Dear Friend of the College,

Welcome to the April 2012 e-newsletter for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Inside A&S. I hope that you enjoy the Easter recess and continue to enjoy the lovely spring we're experiencing.

I am thrilled to announce that Jessica Wamala ’13, a Villanova Presidential Scholar, is the recipient of the prestigious 2012 Harry S. Truman Scholarship. The Truman Scholarship Foundation recognizes college juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to making a difference through public service. A Political Science, Honors, and Arab and Islamic studies major with a minor in Arabic Language, Jessica exemplifies the qualities of an academic leader, applying what she has learned in the classroom to directly address social injustices through education and awareness.

In addition, I'd like to congratule Professors Emmanuel David, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology, and Catherine Warrick, Ph.D., an assistant professor of political science, who have been awarded Fulbright Grants. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” With this goal as a starting point, the Fulbright Program has provided almost 310,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

In this issue, you'll also read about the continuation of the Literary Festival, sponsored by the English Department, and the University's annual celebration of Earth Day, this year featuring a tribute to Rachel Carson's famous book, Silent Spring.

Futhermore, a special atrophysics symposium, "From the Origin of the Universe to Accretion by Black Holes: A Symposium in Honor of Rashid Sunyaev, 2012 Recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics," will be held on Wednesday, April 25, and is jointly sposored by the College and the Franklin Institute. And the Waterhouse Family Institute is delighted to host the“7th Annual Hearts and Minds Film Festival” on April 13-14. You'll read about both events here in Inside A&S.

I wish you all the very best as you wrap up the semester and prepare for final exams. Happy Easter to you and yours.

Sincerely,

Jessica Wamala ’13, Receives 2012 Harry S. Truman Scholarship

Jessica Wamala ’13, a Villanova Presidential Scholar, is the recipient of the prestigious 2012 Harry S. Truman Scholarship. Jessica is the fifth Villanovan to receive this honor.

The Truman Scholarship Foundation recognizes college juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to making a difference through public service. A Political Science, Honors, and Arab and Islamic studies major with a minor in Arabic Language, Jessica exemplifies the qualities of an academic leader, applying what she has learned in the classroom to directly address social injustices through education and awareness.

As Advocacy Chair of the Student Run Emergency Housing Unit of Philadelphia, Jessica combats homelessness through outreach and advocacy. Furthermore, Jessica is a member of Villanova’s NCAA Division I Varsity Women’s Basketball Team, having made the team as a walk-on in her sophomore year. 

Last summer, Jessica studied foreign affairs as a Rangel Scholar, solidifying her desire to work as a Political Officer in the Foreign Service. Jessica is committed to addressing social issues and fostering diplomatic relationships through international dialogue in a challenging career that provides constant learning. This summer, Jessica will serve as a State Department Overseas Intern in the political section of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, where she will learn first-hand about the political and socio-economic implications of race and ethnic divisions.

April 18: Annual Earth Day Celebration: Silent Spring’s 50th Anniversary

On Wednesday, April 18, join in the University's Annual Earth Day Celebration, "Silent Spring’s 50th Anniversary," from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Connelly Center Cinema. Come see and listen to student and faculty presenters, video clips, and readings from Rachel Carson’s famous book, highlighting its historical and contemporary relevance to the crisis of pesticides and environmental degradation.

Professors David and Warrick Awarded Fulbright Grants

Professors Emmanuel David, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology, and Catherine Warrick, Ph.D., professor of political science have been awarded Fulbright Grants.

Dr. David has co-edited the book, The Women of Katrina: How Gender, Race, and Class Matter in an American Disaster (Vanderbilt University Press). Learn more about the book here. In addition, Dr. David's recently published co-authored book chapter (with Lori Hunter, University of Colorado at Boulder) on gender and climate change migration is part of the book, Climate Change and Migration, published by UNESCO and Cambridge University Press.

