Featured Students – English

A Summer at Wyck: Rediscovering the Lives of a Chinese Desk

miethk — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:16:05 +0000

�鶹��ý�� student Cristina Freire, a senior History major with a concentration in Public and Digital History, spent her summer uncovering the history of a 19th-century Chinese writing desk as part of a prestigious research fellowship.

Freire was selected for the highly competitive C. Dallett Hemphill Summer Internship through the McNeil Center for Early American Studies (MCEAS), an organization that supports undergraduate research across institutions, including �鶹��ý��. As part of the eight-week fellowship, she conducted research at the in Philadelphia, one of the oldest historic homes in Germantown.

Her project focused on a Chinese writing desk purchased around 1840 by Wyck caretaker Ann Haines from Philadelphia merchant Nathan Dunn, who had lived in China and curated one of the first exhibitions of Chinese objects in the United States. The desk is an example of lacquerware created for export during the Qing dynasty.

Through her research, Freire explored archival collections at institutions including the American Philosophical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the Quaker Archives at Haverford College. Her work examined not only the craftsmanship and global trade of lacquered furniture, but also the ways museums preserve and interpret historical objects.

“Working in local archives is challenging but incredibly rewarding,” Freire said. “I often felt like a detective, uncovering overlooked clues and piecing together the story of the desk.”

As part of her fellowship, Freire presented a virtual lecture, “The Secrets of Wyck’s Chinese Writing Desk,” and curated a mini-exhibition and interpretive tour featuring Chinese export objects from the Wyck collection.

Visitors can explore these collections at the Wyck House in Philadelphia, and �鶹��ý�� students are encouraged to consider applying for future MCEAS fellowships and workshops. For more information, please contact Steffi Dippold at dippolds@montclair.edu.

Display case at Wyck featuring Chinese export objects, including artistic drawings, porcelain tea sets, embroidered silk fabric, and a lacquered writing box

English Student Selected as Senior Class Speaker

morinm — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 15:23:08 +0000

English major Paloma Lupino was selected as the senior class speaker and delivered her remarks at the Commencement Ceremony held on Monday, January 13.

Paloma’s story is one of resilience, growth, and passion for her field. From navigating academic challenges to speaking at commencement, her journey is an inspiring testament to determination and the transformative power of education.

Paloma chose to major in English driven by her lifelong love of literature. “It’s an art form, and the expression of art is what makes us human. ” She reflects that literature is “a universal way to connect with those before and after us and I think it is such a privilege and I am grateful that I get to study it.”

A turning point in her university experience came during an English Initiatives meeting in October 2023. Having met some of her best friends and closest mentors through the department initiatives, Paloma marks her involvement as a clear pivot point. “I felt like my life at �鶹��ý�� changed direction for the better.”

Among her proudest accomplishments is her role as the 2025 commencement speaker—a full-circle moment in her academic career. Having started at �鶹��ý�� on academic probation, the transformation is hard to put into words. For Paloma, it’s proof that you can rise after a fall. “It is one of the most impactful and proud moments of my time at �鶹��ý��,” she says.

Paloma attributes much of her success to the invaluable guidance of key faculty members who profoundly impacted her academic journey and personal growth.

, associate professor and advisor for the English Club, supported Paloma throughout her time at �鶹��ý��. She credits him with being a hands-on mentor who guided her in co-founding the English Club and provided numerous opportunities for growth. For Paloma, Dr. Gonzalez stood out as a role model in academia and a constant source of support.
was instrumental in helping Paloma rebuild her confidence after academic probation. He encouraged her to apply for English awards and his classes left a lasting impact on her academic perspective. Paloma shares, “Dr. Miller taught me what it meant to be a reader and a scholar, and I view the world differently after his classes.”
provided Paloma with a transformative and full-circle experience. During her freshman year, Paloma struggled in one of Dr. Nicosia’s classes, an experience that stayed with her for years. In her final semester, Paloma enrolled in a master class with Dr. Nicosia, where she was given the opportunity to research for Dr. Nicosia on an upcoming project and receive guidance for post-undergraduate programs and master’s options.

