US Marine Corps Colonel (Retired) and Joseph Evans, current Villanova PhD student, US Army Lt. Colonel (Retired). The event will be moderated by Michael Brown, Director, Office of Veterans and Military Service Members, Villanova University.

Visitors to the forty-third annual T.S. Eliot Society meeting, held recently in St. Louis and marking the centenary of The Waste Land , had an opportunity to see four 'generations' of Villanovans presenting: former Villanova professor Vincent Sherry, Professor Megan Quigley, MA alum Ann-Marie Jakubowski '17, and current MA student Ethan Shea '23. Ethan Shea presented on "Eliot Goes to the Cinema: Film, Mechanical Reproduction, and the City in The Waste Land ." He told the YAWP that "Attending the T.S. Eliot Society Meeting was an incredibly rewarding experience, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from so many scholars on such a wide array of topics concerning Eliot. I also received a lot of helpful feedback on my presentation that I hope to apply to my research in the future. Hopefully, I'll be back again next year." Ethan Shea presenting   Ethan Shea, Megan Quigley, Ann-Marie Jakubowski   Megan Quigley, Vincent Sherry, Eth

This past week I received the opportunity to interview Villanova alumna Jessica Swoboda '15 (B.A., Honors, English and Humanities), who is now completing her PhD in English at the University of Virginia. Her articles in The Point magazine, “Plural Visions: A reflection on ‘Criticism in Public’” and “Practicing Acknowledgement,” explore new ways of interpreting literature and interrogate characteristics of modern academia, both of which she examines further in her dissertation, “Entangled Relations: Characters, Interpretation, and Aesthetic Experience.” During her time at UVA, she has received multiple research grants from the English Department as well as an Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Summer Research Fellowship. From 2018-2020, she was the Irby Cauthen Jefferson Fellow, a title she holds again this academic year.  Jessica also serves as the Head Copy Editor for New Literary History and as a contributing editor for The Point .      Thank you very much for allowing me to i