All posts by Rachel Hicks

Newsletter Articles

Professor Profile: Andie Petrillo

Read more about the professors in Millersville’s English department in this Professor Profiles series!

Professor Andie Petrillo

Professor Andie Petrillo is one of the new professors to join the English department this semester. She is currently teaching ENGL 110, Section 28.

Professor Petrillo’s education journey began at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD where she received her Bachelor of Arts. “While I was there, I was a member of the French Club and starred in two plays: The Eumenides (as a Fury) and Clybourne Park (Bev/Kathy)”

After her undergrad program, Professor Petrillo attended Millersville University as a graduate student in the Master of Arts in English Program. While at MU, Professor Petrillo worked in the English office as a graduate assistant, participated in University Theatre’s Fall Musical 2018 Production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and published two of her graduate essays in MUsings: The Graduate Student Journal, and much more. Her graduate essays focus on the “New Woman” in Victorian England and the success of multi-platforms like Pemberley Digital’s “Emma Approved,” respectively.

Elsa the guinea pig visits the English department office.

Professor Petrillo is especially passionate about British Literature (“Jane Austen & James Joyce are amongst my favorite authors”) and American Literature (“F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway are some other faves”). In the future, she hopes to earn her Ph.D. in British Literature and teach British Lit as a tenured professor.

When asked about her favorite aspects of the English major, Professor Petrillo said she loves how the English major creates opportunities for reading different genres of literature and writing creatively. If she could meet any writer, past or present, Professor Petrillo thinks “it would be a tie between Jane Austen (I wrote my grad thesis on Pride and Prejudice), James Joyce (just to pick his brain), or Ernest Hemingway (because he had such a colorful life/interesting personality).” Besides English, Professor Petrillo is interested in history and foreign languages. “Growing up I had an obsession with learning about the Civil War and the Holocaust, so I was pretty interested in history too. I’m also fluent in French so foreign languages interest me too.”

Some of Professor Petrillo’s favorite past-times include reading, watching Netflix, and snuggling with her two guinea pigs named Peanut and Elsa.

Newsletter Articles, Publications, Special Activities

Made in Millersville Journal Opportunities

Need an internship? Want to get your work published? Check out the Made in Millersville Journal!

The Made in Millersville Journal is an online publication that works to publish student’s presentations from the annual Made in Millersville conference. This conference highlights student research projects and creative works from departments across campus. Students can present a paper, perform poetry, present an art sculpture, discuss a poster, play a musical performance, or anything that fits under the guidelines of the conference.

After noticing the wide variety of research and creativity demonstrated every year at the Made in Millersville Conference, Tatiana Pashkova-Balkenhol and Kerrie Farkas co-founded and co-created the Made in Millersville Journal, a conference proceedings journal for students and by students. Two pilot issues were published in 2015 and 2016 before the first full-fledged publication began in 2017. As of the 2019 edition, the Made in Millersville Journal has published 111 articles across all three colleges and 24 (of 26) departments, and has offered 24 internship positions.

There are two ways students can get involved with the Made in Millersville Journal: work on the editorial board as an intern or employee or publish in the journal as a presenter at the Made in Millersville conference.

Editors: Sara Lipski and Karen Layman (Shaakirah Tate and Daniel Dicker are not pictured) unveiling the current journal issue of the Journal during the 2019 Made in Millersville conference.

There are many reasons why students should intern for the Journal, some of which include gaining professional editing experience as well as building pathways to professional careers after college. Here’s the full list of reasons students should consider this internship opportunity:

  • Gain professional editorial and publishing experience
  • Improve their writing and editing
  • Gain hands-on experience working in a multidisciplinary, team environment
  • Work in a supportive environment that encourages interns to step out of their comfort zones
  • Build pathways between college and their future careers

The application deadline for the editorial board is October 1. Visit the employment/internship flyer for specific qualifications and directions to apply.

Not only can students join the editorial team, but they can publish their work in the Journal. In order to publish in the Journal, students must indicate on their conference application that they are interested in publishing. Here are some reasons student authors should publish in the Journal:

  • Impress future employers with a published writing sample​;
  • Improve their writing and experience a unique, authentic, and personalized publishing process by collaborating with a team of trained student editors; ​
  • Market their scholarly or creative work by being featured in the journal and on our social media platforms;
  • Translate their conference  presentation into an effective and accessible summary for a public audience; and ​
  • Build critical communication skills by working with an editorial team.

The application deadline for the Made in Millersville Conference will be in February.

If you have any questions about the Made in Millersville Journal or just want some more information, visit the FAQ page or email Kerrie Farkas or Tatiana Pashkova-Balkenhol.

Newsletter Articles

Internship Profile: Anthony Miller

Anthony Miller, a writing studies major with a minor in film, interned at Winding Way Books in Lancaster City. Read more below about Anthony’s experiences working at a bookstore, marketing a business on Facebook, and joining a community of book lovers. Looking for an internship of your own? Visit the ELCM website to learn more about internship opportunities.

