13th Annual Thesis and Field Exam Symposium!

The Villanova English department held its (lucky) 13th Annual Thesis and Field Exam Symposium on the evening of Friday, May 5th. 

We had four presenters:

Theo Campbell

“Customs Handed Down to Us”: Colonialism and Healthcare in Nurse Bridget Hedderman’s Glimpses of my Life in Aran

Theo spoke about their study of Nurse Bridget Hedderman's autobiography on her time serving as a nurse in the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland, and how that work has not previously been viewed as a post-colonial text, nor put into conversation with other, more famous works such as J.M. Synge's The Aran Islands. Theo emphasized Bridget Hedderman's heretofore underreported Gaeltacht background. The complicating factor of medical aid as a colonial intervention was also investigated and discussed.

Hannah Kahn

The Mediated, Medicalized, and Mortal: Tracing the Body Through Don DeLillo's White Noise and The Day Room and Noah Baumbach's White Noise

Hannah Kahn looked at Don DeLillo's novel White Noise, his less-celebrated follow-up play The Day Room, and the recent cinematic adaptation of the novel by Noah Baumbach. Hannah discussed the significance of hospitals and motels; the continuity between White Noise and The Day Room; the role of the body in texts, on stage, and on the screen; and more.

Caitlin Salomon

"Let's Disco": The Dance of Dark Ecology and Ecotheology in The Year of the Flood and Parable of the Sower

Caitlin examined the connections between dark ecology and ecotheology as theories and movements, looking at them in terms of The Year of the Flood and Parable of the Sower. She examined apocalyptic thinking, both theological and ecological, and "the loop of sin and salvation," as well as efforts to complicate this loop through the integration of a related concept, sanctification.

Jamie Wojtal

Prism, Mirror, Lens: A Critical Companion to Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren

Jamie discussed their efforts to create a critical companion to Samuel Delaney's Dhalgren, a cult classic science fiction novel that currently lacks extensive critical apparatus. Jamie outlined Delaney's career and the current canonical status (or lack thereof) of Dhalgren, as well as their efforts to elucidate and investigate the novel's background and themes. 

We would also like to celebrate Deidra Cali and Ethan Shea, who completed a thesis and field exam respectively, but were not able to attend on Friday. Deidra wrote on "Parched: Thirst in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper" and Ethan wrote on "Screening Modernists: Reading Literary Modernism Through Cinema and Race."

Congratulations, everyone!