Learn more about Dr. David's grant here.

Dr. Warrick has conducted extensive research on Middle East legal systems and political structures. She has lived in Amman, Jordan, while on research fellowships and was the recent recipient of a National Science Foundation Law and Social Science Program research grant for a project on Islamic law. She also specializes in the broader field of gender equality and civil rights issues. In addition to her academic endeavors, Warrick occasionally serves as an expert witness in asylum cases involving Arab refugees and has testified before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the subject of honor crimes.

Sizzling Dodos: A Series of Events With Author and Filmmaker Randy Olson

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is sponsoring a series of events surrounding Randy Olson's visit to campus on April 12 and 13, including a book talk, a seminar, a filmmaking workshop for students, and screenings of two of his films.

Randy Olson is a Harvard-trained “biologist turned filmmaker," a staunch proponent of the Humanities, and a serious critic of the state of communicating science (the major thrust of his book, Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Communicating Substance in and Age of Style. His movie, “Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus,” is a refreshing view of an old controversy, and "Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy" has generated a lot of interest and focus on the failure of science to effectively communicate the magnitude of this issue and sway public opinion.

A panel discussion will follow the screenings of both films. Dodos panelists include Ms. Faye Flam, Philadelphia Inquirer science writer, and Professor Michael Behe, biochemist from Lehigh University who coined the term “irreducibly complex systems” and argues “that such systems were deliberately designed by an intelligent agent." Dr. Aaron Bauer, evolutionary biologist and Gerald M. Lemole Chair of Integrative Biology, will also participate. 

Following the Sizzle film, the panelists include Dr. Bruce Lewenstein, professor of science communication at Cornell University and visiting presidential fellow at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Dr. Keith Henderson from Geography and Environment also will participate.

The schedule of events are posted around campus and here.

Special Astrophysics Symposium: "From the Origin of the Universe to Accretion by Black Holes: A Symposium in Honor of Rashid Sunyaev, 2012 Recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics"

Save the Date for this special Special Astrophysics Symposium: April 25, 2012 (1:30 to 3:30 p.m.) "From the Origin of the Universe to Accretion by Black Holes: A Symposium in Honor of Rashid Sunyaev, 2012 Recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics"

A special symposium, co-sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Franklin Institute, will be held in honor of Dr. Rashid Sunyaev, the 2012 Recipient of the Benjamin Franlin Medal in Physics. Dr. Sunyaev is the Director of the Max Planck Institut fur Astrophysik, Garching, Germany, and the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. The symposium, open to the public, will be held in the Connelly Center Cinema on Wednesday, April 25, at 1:30 p.m. and is entitled, "From the Origin of the Universe to Accretion by Black Holes: A Symposium in Honor of Rashid Sunyaev." There will be three speakers: Professor Mark Birkinshaw (University of Bristol, UK) whose talk is titled "The Coupling of Matter and Radiation, and the Structure of the Universe", Dr. Mario Livio (Space Telescope Science Institute) whose talk is titled "Astrophysical Jets", and Dr. Rashid Sunyaev. The talks will be 30 minutes each with 10 minutes for questions. The first talk will occur at 1:30, the second talk at 2:10 and the 3rd talk at 2:50.

The Franklin Institute Awards in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering have been given annually for more than 188 years, honoring leading scientists and engineers, among whom are Alexander Graham Bell, Pierre and Marie Curie, Rudolf Diesel, Thomas Edison, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

The Citation for Dr. Sunyaev's Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics reads "For his monumental contributions to understanding the early universe and the properties of black holes." To read more about Dr. Sunyaev's background and the Franklin Institute Awards, click here.

If you have questions or need further information, please contact edward.sion@villanova.edu.