Melody Williams and Anthony Miller

Over the course of the 2019 Spring Semester, I took advantage of a unique internship opportunity at Winding Way Books in Downtown Lancaster. Prior to applying for the internship, I’d been into Winding Way’s former location and made several purchases. I was impressed by the store’s wide range of literary classics, sci-fi and fantasy. However, it was among the extensive nonfiction selection that I made my most valuable finds, picking up one of the most relevant books to my education so far, A History of Narrative Film by David A. Cook. As an English major, the bookstore existed as the perfect site for intellectual exploration. Whether they were part of a chain or independently run, bookstores throughout my childhood and young adulthood have forged my reading habits, so I was interested in being behind the scenes creating a similar environment for other readers. Eventually I was connected more closely to Winding Way by a coworker of mine who was friends with the owner, Melody Williams. From there I contacted Melody by email and we scheduled our initial meeting.

Seeing as I was the first ever intern at Winding Way, Mel and I got together to discuss the general expectations and requirements of the internship. From this brainstorming session, I was designated to perform a handful of general tasks: to spread the word about Winding Way and expand its consumer base, sort and shelve books while keeping inventory, supply written content to the official Facebook page to pique customers’ interest in the inventory, and run the cash register and help out customers while Mel was running her endless list of errands for the bookstore.

The first of my obligations was trying to extend the reach of the store across Lancaster, which I attempted in a number of ways. Primarily, Mel had me walk across the city handing out her customized bookmarks, which display the Winding Way contact information and a small map directing people to the new location on Chestnut Street. I was initially nervous about this simple job because of the anxiety imparted by a stranger’s attempt to sell a product or idea. Eventually, however, my nervousness about confrontation subsided in the wake of a number of people’s genuine enthusiasm. Of course I heard more people saying they’d stop in than those that actually did, but every new customer that I recognized from one of those interactions (of which there were a good few) reinvigorated me for the next time I was out on the town with a stack of bookmarks.

The bookmarks were also useful for posting on community boards across the city. From House of Pizza to Farbo Co to coffee shops to burrito joints, I strolled around town, further familiarizing myself with Lancaster, and hoping to further familiarize Lancaster with Winding Way Books. Various small business owners were more than happy to accommodate our advertisements which was inspiring to witness. One employee at Farbo Co even helped clear their community store to accommodate for a bookmark. Admittedly, I was pleasantly surprised to experience such altruistic thinking across store owners and their employees, which seemed to boil down to a basic commitment to helping out other independent businesses.

Although it took me a little time to truly take the advertising/networking portion of the internship by the scruff of the neck, I ultimately overcame the reluctance to confront random people with my “message” about the bookstore’s worth to the community. It helped immensely that I truly believe in the bookstore’s goals as a business so I never had to force myself to mislead or manipulate like a stereotypically cynical salesperson. When I was talking to people about the adventures inherent to Mel’s shelves, I really meant it. Eventually, with my growing awareness of the bookstore’s contents and an easing anxiety concerning street chats, I was able to name specific books that I thought potential customers would be interested in. After talking with one passerby about films and screenplays, he eventually ended up reserving a shooting copy of the script of Firefly, a cult television show.

As someone pursuing a Bachelor’s in English with a concentration in Writing Studies, the written portion of the internship was the segment of my internship that most directly addressed my degree. Early in the internship Mel granted me access to the Winding Way Facebook page, where I was able to respond to customer requests and questions. Primarily though, I used the Notes page to post book reviews, which Mel coined “First Impressions”. Throughout the course of the semester I would select one of the books from an author that I hadn’t heard of before, read the first chapter or two, and write a page long review of the content of the book, trying to describe the distinct merits of the story and the way the story was written.

Depending on the author, I would emphasize different aspects of the work’s overall impact. Thomas Pynchon for instance, inherited a cult reputation due to long, zany phrases peppered with  pop culture and obscure vocabulary; therefore, I focused on his unique compositional style because that seemed to be the defining characteristic of his literature. Zora Neale Hurston on the other hand was more known for her contributions to African American literature, writing dialogue for her characters that felt directly recorded from her experiences; therefore I expressed her monumental influence on other black writers in their efforts to seize back the narrative of their people from racist whites. These First Impressions gave me an opportunity to advance my writing by forcing me to interact with new writing, consider its context and composition, and articulate it in a measured, accessible manner.

One of the best parts of this experience was feeling like part of a community. A bookstore community is diverse, consisting of lone drifters, couples hanging out, flocks of friends, and families out for the day. The variety of people within these categories is impossible to comprehensively explore. Just as any particular piece of writing eludes categorization, so does any person seeking one out. Despite the diversity characters stopping by Winding Way, they were all brought into the bookstore by the same thing that brought me into the English major in the first place: a love of getting lost in the written word. Because of this central similarity, I was able to connect with almost everybody. I’ve traded both short anecdotes and long detailed monologues about what I’ve read, what I love to read, and what I plan to read next. Although bookworms are stereotyped as introverted and shy, I’ve had many animated discussions with the people at Winding Way. Although I love my private headspace, bridging the gap between two minds is a fulfilling experience. There was no shortage of interesting bridges built over the course of this internship. One afternoon I was talking to an aspiring writer in the bookstore for about an hour as she explained her conversion to Buddhism, ultimately recommending a book from our spirituality section.

