The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

       Last week, I sat down for a chat with Alexis Atwood ‘26 to discuss how one class from her first semester of courses in the Graduate English program inspired her to pursue a fascinating research topic. Alexis arrived at Villanova last fall and, as a first-year student, took the required ENG8000: Literary Theory with Dr. Heather Hicks, a survey course designed to introduce first-years to a wide variety of theoretical fields and frameworks. She told me how two particular classes in ENG8000—on Vulnerability Studies and Border Studies—helped her build upon her pre-existing scholarly interests and develop them further in a new context.       “I’ve always been interested in discourse in particular and the ways that discourse exposes systems of dominance, so I think that's kind of what brought me to Vulnerability Studies," said Alex.  "And then I found that poetry was a potent source to pull from when it came to understanding discourse and the...

Sometimes our grad students’ research interests take them far from home, and we are fortunate enough to hear from them about their experiences. This year, Theo Campbell, MA ’23, earned a graduate summer research fellowship and pursued research abroad in Ireland and in the UK. Here is their story: “The research I did this summer was a continuation of a project that started as my term paper for the Literary Theory class last fall. For that paper, I read the memoir of B. N. Hedderman, a district nurse who worked in the Aran Islands in the 1910s, through lenses of vulnerability and post-colonial studies. My plan for my research this summer was to look at other accounts from district nurses in rural Ireland from around the same time period to see whether Hedderman’s memoir and the conclusions I drew from it are indicative of the district nursing program as a whole, or whether she’s an anomaly. “My research involved going to several different archives to try and find those other accounts. He...

 Anne Jones, now a second-year student in our MA program, earned a Summer Research Fellowship for the summer of 2020. These are competitive stipends in the amount of $3000 to support scholarly efforts conducted during June, July, and August. During a normal summer, recipients would often travel to archives relevant to their work. Of course, this has not been a normal summer!  Anne shared some information and reflections about her project with the YAWP: M. K. Gandhi’s writings have been crucial to the ideologies that informed the Indian independence movement. In works like Hind Swaraj , he outlined his belief that political self-rule for India had to be bound with economic independence and civil disobedience. For Gandhi, these tenets materialized through the use of a crucial object: the charkha or spinning wheel. Spinning one’s own cotton/cloth, he argued, would mobilize India’s rural population and assist India’s economic independence by rejecting imported British cloth. What ...

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."

The competition for Graduate Summer Research Fellowships is now open. The deadline for applications is January 20, 2018 (regardless of which day of the week it falls on). For details regarding eligibility requirements, criteria, how to apply, deadline for proposals and review process, faculty evaluation of the project, and award recipients, please visit the “Graduate Summer Research Fellowship” webpage found here .  Important note: please read the webpage in its entirety since the application process has changed. Villanova University students cannot receive support to conduct research in countries under a Travel Warning from the U.S. Department of State.  In the event that a country is placed on a travel warning after funding has been awarded, students must communicate with the Office of Graduate Studies to cancel travel arrangements and return any funds that have been awarded. If you have a scholarly project for which you would like summer support, please discuss this w...

All first year graduate English students are welcome to apply for a graduate-level summer research program at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. The workshop is administered by Villanova’s Philosophy Department, but it cuts across numerous disciplines and is open to students and faculty in the humanities and social sciences. You can see their website for more information at http://criticaltheoryworkshop.com or email Dr. Gabriel Rockhill at gabriel.rockhill@villanova.edu.Summer research programs are a fantastic way to enhance your CV and travel to a new place with a trusted guide. 

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.

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 U...

The Summer Research Grant is a wonderful opportunity for those of you hoping to work on a scholarly project over the summer. The grant funds could support: travel to archives; cover expenses associated with research projects; or simply allow you to reduce your summer work hours, giving you time to focus on your project. If you have a scholarly project for which you would like summer support, please discuss this with a faculty member in your program who will be willing to formally sponsor your effort. For details regarding eligibility requirements, application procedures, and the required cover page to be appended to any submitted proposals, please visit the “ Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship ” found on the Graduate Studies website. The deadline for applications is Monday, January 21, 2013.

The Villanova University-Abbey Theatre Exchange program was established in 2011, linking the University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with the prestigious national theater of Ireland. As a development of this historic intellectual and artistic partnership, Villanova has announced an “Abbey Theatre Internship Grant,” which will provide a University student with the funding to travel abroad and work for the Abbey Theatre for eight weeks during the summer of 2013. In addition to bringing the finest Irish theatre practitioners to Villanova, the exchange program now provides a grant for a Villanova student to intern at the Abbey Theatre during their prominent summer season. The University’s exchange program with the Abbey Theatre has created a bridge between the renowned Irish institution and Villanova’s Irish Studies Program and Theater Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The collaboration brings some of Ireland’s preeminent theatre practitioners to the Unive...

The IRISH SEMINAR 2012: Contemporary Irish Theatre June 11 – June 29, 2012 The 2012 University of Notre Dame IRISH SEMINAR convenes a sterling cast of international experts, scholars and practitioners to explore contemporary Irish dramatic and theatrical landscapes and discern current patterns of dramaturgy in culturally and theatrically significant plays written in and about Ireland since 1980. This three-week series of presentations, seminars and workshops offers participants an opportunity to partake in seminars, lectures and workshops at the world famous Abbey Theatre with world renowned academics, scholars, directors, actors, critics and reviewers. Among the topics to be discussed are: patterns of history and memory, use of meta-theatre, the enabling and disabling uses of myth, and the role of narrative and monologue in contemporary Irish theatre. Click here to view the Seminar website for more information on admission, accommodations and fellowships. The deadline fo...

Each summer, the Univeristy of Notre Dame offers a three-week Irish Studies Seminar in Dublin that has a very strong national reputation. Tuition and housing are usually around $4,000 per student. This year, the seminar has offered a special "two students for the price of one" deal to our students. One student has already expressed interest in the program. If you are interested in participating, please contact Dr. Heather Hicks! Here is some more information regarding the program: The IRISH SEMINAR 2011: Irish Modernisms 20 June – 8 July 2011 THEME Modernism, marked by a strongly self-conscious rupture with tradition and a formal and conceptual inventiveness, is often understood as a vigorous reaction against established religious, social and political views. Informed on one hand by the horrors of the Great War (1914-18) and governed on the other by a belief that our world is created in the very act of perceiving it, no absolute truth existed to provide guidance o...

The deadline to apply to take two graduate courses in Galway this summer is the end of February. If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, you should notify Heather, and then fill out the application form on the International Studies homepage ( http://www.villanova.edu/vpaa/intlstudies/ ) and return it to Dr. James Murphy. You should also make an appointment with Dr. Murphy so you can discuss the program, housing etc. His email address is James.murphy@villanova.edu. Please remember that students receiving fellowships can use this funding to cover the costs of the Galway program.

There are research fellowships available for the Summer of 2010 for current graduate students! The deadline for your application is Friday, January 15, 2010.  If you are interested in this outstanding opportunity, please discuss your proposal with a faculty member in your area of study who will be willing to sponsor your efforts!