Student Bios

A proud Jersey girl, Theresa graduated with her BA in English from Saint Joseph's University in 2013. A gender studies minor, she presented multiple papers at various academic conferences throughout her undergraduate career; and her senior thesis, Out of the House: The Male Gaze and Women's Negotiation of it Through Literature, explored the theme of the male gaze as a lens through which women are defined, classified, and judged within texts written by contemporary American, British and French authors. Theresa is primarily interested in continuing to explore women and gender studies themes within literature while at Villanova. Outside of the classroom, she can usually be found in the gym, cooking at home, enjoying a class of wine, or shopping at J.Crew.

After earning her B.A. in English literature with a leadership certification at Andrews University in December of 2012, Christine spent a semester substitute teaching in NJ. At Villanova, she plans to indulge her inner Anglophile immersing herself in British literature, especially the Victorian period. Christine has worked on student newspapers and journals, interned at Glamour and Elle Magazines, and freelance edited for a small book publishing company. In her free time, she enjoys participating in international mission trips, acrosport, yoga, emulating the sartorial choices of the Duchess of Cambridge, and perusing magazines while unwinding on a beach. She aspires to be a coffee connoisseur and indulges her love of travel whenever possible.

After earning a master’s degree in history from Villanova University, and then earning a license as a skin therapist, Faith began writing for a monthly Montgomery County publication called, Reflections: Positive News for a Change. After two years of documenting inspirational stories about local heroes, she grew bored with her writing style, and returned to Villanova to broaden her skills. Faith is a middle school Social Studies teacher. Some of her most meaningful interactions with students are in encouraging them to persevere though a sometimes ugly, and always rigorous writing process. Faith is also the banjo and ukulele player, and backup vocalist for Savior Soul, an American Roots bluegrass band, and this past summer, she and her sister launched F & J Productions, an interactive, musical arts duo.

Lee comes from Columbia, South Carolina. He attended the University of South Carolina where he graduated with a B.A. in English Language and Literature. He enjoys a variety of literary periods and styles ranging from Shakespeare to Kim Stanley Robinson. He's had a lifetime passion for music which includes a love for both classical and popular forms. He also enjoys a good game of chess especially with a good cup of coffee to go with it.

Originally from New Jersey, Sam Vitale graduated from Rutgers University in 2011 with a BA in English. Her current research interests hover at the interface of science and literature--perhaps a vestige of her former desire to pursue veterinary medicine. Although she has investigated the influence of Charles Darwin on writers like H.G. Wells, Sam hopes to explore the presence of other scientific discourses in nineteenth and twentieth-century literature during her Masters program. In her spare time, she enjoys bonding with her cat, Schrodinger, dabbling in graphic design, and trying to comprehend quantum mechanics.

Lauren graduated from Elon University in 2009 with a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing. She also spent a month traveling around Ireland (and somehow got class credit for it), as well as a semester at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Her senior thesis was written on the antiheroic protagonists of Kurt Vonnegut, and her senior portfolio was composed of narrative nonfiction and non-angsty poetry. She is considering delving into postmodern and postcolonial historical novels for her Masters work at Villanova. When she doesn’t have her nose in a book, Lauren loves cooking, watching reruns of 30 Rock and The Office, writing creative nonfiction, travelling with her husband, and scheming ways to move to a cottage in England when she’s finished with school.

Sam graduated from Immaculata University in 2013 with a BA in English. Her senior thesis explored representations of consciousness and reality and their respective relationships to time in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury; also, her honors thesis discussed Burroughs's Naked Lunch and addiction as a grand metaphor to substantiate the plasticity of the human mind. Sam's academic interests mostly lie in the intersection of literature and philosophy, and she is quite taken with postmodern and postcolonial literature. Outside of academia, she enjoys travel (particularly London), cats, coffee, poetry slams, awful jokes, and Bob's Burgers.

Eric holds a BA in history and philosophy from Baylor University (2008) and an MA in medieval history from the University of York (2011). His research interests are structured around themes of history and (neo)medievalism in current (popular) culture and secondary worlds: everything from T. H. White to “What’s in your wallet?” to imaginative and genre fiction. At Villanova, Eric hopes to explore the utility of critical and cultural theory for approaching envisionings/ appropriations/ dismemberments of the medieval. When not at the library he enjoys craft beer, bands with fiddles, and discovering the Northeast by rail.

Jeffrey graduated from Binghamton University in 2011 with a BA in English. His primary academic interests include British and American modernism, Southern gothic fiction, and the confluence of literature and language with the philosophy of Nietzsche, Deleuze, Blanchot, Foucault, and Bataille. He has a particular reverence for the modernist works of William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf and maintains a recreational interest in 19th Century French literature. Outside academic study, he enjoys watching and playing soccer, listening to the music of Tom Waits, and obsessing over classic film.

Katie McIntyre graduated from Grove City College in December of 2009 with a BA in English. She is as much a devotee as a scholar, with loves ranging from John Donne to William Blake to T.S. Eliot. She wrote her undergraduate thesis on Images of Fragmentation in William Blake's work. She is interested in the different ways that art can verge on the religious. She also attempts poems of her own. Outside of class she enjoys drinking good Philly beer, swing dancing, listening to singers who are also poets, being a Romantic on backpacking and canoe trips, and exploring new places.

John graduated from Seton Hall University in 2012 with a BA in English. He loves some writer from just about any period, from John Donne to Robert Browning to Derek Walcott, and wrote on the latter for his undergraduate seminar. He is also fascinated by, and hopes against hope to do research on, the way that comic books have recently taken up not just literature but literary theory as subject matter. Conversation topics that you bring up with John at your own risk: Bruce Springsteen, Neil Gaiman, Star Wars, Borges, moombahton, Transmetropolitan , and dark matter. You may face hour-long rants. You have been warned.