Students Present Research at the Eastern Sociological Society’s Annual Conference

Courtesy of Dr. Rick Eckstein. On Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012, seven liberal arts and sciences students, along with Dr. Rick Eckstein (Sociology and Criminal Justice) and Dr. Emmanuel David (Sociology and Criminal Justice), traveled to New York where they gave research poster presentations at the Eastern Sociological Society’s annual conference.  After presenting and discussing their research, the students attended other conference sessions. The students and their research topics were:

Elka Peterson Horner (’12; Sociology, Honors). “How High do Sports Score?: The Real Significance of Sports in University Attendance.”

Weddy Worjroh (’12; Sociology, Global Interdisciplinary Studies).  “Racial and Ethnic Self-Identity among Black Immigrants.”

Michelle Garzia (’12; Sociology; Communication), “Private Educational Counseling’s Impact on Traditional Processes for Selecting Colleges.”

Kristen Valosky (’12; Sociology Honors), “The Criminalization of Homelessness in Chester PA.”

Ellen Salmi (’12; French, Honors), “Active Social Pluralism: Community Building among Cameroonian-Americans.”

Melissa Madden (’13; Sociology, Math, Honors) and Kristen DiGloria (’13; Sociology, Honors). “Juvenile Criminal Background and Most Recent Arrest.”

Ellen Salmi’s work was part of a Villanova Undergraduate Research Fellows (VURF) project under the guidance of Dr. Eckstein. The other students’ research grew out of projects in Dr. Eckstein’s senior capstone seminar or Dr. Allison Payne’s research methods course. Ms. Valosky and Ms. Salmi will also be presenting their research in late March at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research in Salt Lake City.

WFI Sponsors “7th Annual Hearts and Minds Film Festival” on April 13-14

The Waterhouse Family Institute (WFI) is pleased to collaborate with Serviam Media, and its Hearts and Minds Film Initiative, and to be sponsoring its 7th Annual Hearts and Minds Film Festival. This event is an international, juried social justice documentary festival. It features the work of filmmakers, both professional and aspiring, and demonstrates concretely the importance of communication as a form of advocacy.

Thanks to the support of WFI, the Hearts and Minds Film Festival has found a stable home at Villanova University. WFI has worked closely with the Serviam Media staff, and especially Sharon Baker and Elizabeth Lockman, to create a powerful and invigorating two-day event to celebrate these films, work for social justice, and our new partnership.

Friday, April 13, 2012
To start the festivities, WFI will host a late afternoon welcome reception. Following this reception, WFI will have a ceremony recognizing the 2011/12 CMM/WFI/ISI Fellows, including the formal presentation of the Fellow awards and a brief discussion of each of the five selected projects.

Finally, WHI is pleased to host the East Coast Premiere of the powerful documentary, Erasing Hate, followed by a Q&A/discussion with the director, Bill Brummel, and our five CMM/WFI/ISI Fellows. For more on this award-winning film, click here.

Saturday, April 14, 2012
The 7th Annual Hearts and Minds Festival will commence, with screenings throughout the day. Also participating will be students from the WFI-sponsored Center for Social Justice Film. The screening schedule will be available soon!

2011-2012 CMM/WFI/ISI FELLOW AWARDS
The WFI is pleased to be partnering with the CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution and the Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University. This unique collaboration allows our organizations to name annual Fellows, representing the best work done by scholars and professionals on communication as world-making and -changing. For 2011/12, scholars and practitioners were invited to submit project proposals that fit into one of the following categories:

Category 1: Social Issues
Category 2: Personal and Social Evolution
Category 3: Games for Developing “Evolved” Communication Skills
Category 4: Transforming Communication
Category 5: You Get What You Make

WFI will honor these Fellows for their projects:

Romi Goldsmith Boucher -= Collaboration: A Constitutive Accomplishment.
Fielding Graduate University, Ph.D. student.

John Carr -- Opportunities and Obstacles to Transforming Planning Communication Through the Creation of Digital Visualization Tools.
Professor, Geography, University of New Mexico.