Paloma Lupino (center) celebrates with Professors Jeffrey Gonzalez and Laura Nicosia before the Commencement Ceremony.

These professors not only imparted academic knowledge but also provided the mentorship and encouragement that Paloma says were crucial to her personal and academic growth. “I absolutely would not be the student I am today without the support and guidance of professors like these,” she reflects, adding that she is deeply grateful for their impact on her �鶹��ý�� journey.

During her time at �鶹��ý��, Paloma also served as the president of the English Club, creating a space for students to engage with literature beyond the classroom. She balanced the academic and fun sides of English as a co-host of , the university’s first student-run podcast. Through this project, Paloma and fellow students explored topics ranging from Beowulf to book-to-movie adaptations, offering lively discussions that appealed to both casual readers and literature enthusiasts. Additionally, Paloma brought her energy and creativity to , a student-produced talk show streaming on Hawk+. These experiences helped her foster community within the English department and hone her skills in collaboration, leadership, and communication.

Paloma Lupino recorded episodes of the Playne English podcast in the WMSC Studios.

To current and future English students, Paloma offers words of encouragement: “Getting a degree is difficult, and most of us don’t finish the degree on a straight path. Life throws you curve balls and obstacles that we need to juggle on top of being students. Embrace the journey, trust in yourself, and don’t forget to celebrate your progress.”

Looking ahead, Paloma hopes to continue her education through graduate and doctoral studies, with aspirations to work in academia. “�鶹��ý�� really showed me that you can come back from anything if you work hard enough, and believe that you can. Some of the best and most life-changing opportunities are out there… all you need to do is go out and find them.”

Congratulations to Paloma Lupino and the Class of 2025!

Short story by English master’s candidate Lexi Merring in new anthology

miethk — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 14:34:10 +0000

Lexi Merring, a graduate student in the English department’s master’s program, has had her short story, “In A Bottle”, published in from Nunum Press.

English M.A. students and Prof. Patricia Matthew in conference presentations

miethk — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 20:46:30 +0000

Kimberly Plaksin and Greg Riggio delivered papers at St. John’s University Graduate English Conference, Saturday April 6th. The conference theme this year was “Forms of Justice” and featured original research by 30 graduate students. Plaksin’s paper, “‘Civilized Industry’ and Joint-Matriarchy in the Short Stories of Charlotte Perkins Gilman,”examined the ways that Perkins Gilman’s short stories reflect the feminist ideals she outlines in her social treatise The Home.” In his essay “Fighting Dismemberment: Moonlight as Protest Literature,” Riggio measured the film Moonlight against James Baldwin’s strict criteria for protest literature. Approximately 60 faculty, students, and community members were in attendance. The conference was hosted by the graduate students of St. John’s Queens campus. Plaksin’s essay started as a paper for Prof. Monika Elbert’s Research Methods course. Riggio’s essay was originally written for Prof. Adam Rzepka’s Critical Theory class. Professor Patricia Matthew delivered the keynote address.

English Major Nominated for Pushcart Prize

miethk — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 17:38:19 +0000

English major Lauren Grabowski recently published a creative nonfiction piece that was just nominated for a Pushcart Prize: . Lauren is studying Creative writing with Dr. David Galef.

English Majors Participate in National Frankenstein Bicentennial Conference

morinm — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 14:13:39 +0000

English majors Evan Dekens and Sarah Sturm presented research papers at the Frankenstein Bicentennial Undergraduate Conference hosted by the University of South Dakota earlier this month. The conference featured research presentations by undergraduates from around the country and was part of the Keats-Shelley Association’s —an international celebration of Mary Shelley’s most famous novel. Their participation in the conference was supported in part by funds from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Dekens’ paper, “Aesthetic Transgressions in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” analyzed the way that societal “othering” of individuals as depicted in the novel has evolved and changed in light of shifting cultural and social landscapes. He focused particularly on the way that images (in films and satires, for example) are used to diminish the linguistic and intellectual value of subjugated groups or individuals. Sturm’s paper, “Shelley’s Feminine Nexus in Frankenstein,” argued that Shelley feminizes the biologically male creature in order to create a gothic dramatization of her own tragedies. She showed how by surrounding the creature with feminine symbolism while manifesting feminine archetypes within him, Shelley creates a creature that personifies her torment in an androgynous frame.

