Student Bios

Alexis graduated from West Chester University in 2026 with a BA in English and a minor in Social Work Concepts. While there, she worked as a Peer Educator at the Center for Women and Gender Equity, with her most favorite responsibility being helming their book club each semester. Alexis was similarly involved with WCU’s independent, student-run newspaper, The Quad . Alexis’s research interests include print culture and Asian Amerian literature. In undergrad, she completed two funded research projects focused on Edith Maude Eaton/Sui Sin Far, the first of which examined how Eaton utilized her writings within her short story collection, Mrs. Spring Fragrance (1912), to respond to popular culture representations of San Francisco’s Chinatown in tourist literature. The following project used Eaton’s recently rediscovered writings within Mary Chapman’s Becoming Sui Sin Far (2016) to analyze the influence of place of publication on Eaton’s representation of Chinese identity. Alexis also has...

Juliana Catania graduated from Siena University in 2026 with a BA in English and a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. With passions for community building and creativity, Juliana spent time as a Resident Assistant, English Department Social Media Intern, and club leader for Chaotick (Siena’s hip-hop dance club) throughout her undergraduate studies. She also developed a love for teaching and pedagogical training as a Peer Writing Tutor at Siena’s Writing Center. Juliana’s academic interests include Victorian Literature and contemporary feminist theory, more specifically: anti-carceral feminism, ecofeminism, and sex worker feminism. As an undergrad, Juliana examined material readings of sex work and nature in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton and Thomas Hardy’s  Tess of the d’Urbervilles to better understand the experiences of marginalized women, survivors of sexual violence, and sex workers in Victorian Society. At Villanova, Juliana hopes to continue exploring how con...