Susan Jacobson =- Understanding How the American Political Drama Unfolds on the Social Web May Help Reconstruct our National Political Dialogue.
Assistant Professor of Journalism, Temple University.

Jeff Leinaweaver -= Games for Developing Evolved Communication Skills.
Consultant, Global Sustainability.

Charles E. Morris III =- Archival Queers: Anti-Bullying and the Rhetorical Futures of GLBT Pasts.
Associate Professor, Communication, Boston College.

For details, and to learn about the 2011-2012 Fellows, please continue to visit the WFI Web site.

Kindly Participate in a Children's Book Collection Drive in SAC

Courtesy of Noreen Cameron

One-hundred and fifty (150) elementary and high school students will be on campus April 27,2012, for a college day, and the Office of Service Learning would like to give them a book to take home. The students are not permitted to take their text books home, and we are told by administration that pencils are often hard to come by for these children. So if you have a children’s or young adult book in excellent condition that we can give to these young people, please drop the book off to SAC 386.

Attend the Upcoming Discussion About the Work of the Blue Star Mothers

Please join us for a discussion by Marian Moran on Monday, April 2, at 4:30 p.m., in the St. Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts Room 400 (Fedigan Room) about the work of Blue Star Mothers in perpetuating the memory of all the men and women who have served our country as members of the Armed Forces, fostering democracy, and caring for the unsupported mothers who gave their children to the service of the Nation.

BRIDGE Society Event Connects Advertising Professionals With Interested Students

Courtesy of Karen Graziano, J.D. Professionals from Vizion Group PR, Allstate Insurance, and Villanova's Health Promotions Office, and two A&S students, Laura Luisi and Kailey Kilmartin, shared their experiences working in advertising, marketing, and public relations at the BRIDGE Society's Advertising Branch's Speed Event on March 14.

The mission of the BRIDGE Society is to build relationships among students and alumni in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, to inspire both student professional development and alumni institutional development, as well as provide a forum for students to gain the experiences necessary to forge their future direction.

Student and Faculty News From the Department of Computing Sciences

Computer Science Student Solves Open Problem in Computability Logic

In the course of working on his graduate thesis in Computer Science, Matt Bauer ’12, solved an open problem in Computability Logic: that the basic first-order fragment of Computability Logic is PSPACE-complete. The non-trivial proof for this theorem was found by him independently, without any help from his advisor. The paper is presented in "A PSPACE-complete First-Order Fragment of Computability Logic," which is under review for publication.

Read this and other news from the Department of Computing Sciences here.

BRIDGE Society Sponsors Special Legal Event

Courtesy of Karen Graziano, J.D. A&S students Sarah Englebert, Patrick Borja, Christopher Hamrick, and Terrance Pak shared their legal internship experiences at the BRIDGE Society's Legal Event on March 14.

Ethics Program Invites Nominations for the 2013 Praxis Award in Professional Ethics

To highlight and celebrate the work of professionals and academics in the field of professional ethics, the Ethics Program of Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recognizes the work of such a person by awarding him or her with the Praxis Award. The 2012 recipient, Andrew E. Kricun, P.E., executive director of the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, will be honored on April 11, 2012, at 5 p.m. in the Villanova Room. All are invited to attend. For more information on Mr. Kricun, please visit the Ethics Program's Web site.

A&S Students Visit NYC's TurnerBroadcasting Offices to Learn About Advertising Sales

Courtesy of Karen Graziano, J.D. On Friday, March 16, a group of 17 A&S students visited TurnerBroadcasting's New York City office. The site visit, hosted by A&S alumnus and Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales at TurnerBroadcasting Mr. Joseph Dugan, explained the role of advertising sales and promotion at the company. Students learned how dynamic advertising sales is from professionals in the Entertainment, Young Adults, News, and Digital areas.

Alumnae AnnMarie Mangione, promotions manager of digital; Marybeth Strobel, vice president/sales manager of news digital; and Erin Jeffers, account service representative of news, spoke to students about using their skills, breaking into the industry, and working at TurnerBroadcasting. 

