Jess Derr

Jess Derr is a recent graduate from Arcadia University, where she received her BA in English with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. While at Arcadia, her primary research interests involved ecocriticism, postcolonialism, and gender theory mainly exploring conceptions of masculinity and what results when one fails to adhere to such. These theoretical frameworks served as the basis for her culminating thesis “Buggered, Beaten, Broken: Male as Colonized Body in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander.” The project considers how Gabaldon subverts the typical compression of the gender and colonial hierarchy, a schema that historically has linked sexual assault with colonial oppression, often paralleling aggression against the land and the female body. Jess was due to present a version of this project in Glasgow last Spring before COVID wreaked havoc upon the world. She is instead currently revising it for publication.

Jess is also deeply invested in pedagogy. She worked for several years as a Consultant in Arcadia's Writing Center, and has also served as a Teaching Assistant for a summer program focused on helping incoming first-year students succeed as college writers.

Outside of her academic pursuits, Jess is passionate about dogs, fitness, breakfast food, and D&D. She is eagerly looking forward to becoming a part of the Villanova English community!