Student Bios

 Jaxon Parker graduated in 2022 from the University of Colorado Boulder with a BA in English and minor in Philosophy. He wrote his thesis on Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s novels A Grain of Wheat and Petals of Blood , which was awarded summa cum laude . He argued that Ngũgĩ’s novels frame national allegories by remembering the traumatic history of the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonialism. This remembrance contested the nationalist narrative propagated by Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s authoritarian and neocolonial leader, who urged Kenyans to forget the anticolonial movement. At CU, Jaxon worked as a “learner’s assistant” for a Shakespeare for Non-Majors class, where he helped students workshop their essays and facilitated group close readings and discussions. He was also the Humanities Editor for the CU Honors Journal and interned for the Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine . During his gap year between CU and Villanova, Jaxon worked as a laboratory assistant and phlebotomist at a hospi...

Ariel graduated summa cum laude from the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State with a BA in English and a BA in History. As an undergraduate, she worked as a Writing Consultant at Penn State's Center for Student Achievement; as the Editor-in-Chief of The Abington Review , Penn State Abington's student-run literary arts magazine; as the president of Penn State's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta; and as the Communications Coordinator of the Penn State Library-sponsored Short Story Dispensers. Ariel has worked at Campus, a 100% remote community college, as a graduate TA in English Composition, and as a Student Success Advisor at Post University for military students and their dependents. Ariel also owns her own small business editing essays, generating websites, and creating citations. At Penn State, Ariel was primarily interested in Modernism and Soviet-era history. Her senior thesis was a creative writing project focused on analyzing nostalgia and modern absurdism through the lens...

Nosike Okafor received a BA in English and an MBA with specialization in Marketing from University of Lagos. After spending several years in communications and public relations, he veered into content development and management. As Content Manager in Nosyke Marketing Services, he develops content across various media platforms and manages content strategy for clients to ensure consistency of impact.  His research interests are focused on 19th and 20th Century African American literature. He is especially interested in learning more about the critical theories and how these could be used in understanding the representations and reactions of the poor and marginalized in 19th and 20th century African American narratives. At Villanova, he would love to explore these patterns of reactions and how they compare with the attitudes of the poor and marginalized in modern African societies.  In his spare time, Nosike enjoys reading. He is a lover of football, fan of the English Premier L...

Karina graduated summa cum laude from Misericordia University with a Bachelor of Arts in English in December 2022 and holds an Instructional I teaching certificate grades 7-12 English. As an undergraduate, Karina participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program, where she proposed and completed a research project with a research paper that focused on an in-depth examination of a powerful French Queen, Margaret of Anjou, in William Shakespeare’s Henry VI Parts I, II , and III , and Richard III . During her student teaching semester, Karina taught 8th grade English at the Commonwealth Charter Academy, which provided her with experience in applying various technological tools within a virtual educational setting. Karina’s interests include Medieval and Renaissance literature, and research writing with the application of theoretical frameworks. She hopes to further develop her knowledge and skills in these areas at Villanova University. In her free time, Karina e...

Samantha Philipps graduated from Albright College in May 2020 with a BA in English and Theater. Following college, she has worked as a dramaturg and in-house historian for the theater Reclaimed Performing Arts Company. Through her work with the Reclaimed PAC, the company has helped to implement a student-run dramaturgical department at Cedar Crest College that began in the Fall of 2022. Outside of theatrical pursuits, she works as a school teacher and swim instructor in the Poconos and Philadelphia.  Most of Samantha’s research aims to promote alternative art forms within the literary classroom while using the same level of analysis applied to classics. She specializes in comics but intends to apply her research to other mediums. At Villanova, her goal is to develop her comics research further and pair it with other scholars' specializations to construct new understandings of multimodal literacy, visual literacy, and what is studied in an English classroom.  In her free time, ...

Annabella graduated summa cum laude from Pepperdine University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, a Bachelor of Arts in French Studies, and a minor in Great Books. As an undergraduate, she worked as a Great Books TA, French tutor, RA, and poetry chair of Expressionists , Pepperdine’s magazine of the arts. Annabella also served as student director and choreographer of Dance in Flight, Pepperdine’s dance company. Back home in British Columbia, she works at a winery, providing wine tastings and informational background on the viticulture of the Okanagan. At Pepperdine, she studied the dualism between body and soul through texts such as Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and used trauma theory to analyze Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles in her senior thesis. Currently, her favourite piece of literature is Clarice Lispector’s The Hour of the Star . Aside from reading, she writes poetry exploring themes of contemplation and abstraction through inanimate objects....

Rebecca Amrick graduated from Seton Hall University in May 2023 with a BA in English and a minor in Business Administration. During her undergrad, she first wrote for her school’s student-run newspaper The Setonian and later became an Assistant Editor of the paper. Additionally, she worked as a Special Projects Intern for the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences where she developed multiple leadership and career workshops for students. Rebecca recently had the opportunity to read a paper at the 43rd Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum. The paper, written for a Medieval Literature course, examined violence and kinship in the Icelandic saga, The Saga of the Volsungs . She hopes to explore more medieval texts during her time at Villanova and learn about the critical theories regarding this era of literature.  Rebecca is an avid reader and loves to read and write in her free time. She also enjoys painting, hiking, rock climbing, and playing her trumpet.

Jeanbry Torres graduated in 2017 with a BA in English, Minor in Psychology from Saint John’s University. While at Saint John’s, he served as a machine gunner reservist with 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines stationed in Garden City, NY. Additionally, he worked as an assistant farmer at Snug Harbor Botanical Gardens and Cultural Center in Staten Island, NY. Upon graduation, he commissioned into the United States Marine Corps where he has served as Battalion Adjutant for 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and Base Adjutant while stationed in Twentynine Palms, CA. As a Battalion Adjutant he deployed to the U. S./Mexico border and on ship in the Pacific. He currently serves as the Marine Officer Instructor at Villanova University and University of Pennsylvania. When not working, he enjoys playing video games, reading, running, diving, boxing, or hiking. Most of his free time is spent with his wife, Alexandra, son, Lukas, and dog, Murdock. He hopes to retire from the Corps before transitioning to a job i...