Additionally, the program included a presentation about advertising sales in the sports industry by Madison Square Garden Vice President of Team Sales John Clark. The TurnerBroadcasting Ad Sales and Distribution "arms drive new thinking and execution that crosses traditional boundaries, connects players and assets in creative ways and delivers value" for its partners and company. TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, and the Cartoon Network are some of the highlights of TurnerBroadcasting's portfolio. 

Wednesday, April 18: Catholic Relief Services Partnership-sponsored Colloquium on Gender and Justice: A Global Humanitarian and Development Perspective

Responding to Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Humanitarian Crises:  4-5:30 p.m., Villanova Room, Connelly. Francisca Vigaud-Walsh is Catholic Relief Services’(CRS) Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Technical Advisor. She has more than a decade of experience working in conflict and disaster-affected communities worldwide. Vigaud-Walsh will address CRS’ SGBV programming in the Democratic of Congo, Sudan, Haiti and elsewhere. The agency’s SGBV programming includes addressing root causes; developing community early warning and protection systems; providing survivors safe havens and access to medical, psychosocial and legal services; developing income generating skills critical to survival after being abandoned and ostracized by husbands and communities; and advocacy. 

Global Poverty Reduction and the Gender Lens:  7:30-9 p.m., Villanova Room. The World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Gates Foundation, and other international funding agencies recognize that promoting gender equality is the most efficient and effective means of reducing poverty and promoting development. Carrie Miller, CRS’ Senior Technical Advisor for Health and HIV, will address Catholic Relief Services’ approach to gender-responsive programming across sectors that engages both girls and boys and women and men. Miller will highlight some of CRS’ most innovative and successful gender-responsive programming in health, HIV, agriculture, and microfinance, and share the impact of agency programming with adolescent girls. Miller will be joined by Francisca Vigaud-Walsh who will briefly describe CRS’ programming in SGBV in crisis situations.   

Both sessions are free and open to the public. Classes are welcome.  For more information contact suzanne.toton@villanova.edu.  

RECONSIDERATION IV: Augustine: Ancient Inspiration, Modern Muse

Save the Dates: September 13-15, 2012 -- RECONSIDERATION IV: Augustine:  Ancient Inspiration, Modern Muse.

The Saint Augustine Lecture will be given by Dr. James Wetzel from the Philosophy Department.

Conference speakers will include: Robert Wilken, University of Virginia; Jason BeDuhn, Northern Arizona University; Maureen Tilley, Fordham University; Lewis Ayres, Durham University; John Cavadini, University of Notre Dame; William Harmless, Creighton University; Michael McCarthy, Santa Clara University; John Peter Kenney, Saint Michael’s College; Ellen Charry, Princeton Theological Seminary; Irena Backus, University of Geneva; Willemien Otten, University of Chicago; and Paul van Geest, Augustinian Institute, Holland. 

Sigma Xi Research Day: April 27 in the Villanova Room, Connelly Center

Please mark your calendars now for the Friday, April 27, afternoon and encourage your graduate and undergraduate students to present their research as a poster.

This event is open to the public; however, the student presenters are required to register and submit a short abstract by April 15. Details for the presenter-registration for this event and abstract submission can be found on Sigma Xi Villanova Chapter Web site.

Literary Festival Celebrates the Life and Work of Heimbold Chairholder Hugo Hamilton

By: Sean Fannon

Hugo Hamilton, Villanova’s current Heimbold Chairholder and author of the memoir, The Speckled People, graced fans and Irish Studies enthusiasts during a recent lecture hosted by Joseph Lennon, Ph.D., director of Irish Studies, as he described his less than ordinary life growing up in Ireland. Born in Dublin of an Irish father and a German mother, Hugo, from a very early age, could fluently speak Irish, German, and English. Read more here.