Everybody that I remember walking in were patient, kind and curious. Some came in knowing exactly what they wanted. Others were just interested in exploring the space for a moment or two. A bookstore is the only place I can think of where browsing and not buying is an activity in and of itself. To briefly dip your toes into various articulations of art, science and history is an experience offered by few other business models. I tried to take that opportunity whenever I had the chance.

Overall, my internship at Winding Way Books was an educational experience that made a prominent mark on me. Not only was I able to make intellectual explorations by engaging with a vast catalogue of art and knowledge, I was also able to explore socially by mingling with outsiders to the bookstore, and more enjoyably, insiders. In addition, my writing became stronger by virtue of my increased exposure to good writing and my efforts to explain its goodness through short, concise reviews. I would recommend this internship to any English student at Millersville who is looking to expand their literary palette while also increasing their familiarity with downtown Lancaster.

-Anthony Miller 

Community Engagement, Literary Events, Special Activities, Student Activities

Upcoming Literary Events

Check out these upcoming literary events in the Lancaster area! 

Millersville Literary Festival – McNairy Library Reading Room

Thursday, November 7: 4pm Readings/Reception, 7:30pm Keynote

Friday, November 8: 9am Panel Presentations, 12pm Lunch, 3-5pm Readings

More Information Coming Soon

Fulton Theater

Wait Until Dark: Tuesday, October 8, 8pm (pay what you want)

  • A mysterious doll mistakenly smuggled into the country possesses secrets that puts a young couple in serious danger, especially the blind homemaker. This cult classic will have you on the edge of your seat, minute after pulsating minute. Left home alone and to her own devices, Susan is forced to defend herself against con men, who are after the doll and its goods. A clever cat-and-mouse game of deception becomes more dangerous when the doll disappears! The game takes a drastic turn when the lights go out!

Everyman Theater in Baltimore

August Wilson’s Radio Golf: Sunday in Late October TBD

  • Successful real estate developer Harmond Wilks is on a mission to become Pittsburgh’s first black mayor by doing whatever it takes to transform his childhood neighborhood from blighted to bustling. But when he learns the truth about his family’s legacy, he is forced to decide whether he will finish what he started or fight to preserve his community’s history. This fast-paced, crackling conclusion to August Wilson’s unparalleled 10-play The American Century Cycle examining the African-American experience in the 20th century is “surprising, suspenseful and crowd-pleasing” (The New York Times), and draws striking parallels to the issues we still face today.

 

Midtown Scholar Bookstore

Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel: Every Thursday 7-9pm

  • The Cartel is a weekly reading series founded in 1999, has featured many talented writers, poets, and artists as well as an exciting and growing list of guest readers and headliners. All are welcome–bring your own poetry, poetry you love, or just an open ear.

 

 

 

An Evening with John Leland: Saturday, September 21, 6-8pm

  • This September, the Midtown Scholar Bookstore is pleased to welcome bestselling author John Leland to Harrisburg as he presents his new book, Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old. This event is free and open to the public.

 

 

 

Harrisburg Book Festival: Thursday, October 3, 7pm – Sunday, October 6, 7pm

  • Now in its seventh year, the Harrisburg Book Festival is proudly hosted by the Midtown Scholar Bookstore. Featuring an annual tent sale, award-winning authors, children’s illustrators, emerging novelists, acclaimed historians — surrounded by hundreds of thousands of books at one of the nation’s most celebrated independent bookstores — the Harrisburg Book Festival aims to amplify and celebrate diverse literature for all ages. All events are free and open to the public.

Nathaniel Gadsen’s Spoken Word Cafe: Every Other Friday, 7-9pm

  • Join Nathaniel Gadsden’s Spoken Word Café for a time of poetry and storytelling. This event is free and open to the public.

LGBT Book Club: Every Third Sunday of the Month, 4:30-5:30pm

  • Join the LGBT Book Club every third Sunday of the month for a discussion on this month’s book!

Eleanor Gordon-Smith: Wednesday, October 23, 7-9pm

  • This October, the Midtown Scholar Bookstore is pleased to welcome author Eleanor Gordon-Smith to Harrisburg as she presents her new book, Stop Being Reasonable: How We Really Change Our Minds. This event is free and open to the public.

 

 

 

An Evening with John Witherow: Thursday, October 24, 7-9pm

  • The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is pleased to welcome local author John Witherow to Harrisburg as he presents his new novel, The Gap: Fort Indiantown. This event is free and open to the public. The Gap is a coming-of-age story that poses questions about the wisdom of the current drug war while employing themes from another lost war.

 

 

 

An Evening with Stephen Fried: Wednesday, November 6, 7-9pm

  • The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is pleased to welcome bestselling author Stephen Fried to Harrisburg as he discusses his new book, Rush: Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father. This event is free and open to the public. Book signing to follow discussion.

 

 

Henry Hemming: Saturday, November 9, 5-7pm

  • The Midtown Scholar Bookstore is pleased to welcome bestselling espionage author Henry Hemming to Harrisburg as he presents his new book, Agents of Influence: A British Campaign, a Canadian Spy, and the Secret Plot to Bring America into World War II. This event is free and open to the public. Book signing to follow discussion.

 

 

 

Philadelphia Alumni Writer’s House @ F&M

Faculty Writers: Eve Bratman: Tuesday, September 24, 4:30-5:30pm

  • Eve Bratman is Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environment. She is a political ecologist who has a PhD in international relations from American University. Her book, Governing the Rainforest, is based on ten years of research concerning development policies, infrastructure, conservation, and human rights in the Brazilian Amazon. This event is free and open to the public.

