DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
English at Villanova offers undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare you to read deeply, think critically, write effectively and speak confidently.
In the Villanova English Department, you encounter both revered classics and celebrated recent work by writers coming from widely different experiences and points of view. In our classes, you hone your writing skills, sharpen your abilities to analyze complex texts, deepen your understanding of cultural and material history, and stimulate your imagination.
The abilities you develop prepare you for fields including consulting, journalism, marketing, law, education, banking, government, college administration, screenwriting and publishing, as well as continued studies in competitive master’s or doctorate programs. In addition, beyond the numerous clubs and publications affiliated with the department, we are excited to offer a variety of scholarships for our undergraduate students.
The heart of the discipline of English is the power of the written word to tell stories, communicate ideas, broaden perspectives and bring about change.
Department Calendar
Happy 75th Anniversary to the English Major!
Tracy K. Smith Literary Festival Celebration, Wednesday, April 3rd, Driscoll Auditorium, 7-8 p.m.
Our final Literary Festival reader is Carolyn Forche! Forche has received the Edita and Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation for Peace and Culture award for her human rights advocacy and the preservation of memory and culture. Her reading will take place at 7:00 p.m., followed by a Q&A session. All are invited!
All About the Bagels, Thursday, April 4th, SAC 402
We will have free bagels and cream cheese in the English lounge, from about 9:30 a.m. through noon.
"The Mother Artist" by Catherine Rickets, Wednesday, April 10th, Falvey 205, 12:00-1 p.m.
Join Catherine Ricketts as she shares from her new book The Mother Artist: Portraits of Ambition, Limitation, and Creativity.
Writing for Social Change: Adania Shibli's Minor Detail, Wednesday, April 10th, Falvey 205, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
This event will feature a short discussion of Adania Shibli’s Minor Detail (2017)—an award-winning Palestinian novel that narrates two historical moments to show the haunting and all-too-ordinary nature of colonial violence—followed by a speculative creative writing exercise, inspired by Shibli, where we practice writing for social change.
Dr. Sarah Lang on Leveraging Large Language Models to Unveil Seventeenth-Century Books of Secrets, Thursday, April 11th, 12-1 p.m., Virtual
This talk presents experiments with the semantic enrichment and computational analysis of seventeenth-century alchemical books of secrets. This project explores the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs), including CustomGPTs and ChatGPT. This ACS-approved event is free and open to all! Register here.
A Lecture with Award-Winning Author Cristina Rivera Garza, Monday, April 15th, 5-6 p.m., Connelly Cinema
LAS and the Department of Spanish will host a lecture with Cristina Rivera Garza. She is the award-winning author of The Taiga Syndrome and The Iliac Crest, among many other books. Her most recent book, Liliana’s Invincible Summer, was a finalist for the National Book Award in Nonfiction.
BIPOC Writing Group, Wednesday, April 15th, 6-7:30 p.m., SAC 402
Inviting self-identified BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) students, staff, faculty, and alumni/ae to join us for creative writing and supportive community. Pizza and prompts will be provided!
A Lecture with Award-Winning Author Cristina Rivera Garza Drs. Amanda (Mandy) Regan and Eric Gonzaba on Mapping the Margins: Gay Travel Guides & the Promise of Digital History, Thursday, April 18th, 4-5 p.m., virtual
Professors Amanda Regan and Eric Gonzaba will discuss their NEH- funded project Mapping the Gay Guides. The project utilizes the Damron Address Books, a longtime gay travel guide that began in the mid 1960s. This ACS-approved event is free and open to all! Register here.
All About the Bagels, Thursday, April 18th, SAC 402
We will have free bagels and cream cheese in the English lounge, from about 9:30 a.m. through noon.
Tae Agus Plé, Irish Language Conversation Circle, Wednesday, April 24th, SAC 400
Join our Irish language faculty Dr. Jonathan O'Neill and Mike Malloy for an informal conversation circle. No previous Irish required! All Villanova students, faculty and staff are welcome. Tea and biscuits will be provided.
Check us out on the University calendar !
Solidarity with Black Lives Matter
Members of the English faculty promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. You can find out more about our efforts here.