Dekens and Sturm wrote their essays for Professor Patricia Matthew’s ENGL110 class. Students in the course spent the entire semester focused on Frankenstein and its reception from its publication in 1818 to today, reading traditional critical and theoretical interpretations, listening to short reflections on the novel by faculty across the arts and sciences, and reading modern essays that interpret the novel in light of questions about race and revolution. For their final projects, students experimented with the best way to present their work. Some wrote traditional research papers, others compiled videos with accompanying essays, and several students shared oral presentations.

ENGL110 Introduction to Literature: The Analytic Essay is one of the English Department’s new courses, and Professor Matthew wanted to experiment with course content (focusing on a single, major text and figure for a whole semester) and learn how students want to write today, often outside of the traditional college essay structure. Although Dekens and Sturm opted to write more traditional research papers, both of their essays approached the novel with an eye towards how it resonates in current cultural debates.

English Awards Night: May 9, 2018

eideg — Wed, 16 May 2018 18:44:08 +0000

Congratulations to the recipients of the . They were honored at a celebration on May 9, 2018.

Excerpts from our students’ personal statements

Sarah Dimichino

“After I switched majors from music to English…writing ceased to be just a personal outlet and became a way by which I could organize, distill and share arguments about what I was reading. It has been difficult but at times revelatory. It is now impossible for me to be a passive reader or lazy writer and I have learned to see context in everything—news articles, novels, advertisements—that is now impossible for me to ignore. It reminds me of being a piano technician, in a way: once you know what ‘perfectly in tune’ sounds like, you begin to hear disharmony everywhere.”

Jessica D’Onofrio

“Learning does not just happen in Dickson Hall, it happens outside of it as well when a group of my classmates and I, still buzzing with ideas and opinions and observations not shared in class, spend forty-five minutes in the cold discussing Stevie Smith’s “Not Waving but Drowning.” Learning happens in Car Parc Diem at 7:05AM when a friend and I talk about the ways in which disability is framed in the X-Men universe, and in the parking lot of my apartment building at 7:45PM when another friend and I unpack how everything we know or think we know is constructed by the lenses of our own experiences…These moments are as much a reflection of my career as a student as my GPA might be and are proof that while being a college student is transitory, the culture of questioning and engaging critically with both literature and the world around me that is fostered by this department and its professors have turned me into a lifelong student and learner.“

Alexis Grainger

“After high school, I carried my iconoclastic viewpoints with me to college English courses, where I was allowed to openly express my findings and opinions in a more liberal academic setting. As a first semester transfer student in the English program at �鶹��ý��, I have not yet had the opportunity to take many English courses; however, the courses I am currently taking have broadened my scope of literature, sharpened my critical thinking, and fine-tuned my essay-writing skills. From my perspective, �鶹��ý��’s English program has redefined what it means to be a student, a reader, and a writer.“

Sigma Tau Delta Inductees

eideg — Wed, 16 May 2018 18:26:37 +0000

Congrats to the inductees of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society. They were honored at the English Department Awards Night on May 9, 2018. Pictured above are: Hyunsu Park, Colleen Calello, Sarah Dimichino, Dawn Macri, Nubia Lumumba, Kacie Lukasik, and Michael Shoykhet.

English Major Admitted to Brooklyn Law School on Scholarship

eideg — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 18:56:50 +0000

Senior English major Kara Kitchell has just been admitted to Brooklyn Law School with a scholarship of $50,000.

Poem by Kristy Lim Selected for a ‘New Jersey’s Best’ Anthology

eideg — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 16:42:13 +0000

Senior Kristy Lim, an English major, has just had a poem selected for publication in the forthcoming anthology New Jersey’s Best Emerging Poets. Kristy currently serves as Poetry Editor of The Normal Review, �鶹��ý��’s literary magazine. The English Department congratulates Kristy on this distinguished accomplishment.