 

 

Hausman Lecture Craft Talk: Alice McDermott: Tuesday, October 1, 4:30-5:30pm

  • Alice McDermott’s eighth novel, The Ninth Hour, was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in September 2017. She has received the Whiting Writers Award, the Carington Award for Literary Excellence, and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for American Literature. Established through an endowment by Richard Hausman ’50, P’85 and Edna Hausman P’85, the Hausman Lecture has brought prominent writers to campus for lectures, readings and workshops since 1982.

 

 

Will to Read: Shakespeare Aloud: Thursday, October 3, 7-9pm (Monthly)

  • Do you enjoy Shakespeare? If so, join this monthly reading/viewing/discussion group on Thursday evenings 7-9pm at the Writers House. We will simply read selected scenes, watch recorded stage and screen performances of those scenes, and talk about it all. No preparation, experience, or expertise required–only enthusiasm! The second play is Henry IV. This event is free and open to the public.

A Reading with Jamie Beth Cohen: Tuesday, October 15, 7:30-8:30pm

  • Jamie Beth Cohen is a writer who works in higher education. She writes about difficult things, but her friends think she’s funny. Her non-fiction has appeared in TeenVogue.com, The Washington Post/On Parenting, Salon, and several other outlets. Her debut novel, Wasted Pretty, was published in April 2019.

 

 

 

Playwriting in a Plotless World: Thursday, November 21, 11:30-12:30pm

  • Paula Vogel is Franklin & Marshall College’s tenth annual Lapine Family Visiting Theatre Artist. She has written How I Learned to Drive (Pulitzer Prize, New York Drama Critics Award, Obie Award, Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and many more) and many more plays.

 

 

 

The Ware Center

The Interpreters – On Screen/In Person: Thursday, September 26, 7pm

  • Local interpreters were key to recent US war efforts, but now many face danger in their countries because of their affiliation.  This is the moving story of how they are rebuilding their lives, told through an Iraqi who was able to make it to the US with the help of an American soldier he befriended, an Afghan who is still working as an interpreter in Kabul despite threats to his life, and another who fled with his family as refugees to Turkey.  Run Time: 75 minutes. The evening begins in Steinman Hall with a pre-showing activity or community panel at 6:15 PM, and a post-show Q+A with the film’s director.

We the People: Celebrating Rita: Friday, October 4, 7pm
  • An onstage celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Rita Smith Wade-El featuring the best of Lancaster’s African-American performing arts community including such artists as the Imani-Edutainers, Maria and Kiana Corley, CoCo Coleman, Gerri MrGritty, Tyrell, and others, all performing brief tributes to Rita in the respective genres – dance, vocal and instrumental music, spoken-word, and more! Free and open to the public.
Badger Creek and The Thick Dark Fog – On Screen/In Person: Monday, October 21, 7pm
  • Badger Creek is a portrait of Native-American resilience as seen through a year in the life of three generations of a Blackfeet family living on the reservation in Montana.The Thick Dark Fog is the story of Walter Littlemoon who attended a federal Indian boarding school in South Dakota sixty years ago. The mission of many of these schools in 1950, was still to “kill the Indian and save the man.” The children were not allowed to speak their language or express their cultural identity in any way. Total Run Time: 84 minutes. The evening begins in Steinman Hall with a pre-showing activity or community panel at 6:15 PM, and a post-show Q+A with the film’s director.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: November 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9 at 8:00pm | November 3, 10 at 2:00pm
  • Gods mix with mortals, a feuding king and queen unleash magical practical jokes on one another, spells yield improbable love affairs and a band of comical wanderers enter into an enchanted woods and are transformed in the most unlikely ways in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s most popular and enduring comedy. Discounted MU Student tickets available at a ticket office location with a valid ID; limit 2 per ID. Early reservations are strongly encouraged because Rafters Theatre has limited seating.
Detroit 48202: Conversations Along a Postal Route – On Screen/In Person: Tuesday, November 12, 7pm
  • DETROIT 48202 examines the rise, demise, and contested resurgence of Detroit through the lens of an utterly charming African-American mail carrier, Wendell Watkins, and the community of committed residents he faithfully served for thirty years. We take a journey with Wendell along his route, winding through the center of what was, once upon a time, a vital and thriving city. Run Time: 80 minutes. The evening begins in Steinman Hall with a pre-showing activity or community panel at 6:15 PM, and a post-show Q+A with the film’s director.

Creative Works of Lancaster

The 24 Hour Plays: Saturday, October 5, 7pm

  • Six writers, six directors, twenty-five actors, and one production team will write, rehearse, and perform six short plays in a 24 hour period. The process begins Friday evening, October 4, with writers choosing actors from a pool of talent. The six writers work through the night and hand their work to directors early Saturday morning, October 5, the day of the performance. After negotiating for their choice of play, directors, along with their play’s actors and a crew of stage technicians, prepare for the 7 pm performance. All tickets are free to reserve, and there is no obligation, or suggested minimum, to pay. Tickets can be reserved through Eventbrite.