Stay Connected to Villanova Theatre

Be sure to check out the Theatre Department's informative newsletter to learn the latest departmental news. Check it out here. 

Subscribe to the newsletter here.

Humanities Graduates Extoll Virtues of the Major

Click here to read the tesitimonials of recent Humanities major graduates. See what they are doing now, and why their Humanities degree made it all possible! Find the Humanities Department on Facebook here, like the page, and receive updates on all recent news and upcoming events.

Dr. Crable to Discuss New Book: Ralph Ellison and Kenneth Burke: At the Roots of the Racial Divide

Bryan Crable, Ph.D., an associate professor of communication, will deliver a talk related to his newly-published book, Ralph Ellison and Kenneth Burke: At the Roots of the Racial Divide. The event will be held on Thursday, April 12, at 2 p.m. in Falvey Memorial Library, first floor (Speakers’ Corner). Copies of the book will be available.

Special Event: “Iraqi Christians Confronting the Future”

Rev. Simon Faddoul, president of Caritas Lebanon, the Catholic relief charity, will discuss, “Iraqi Christians Confronting the Future,” on Thursday, April 12, at 6 p.m. in Bartley 2044. Learn more here.

A&S and Latin American Studies Co-sponsor 2012 Pan American Day Celebration

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Latin American Studies Program are GOLD co-sponsors of the Pan American Day Celebration on April 12 at the Union League in Philadelphia. The Pan American Day celebrates each year the heritage that binds the nations of the Americas together.

The theme of the event this year is "The United States and Latin America: Policy Continuity or Change?" The event brings notable speakers that include: General Douglas M. Fraser, Commander of the U.S. Southern Command; Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow, former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Dr. Chris Sabatini, Council of the Americas; Dr. Jorge Heine, CIGI Professor of Global governance at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada; and Ambassador Virginia Contreras of the National Defense University.

On behalf of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Lowell Gustafson, Associate Dean of Humanities and the Social Sciences, will lead a team of ten Villanova faculty members to the event. Latin American Studies also has invited ten Villanova students to attend this important event.

Seating is limited. For more information, please click here or contact Joyce Harden, Latin American Studies, at joyce.harden@villanova.edu.

Department of Political Science Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

A 50-Year Journey and Legacy: The Evolution of the Study and Teaching of Political Science at Villanova

Throughout 2012, the Department of Political Science proudly celebrates its 50-year anniversary as a standalone department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

According to the department's Web site, today, no less than in the past, it is essential for citizens in a democracy to be educated about the political system in which they live and to know how that system relates to other governments and international issues.

The study of political science helps to develop reasoning and analytical skills, builds competence in oral and written expression, and helps in the acquisition of skills in doing research, data analysis, and computer-usage. It remains true, as Aristotle wrote long ago, that politics is the "queen of the sciences."

Here, its faculty reflect on studying and teaching political science, and the contributions the department has made to the life of the College and University.

Read more here.

"The Psychology of Compassion: Augustine and the Stoics on Mercy"

Dr. Sarah Byers, the Patricia H. Imbesi Saint Augustine Fellow, will discuss, "The Psychology of Compassion: Augustine and the Stoics on Mercy," on  April 11, 2012, at 4:30 p.m. in Falvey Library, Room 205. The event is sponsored by the Augustinian Institute. Learn more here.

English Department Concludes Literary Festival This Month With Writers Téa Obreht and William Kennedy

Find the Literary Festival on Facebook!