The Turning Wheel

Poetry Readings: Every Second Thursday, 7-8:30pm

  • Each month The Turning Wheel welcomes a featured writer from around the region to share their work with our community. After the featured reading, there will be our usual, all-genre open mic. Bring your poems and short prose pieces to share!

 

 

Zoetropolis (specific movie times on website, student tickets $8)

The Nightingale: Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21

  • Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

 

 

 

Manhattan Short Film Festival: September 27 – October 6

  • Manhattan Short is not a touring festival; rather, it is an instantaneous celebration that occurs simultaneously across the globe, bringing great films to great venues and allowing the audiences to select their favorites. If the Film Festival experience truly is about getting great works in front of as many eyes as possible, Manhattan Short offers the ultimate platform — one that sees its films screened in Sydney, Mumbai, Moscow, Kathmandu, Vienna, Cape Town to cinemas in all fifty states of the United States and beyond.

 

 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Sunday,October 6, 7pm

  • 50th Anniversary Event! Monty Python and the Holy Grail loosely follows the legend of King Arthur. Arthur along with his squire, Patsy, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as “it is a silly place”.

 

 

ACLU-PA Presents, Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook: Monday, October 7, 7:30pm

  • Narrated by Jeffrey Wright, and shot during the chaotic 2016 election, the film identifies and unpacks a shrewd ten-part strategy to suppress the vote, from creating new barriers to voter registration, to purging American citizens from the voting rolls without notice, to new and deliberate impediments to casting a vote. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Alex Domingos, Organizer, Campaign for Smart Justice. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited so an RSVP is requested. Email your name and quantity of tickets needed to: hbginfo@aclupa.org

 

GLAS Presents: Animation Next: Friday, October 11 – Sunday, October 13

  • The best-of-the-best from the groundbreaking annual GLAS Animation Festival in Berkeley, CA. Showcasing seven bold new shorts from the newest generation to redefine what’s possible in the medium, ANIMATION NEXT takes you on a prismatic journey ranging from subterranean nightmares to sun-soaked coming of age stories — each exploring themes that most grip the modern world.  For more info, visit glasanimation.com

 

 

Winterbeast: Thursday, October 24, 7:30pm

  • Join us for the 3rd film in the So Bad! So Good! Series. Presented and Introduced by Bradley Lyndon. The finest, and possibly only movie ever made in Newbury, New Hampshire, it’s a head-scratching tour-de-force of incoherent plot twists, continuity errors, bizarre non-sequitors, cheap effects and clunky performances. It’s even got props borrowed from a Dokken music video! It’s a bizarre train wreck of a movie that somehow transcends its own ineptitude to become an endlessly entertaining anti-masterpiece.

 

ACLU-PA Presents: Reversing Roe: Monday, November 4, 7:30pm

  • Forty-five years after it revolutionized abortion law in America, the landmark 1973 US Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade is once again at a crossroads. In their timely new documentary, filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg present a deeply illuminating look of the state of abortion and women’s rights in America. The film offers candid and riveting interviews with key figures from both sides of the divide. Intense and unflinching in its commitment to telling the whole story, the film provides a gripping look at what’s happening on the ground in 2018. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Marianne Stein, ACLU-PA Legislative Associate. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited so an RSVP is requested. Email your name and quantity of tickets needed to: hbginfo@aclupa.org

Arrival: Thursday, November 21, 6:30pm

  • Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat. Film introduced by Dennis Weiss and followed by conversation and cocktails.

 

Community Engagement, Publications, Special Activities, Student Activities

Get Involved with English Clubs!

The English Department encourages students to check out the English-related clubs! The English Club, Film Club, George Street Press, and The Snapper give students opportunities to build community and flex their writing and critical-thinking skills. Click on the headings for the clubs’ Get Involved pages.

English Club:

The English Club provides a welcome environment where lovers of language and literature can come together to participate in literary activities, field trips, discussions, and more! Both majors and non-majors are welcome. Meetings will begin at 5:30pm on Thursdays starting September 12th. The location will be sent out via email at a later date. For more information, contact President Stephanie Wenger or Vice President Morgan Reichenbach.

Film Club:

The Film Club is a campus organization where film fans can gather for screenings of films followed by discussion, as well as connect with others with a passion for the art of film across Millersville. The club screens films, both older and more contemporary, and discusses the topics presented by correlating the film to larger societal issues. Film Club will begin screenings on September 16th at 7pm in Club de’Ville and will meet every other Monday afterwards. For more information, visit the club’s Facebook page, contact President Lisa Crum, or email adviser Jill Craven.

George Street Press:

George Street Press is Millersville University’s literary magazine that is open to students and faculty alike. The publication is completely student run and student published, accepting all sorts of work from poetry, short fiction, essays, creative nonfiction, photography, painting and sculpture. If you are interested with assisting in publication, the club meets Monday nights in Club De’Ville (the commuter lounge in the lower level of the SMC) at 9pm. If you would like to submit any work for the Fall 2019 publication, submissions open on November 1st at georgestreetpresssubmissions@gmail.com. If you have any questions, contact President Kitsey Shehan or Vice President Sara Pizzo. Updates can be found on the club’s Instagram page.

The Snapper
Editor in Chief Jared Hameloth and Managing Editor Julia Walters at Org Outbreak (Photo courtesy of Jared Hameloth)

The Snapper is Millersville University’s student-run newspaper, providing fair, accurate, and unbiased reporting on a weekly basis for the student body. They are the campus’ independent watchdog, a tireless advocate and champion of student rights. Through the sections and other positions, The Snapper provides students with an opportunity to experience the fields of print and digital media, along with many opportunities to improve their own writing skills. The Snapper’s office is located in the bottom level of the SMC, room 15. They hold weekly meetings every Thursday at 9:00 p.m. Students can contact The Snapper at: editor@thesnapper.com.

 

American Association of University Women

The purpose of MU’s AAUW, among other things, is to prepare students for leadership in the civic realm, offer students an opportunity to exchange ideas on social justice, network members with the global AAUW community of more than 170,000 members, and support women in gaining positions of leadership across campus. Meeting times will be announced. For more information, adviser Jill Craven. Want to get involved with AAUW? Consider taking on a leadership position for the 2019-2020 school year.

Creative Writers’ Guild
(Photo courtesy of Jacob Coopersmith)

Creative Writers’ Guild is a place for MU students to mingle and share ideas, discuss their passions, and simply enjoy one another’s company.  The members have essentially become a family, and there is always room for more family members to join. Every meeting, club members are given a prompt to guide their writing, but have the freedom to create anything they like. Members have done everything from fanfiction to poetry to improv storytelling, and are always looking to try new writing prompts.  The club meets on Tuesday nights at 7:30pm in Chryst 210. To learn more, contact President Jacob Coopersmith.

 

Publications

2019 Academy of American Poets Student Poetry Contest

Every year, Millersville University participates in the Academy of American Poets Student Poetry Contest. Congratulations to Nate Warren, a senior English BSE major, who won first place and to Alicia McCrady, a senior English BA student, who earned “Honorable Mention” in this year’s contest.

Nate wrote a post about his poems, how his poetry comes to be, and the context of the three poems he submitted to the contest.

For me, my favorite kind of poetry to write is something that contains multiple moments in a single one – just a frozen bit found in the multitudes we feel simultaneously in our busy lives. One of my major goals in this style of poetry that I keep in the back of my mind as I write, and can always work towards, is that I want a welcoming tone with a little bit of optimism, or some hope for change. It’s okay to not know or understand everything – it’s impossible to – but for each person, there are things we can’t shake from our minds, both collectively and individually, both for better and for worse. The following poems were made with that mindset.

Altitude Sickness at Sea Level

Planes are atemporal, even though

I know it will be late when I reach home.

I’m just waiting for someone to tear me down,

To tell me to do better, to stick to

those weekly agendas, that daily routine

that will make me feel again. That will

make my contributions materialize.

Oh, to be grabbed by the hand of god

and shown to my place in the amber lights,

On Earth. An address that could be mine. A life

with a living. Worth where the struggles are

not left for thermolysis.

When I am told to get better, I am told to heal. There is a difference between that and improving. They are, after all, different words. Healing is still the act of returning to a perfect state. I want to improve in a way that says, I am not omnipotent, and neither are you.

– I wrote this on the plane coming back from a student activist retreat in Chicago – it was a long weekend at the retreat, and the semester started the next morning. It was also my first time flying at night, and the city went on for miles. I didn’t plan to talk about disability too, but that’s how it went.

Hasten

The lightning bug glow, near to the grass

and Susan yellow,

assured me that I had felt this before.

And each time, having won, this was also acceptable.

More fireflies joined their brethren in a sparkling display, like

streetlamps refracting in muddy puddles.

As I watched, they grew increasingly in sync, and zipped up to the sky.

Thunder rolled back down a second later.

The raindrops absorbed into my skin and froze,

settling myself within my body

I felt there.

On every person’s tongue and into everyone’s deepest thoughts,

And weaving into the day and time,

It rumbled on.

– It was a rainy, thunderous day, where everything felt surreal for no real reason. I believe small talk serves an important social function, of making sure the other person is okay, but that day it felt repeated word-for-word as we talked about the weather.

Carolina

Comfortable with elephants

we converse in gusts

shriveled rustlers in the melody of bells.

And while we’re at it, bites take

reality or build icons

but I’m afraid to represent still moments:

photos, ruin, and words, destroy.

Underneath the bones you tripped on

are bones, and dirt, and bones.

They struck me as prophetic.

You came away with a rash and a newfound love.

Grassless hills of loam shade us

and trick us into seeing only science

so by the time we’re in the sun again

proprioception erodes away,

with only faint muscle memory

of having stumbled.

– This one was written without an idea in mind initially, but as I wrote I remembered a day spent clearing up debris near a river across from this one restaurant when I was younger. The memories are both distinct and amorphous, and some modern thoughts slipped in.

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Internship Profile: Office of International Programs and Services

Leah Hoffman, a sophomore Spanish and writing studies major, completed an internship with Millersville’s Office of International Programs and Services. Read more about her experiences below! 

Leah Hoffman working at her internship.

I have had the opportunity to intern for Millersville’s Office of International Programs and Services (IPS), which has been a wonderful experience in joining together my academic interests. As a double major in Spanish and English, I was uniquely prepared for this internship:  I was able to bring writing styles and strategies honed throughout my Writing Studies concentration as well as cultural awareness and sensitivity developed through learning another language.