The Department of English invites you to attend its 2012 Literary Festival. Be sure to save the dates on your calendar now for these upcoming events, all of which take place at 7 p.m. in Connelly Center:

Thursday, April 12: Fiction writer and Orange Prize winner Téa Obreht

Téa Obreht was born in 1985 in the former Yugoslavia and spent her childhood in Cyprus and Egypt before immigrating to the United States in 1997. Her writing has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, Zoetrope: All-Story, The New York Times, and The Guardian and has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Non-Required Reading. She has been named by The New Yorker as one of the twenty best American fiction writers under forty and was included in the National Book Foundation’s list of 5 Under 35. Her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife (2011), won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction—she was the youngest novelist to win the

Thursday, April 26: Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction William Kennedy

William Kennedy, author, screenwriter, and playwright, was born and raised in Albany, New York. His Albany cycle of novels includes Legs, Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, and the 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning Ironweed, which also won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was included in the Modern Library list of the 100 best novels written in English in the twentieth century. Kennedy wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Ironweed and the play Grand View, and co-wrote the screenplay for The Cotton Club with Francis Ford Coppola. Kennedy’s 2002 novel Roscoe was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2003 PEN/Faulkner Award. He has received numerous literary awards, including the Literary Lions Award from the New York Public Library, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Governor’s Arts Award, and the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. He is a professor in the English department at the State University of New York at Albany and the founding director of the New York State Writers Institute.

Click here for more information.

Villanova Theatre Presents Carousel in April ... Don't Miss It!

Written by the celebrated duo Rodgers and Hammerstein whose tuneful, heartfelt work came to define the Broadway musical, Carousel recounts the story of a naïve young woman who falls head-over-heels in love with a troubled young man. What begins as a sweet summer romance soon spirals out of control as the two lovers face hardship and heartache. Carousel is a powerful musical fable of passion and redemption, featuring such unforgettable songs as “June is Bustin' Out All Over,” “If I Loved You,” and the show-stopping “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Join us as we reimagine this timeless classic! Directed by Valerie Joyce. Production run: March 27 to April 1, and April 10 to 22, 2012. Click here to buy tickets.

CRS and Human Rights: Dan Griffin Highlights Conflict in Sudan

By Katie Swinton  Villanova hosted a recent two-day series of talks on Catholic Social Teaching and human rights. On March 19, Dan Griffin, Sudan advisor for Catholic Relief Services, presented on “Catholic Relief Services and Sudan.” Learn more here.

Save the Date: Annual ACS Organ Recital With Organist Christopher Daly

On Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m. in St. Thomas of Villanova Church, be sure to attend the Annual ACS Organ Recital with Organist Christopher T. Daly, D. Phil. Round out the year with an experience of Dr. Daly’s wit—and magical command of the many keys, pedals, and stops on the pipe organ.

Christopher Thomas Daly is one of the parish musicians at the Church of Saint Vincent Pallotti in Haddon Township, New Jersey; he also plays regularly at The Church of the Sacred Heart in Mount Ephraim.

He teaches in the Center for Liberal Education at Villanova University, and from 1999 to 2003, served as a visitor to the Department of History at Haverford College.

His organ teachers have included Dr. William Gatens of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania; James Darling of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia; James Dalton of The Queen’s College in Oxford, England; and Jeffrey Brillhart of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.

Most recently, he had the great privilege to study privately with the eminent concert organist and renowned Bach specialist, Dr. Joan Lippincott, who is the Organist Emerita of Princeton University and Professor Emerita of Organ at the Westminster Choir College.

Christopher Daly has served several terms as the Sub-Dean for the SouthWest Jersey Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Over the past several years, Mr. Daly has played twice at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.; at the historic First Presbyterian Church in Deerfield, New Jersey; and, in September 2006, he had the honor to perform on North America’s largest concert-hall organ, newly installed in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

Save the Date: A&S Majors Fair on October 5

The Office for Undergraduate Students will host Majors Fair 2012 on Friday, October 5, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Villanova Room of Connelly Center. The Office for Undergraduate Students sincerely appreciates all of the support the individual departments provide to make this event a success every year.

College Presents "A Day in the Life": A New Short Film About the College

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is proud to present the short video documentary, A Day in the Life, featuring the lives of three Villanova students majoring in the liberal arts and sciences. The video was first screened during Candidates' Day on Saturday, April 16, 2011.