My language abilities gave me an empathy and appreciation for learning a new language. These characteristics enhanced my skills as an English major as I could use my heightened awareness of cultural nuances to cater specifically to my intended audience of students. Practices such as adding plenty of visuals and carefully choosing words have tailored my publications specifically to the International students.

The main project that I focused on for the duration of my internship was the weekly International Student Newsletter. This was a weekly update on office events as well as upcoming deadlines and requirements specific to international students studying in the United States. I was able to use theories of web writing and content strategy to boost interaction with the newsletter and make it more engaging to students, and therefore more useful to the office. We know that the more engagement students have with the newsletter, the more participation we see in our events, and we are therefore hoping to maximize student interaction with updates from our office.

This was an interesting audience to interact with because of their diverse backgrounds. The IPS has been working for a long time to keep pace with the ever-changing demographics that come not only with each progressing year of students, but also with the atmosphere surrounding the mix of cultures and language proficiencies. I found myself tasked with finding the most effective means for communicating with this group of students. My ultimate goal is to find a strategy that can be extrapolated to incoming students in the years to come, but overall I have learned that creativity and flexibility are the keys to continued engagement.

-Leah Hoffman

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Internship Profile: Digital Marketing

English major Kyle Steffish worked for Nxtbook Media in downtown Lancaster this semester as the digital marketing intern. Read more about his experiences below! 

As English majors, we have an opportunity to craft a strong and varied skill set. We build skills in writing, grammar, editing, analysis, critical thinking, rhetoric – the list could go on, but you get the point.

Many of us choose to earn an English degree in the hopes of becoming professional writers, editors, or educators. However, while those are career paths many English majors might pursue – and are certainly apt to fill – they are far from the only fields we might find ourselves in.

As an example, I’d like to share my experience as a digital marketing intern with you. Hopefully, if you’re unsure of what you’re going to do after you graduate, by sharing my experience you may end up with a few ideas of your own.

Since January, I’ve had the opportunity to work as a digital marketing intern for Nxtbook Media in downtown Lancaster. At Nxtbook, I’ve worked on a number of content, social media, and digital marketing projects. For example, I’ve written several case studies highlighting the work Nxtbook has done with some of their clients – one such case focused on their work with Norwegian Cruise Lines. I’ve also had the opportunity to write a series of blog articles showcasing innovative brands, like IKEA and Airbnb, and how they’ve used storytelling to really stand-out from their competitors.

Kyle Steffish wrote many case studies for Nxtbook Media as he worked as their digital marketing intern.

Along with these projects, I’ve had an opportunity to learn a lot about marketing strategy, SEO, and data analytics, among plenty of other things. Although I have a minor in management, I had zero formal marketing education or experience before the internship. I’ve done all of this with the nothing more than the skills I’ve built as an English major.

Whether your interests lie in literature, rhetoric, or composition, you’ve amassed similar skills that are applicable in fields and careers you might never have imagined working in. Marketing, for example, focuses primarily on the process of selling a product or service to a customer.

This might sound like it has little to nothing in common with studying English – especially when phrases like analytics and target market demographics are thrown around. Yet these are concepts English majors are already familiar with, only in other words.

As writers, rhetoricians, and critical thinkers, we do so much of this already. When you think about your audience and your purpose as you write an essay or an analysis, you’re likely asking yourself many of the same questions marketers consider when thinking of a new email or social media campaign.

Questions like: is my voice appropriate for the readers I’m addressing? Will my readers understand my language or my signaling? Am I being too formal? Too informal? Again, whether you’re analyzing Shakespeare, conducting a rhetorical analysis, writing a poem, or writing copy for a new email drip campaign, these are the questions you ask. And there are still more transferable skills you’ve learned.

When you toil over organization, structure, and paragraphing of a paper, you’re thinking in the same way a content marketer thinks about user experience, readability, and, in many ways, SEO. When you ask yourself, does this structure feel right for a research essay? Or, does my organization make sense for this type of argument? You’re asking yourself the same questions a copywriter or content marketer asks when considering the layout of a blog article or how to structure a white paper.

As I’ve gained experience at my internship, these were some of the ways I’ve applied my English education in a field, less than two years ago, I hadn’t given much thought. I share this with you now, because it’s easy to bottleneck an English education into only a few careers. The perception for some people is you’re an English major because you really like books or you want to be a teacher. Yet we know this is incredibly untrue.

An English degree provides students with a rich, versatile skill set that is right at home in a variety of careers, like, as I’ve discovered, in marketing and copywriting. So, if you’re not sure what you’d like to do, or of all the things you can do with an English education, I encourage you to try new things. Take an internship in marketing or copywriting. Try your hand at digital content creation. Take a leap and branch out into other creative fields and industries. Your education has prepared you for a multitude of paths to travel.

–Kyle Steffish

Community Engagement, Grad Students, Literary Events, Special Activities

A Bloody Good Time

In February, a group of English Majors attended a performance of Macbeth at the Ware Center. Andie Petrillo, graduate student, wrote a summary of her experiences. Check out the Ware Center’s Upcoming Events page for more opportunities to see shows, screen films, and hang out with English major friends!

Millersville English students were given the opportunity to attend Macbeth at the Ware Center free of charge on February 15th. The actors and director also gave a pre-show talk back session to discuss the show with students and Dr. Craven. The People’s Shakespeare Project, sponsors of the show, never fail to produce a great performance. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the costumes created a fresh take on the play. Andie Petrillo, a graduate student in the English Department, attended the show.

I’m no stranger to the People’s Shakespeare Project’s biannual shows. I’ve attended many over the years and I’m astonished every time at the quality of each production. The sets are usually pretty minimal which allows for more focus on the actors and the plot. The amount of talent in the cast of local actors always astounds me as well. What I love most though are the time periods or themes they choose to set the shows in.  This show’s post-apocalyptic theme provided for some interesting costumes that were a blend of period-specific pieces and avant-garde pieces. The actors also brought the play to life. A favorite amongst our group was definitely the drunken porter who brought some necessary comic relief to the show. All in all, I had a great time seeing the show with other English students and I’m grateful for the opportunities like this that are afforded English students!

–Andie Petrillo

Conferences, Grad Students, Literary Events, Newsletter Articles

2019 Northeast Modern Language Association Conference

Millersville Professors and graduate students traveled to Washington D.C. for the annual Northeast Modern Language Association Conference. Maria Rovito, in collaboration with the other Millersville students and professors, wrote a summary of the event and presentation topics.

Andie Petrillo, Dr. Emily Baldys, and Maria Rovito

The 50th anniversary conference of the Northeast Modern Language Association was held at the National Harbor in Washington, D.C., at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, from Thursday, March 21, 2019, to Sunday, March 24, 2019. The theme of the conference focused on transnational humanities, particularly intersections of nations and identity within language and literature. A variety of panels, roundtables, and workshops were held that focused on various kinds of aspects of English studies, particularly literature, rhetoric and composition, creative writing and publishing, critical theory, interdisciplinary humanities, and pedagogy and teaching. Several keynote speakers were included in this year’s conference; most notably featured was the postcolonial critic Homi K. Bhabha, who spoke about the politics of migration and human rights in his keynote address.

Members and presenters came from all over the world, including a few of our own students and faculty here at Millersville University. Graduate students and English faculty presented their research at the convention, including Drs. Emily Baldys and Katarzyna Jakubiak, as well as graduate students Maria Rovito and Andie Petrillo. Each of their presentations focused on different aspects of literary studies.

Dr. Emily Baldy’s presentation was titled “The Sisterhood of Disability Care in Gaskell’s Industrial Narratives,” and focused on disability care as surrogate sisterhood in Gaskell’s first published short story, “The Three Eras of Libbie Marsh.” In her work, Dr. Baldys argued that “Gaskell’s narratives self-consciously resist industrial capitalism’s devaluation of difference and dependence.” Particularly, through Gaskell’s depictions of sisterly relations and disability care, “Gaskell’s texts mount a ‘dependency critique’ similar to that proposed by modern disability theorists, modeling a respect for difference that Gaskell saw as necessary for rehabilitation of industrial system.”

Dr. Katarzyna Jakubiak presented on the politics of translation in her presentation, particularly translating African American Literature in Poland during the Cold War. Titled “We Make Our Own Negroes: James Baldwin’s Reception in Poland During the Cold War and Now,” Dr. Jakubiak’s work focused on the role of James Baldwin’s work in Poland in the 1960-70s in relation to current Polish reactions to Raoul Peck’s documentary I Am Not Your Negro.  She argued that the “past and present Polish responses to Baldwin attest to the power of his voice to impact the discourse of interracial and interethnic relations globally.” Dr. Jakubiak’s presentation also focused on the impact of Baldwin’s work on Polish political discourse: “As Poland’s current populist government manipulates the public fear of ethnic or racial ‘other’ to garner support, Baldwin’s work has again provided a platform for intellectuals and cultural activists aiming to undermine the government’s xenophobic discourse.”

Maria Rovito presented twice during the conference, in a roundtable on African American literature and trauma studies as well as on a panel on ability and identity. Her first presentation, titled “Race and Disability in Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Wilson’s Fences,” focused on the intersections of race and disability within African American literature. Particularly, her presentation researched how race, disability, and trauma impacts disabled characters within The Bluest Eye and Fences. Her second presentation, “‘I Did This to Myself’: Disability and Non-Normative Bodies in the Manga and Anime Series One Piece,” researched representations of disabled bodies within manga and animé. Her research particularly focused on Eiichiro Oda’s series One Piece, and how disabled characters within the series disrupt Western notions and expectations of disabled bodies.

Andie Petrillo presented a poster titled, “Packing a Punch: Satirizing the ‘New Woman’ In Victorian England.” She researched visual representations of the New Woman of Victorian England, and how these images stereotyped early feminists within the later Victorian period. These representations “show a shifting attitude towards a woman’s place in the later Victorian era and are figureheads for first-wave feminism.”

This year’s conference showcased the research and skill of Millersville students and faculty, and presented an opportunity for students and faculty to learn new ideas about literature, provided networking and mentoring opportunities, and gave students and faculty an opportunity to have fun with English studies. Next year’s conference will be held in Boston, MA.

-Maria Rovito