A New Chapter: Women Writing Northern Ireland Now

Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 6 p.m.; Topper Theater, Villanova University

“The Villanova Center for Irish Studies, in partnership with the Consul General of Ireland in New York, will welcome award-winning women writers from Northern Ireland to campus for an engaging literary panel discussion and readings around the topics of women’s rights, the sectarian divide, and social class.” Panelists include: Lucy Caldwell, Jan Carson, and Michelle Gallen. Moderated by Yvonne Cassidy.

This ACS-approved event is presented in partnership with Columbia University, NYU, and Georgetown University, with support from the Government of Ireland and Northern Ireland Bureau. Co-sponsored by: Falvey Library, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Political Science, Department of Global & Interdisciplinary Studies, Gender & Women’s Studies, Center for Peace & Justice Education, Creative Writing Program, the Writing Center, St. Joseph’s University Irish Studies Program, the Irish Diaspora Center of Philadelphia, and the Irish American Business Chamber & Network, Inc.

Register here.

Photo by Todd Robinson.

“On this Veterans Day we pause to honor those who have selflessly served this nation and made sacrifices in order to uphold our freedom. Let us give a special salute to our very own Villanova veterans, our students, faculty, staff and alumni who have worn the uniform, and bring so much passion, experience, and leadership to our Villanova community.” –Ethan Shea, former English Graduate Student at Villanova University and Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.

Through “Lest We Forget: The Villanova Veterans History Project” an oral history project, the Office of Veterans and Military Service Members and Falvey Library’s Distinctive Collections and Digital Engagement Department capture the stories of veterans with connections to Villanova, archive them, and make them available to family members, friends, and the community. Learn more about the project here.

Photo courtesy of Gina Duffy, Communication and Marketing Program Manager.

“B” for Blue and “W” for White. #FotoFriday

Photo courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

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Kennedy Hall is this week’s Throwback Thursday (TBT)! The negative above showcases the Architect’s rendering of the Student Service Building (Kennedy Hall) in 1968.

The Kennedy Hall mailroom is now retired, with Villanova students currently picking up their mail in Falvey Library. However, the Villanova community can purchase a mailbox faceplate from Kennedy Hall! “Each mailbox is $250 and includes a stand for display, a certificate of authenticity and the ability to personalize with any four digits—whether it’s a graduation year, anniversary or other number significant to you.”

Mailboxes are on sale until tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 10), and a portion of each purchase supports the Villanova Scholarship Fund. Purchase a Kenney Hall mailbox here (until supplies last).

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Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library.

By Julia Wagner 

We’re still reeling from this weekend–the best weekend of the year–Fall Fest! This weekend over 1,000 athletes traveled from all over Pennsylvania to compete in the largest student-run Special Olympics (SpO) event in the world, right here at Villanova University. Powerlifting in the Villanova Room, dancing in O-Town in the quad, and flag football on Sheehan Beach were just a couple of the various spots where dreams came true for countless individuals. The theme of the weekend encouraged athletes, parents, and volunteers to “dream on” because “together as a team our dreams are closer than they seem.”

I had the pleasure of being a Volunteer Coordinator for Healthy Athletes where I helped run tables with activities to promote healthy habits like gratitude, sleep, self-love, and snacks. The connections and memories that I made with athletes at Powerlifting and around the Oreo are ones I will cherish forever. I’m sad that the weekend is over, but I am so lucky to have experienced something so special. I look forward to doing it all again next year! I encourage anyone who is thinking about getting involved in Special Olympics to do so (more info here)! Getting involved is truly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the love and laughter I experienced this weekend. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and helped make dreams come true. SpO much love!

All photos courtesy of Julia Wagner.

Julia Wagner ’26 CLAS is an Economics major from New Hampshire (Go Patriots!). She works as a Communication & Marketing Student Assistant at Falvey Library.

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, please join us for an event to celebrate the publication of Dana Lloyd’s “Land is Kin: Sovereignty, Religious Freedom, and Indigenous Sacred Sites,” on Wednesday, November 29, at 3:30-4:30 p.m., in Falvey Library’s Speakers’ Corner on the first floor.

Land Is Kin demonstrates the complexity of land in contemporary religious, political, and legal discourse. By drawing on Indigenous perspectives on the land as kin, Lloyd points toward a framework that shifts sovereignty away from binary oppositions—between property and sacred site, between the federal government and Native nations—towards seeing the land itself as sovereign.

Panelists Elisha Chi (Theology and Religious Studies) and Ann C. Juliano (Charles Widger School of Law) will share their unique perspectives on Land is Kin, and author Dana Lloyd (Global Interdisciplinary Studies) will respond to their insights. Tim Horner (Peace and Justice, ACS) will moderate.

This ACS-approved event, which is part of Falvey’s Scholarship@Villanova lecture series, is co-sponsored by Falvey Library, Center for Peace and Justice Education, Department of Global Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. It is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Nova Nation—Thank you for stopping by Distinctive Collections and Digital Engagement‘s (DCDE) annual Halloween event on Tuesday, Oct. 31, in Speakers’ Corner! It was fun telling Villanova ghost stories and sharing some of DCDE collections’ spookiest items. For more on this eerie event, check out Preservation & Digital Archivist Beaudry Allen’s blog post.

Villanova University Archives, Villanova University. Special Olympics, 1992.

This week’s Throwback Thursday (TBT) celebrates the lighting of the Olympic flame at the 1992 Special Olympics Pennsylvania Fall Festival. Hosted and organized by Villanova University students, the festival is the largest annual student-run Special Olympics event in the world. More than 1,200 athletes will compete at the 35th Fall Festival at Villanova University Nov. 3-5. To learn more about Fall Festival, visit this webpage.

Ethan Shea, former Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library, highlighted additional throwbacks to past Special Olympics on this blog. In 2019, Beaudry Rae Allen, Preservation & Digital Archivist, curated an exhibit containing facsimiles of photographs and programs from the early days of the event.

Best of luck to all the athletes competing this weekend!

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library.

Geography Awareness Week begins Monday, Nov. 13. Established by a presidential proclamation more than 25 years ago, National Geographic created the annual public awareness program to demonstrate the importance of geography. From National Geographic: too many people are “unable to make effective decisions, understand geo-spatial issues, or even recognize their impacts as global citizens.” Aiming to raise awareness of these issues, more than 10,000 Americans participate in Geography Awareness Week annually. Join Falvey Library’s Digital Scholarship Lab and the Department of Geography and Environment for an exciting lineup of Geography Awareness Week events. Check out the full list of events below.

GEOGRAPHY AWARENESS WEEK: NOVEMBER 13-17, 2023

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13

GlobePlotters Meeting

6:30-7:30 p.m.; Location: Mendel G83

Join the Villanova GlobePlotters, a student chapter of YouthMappers, for a night of using GIS technology for humanitarian aid mapping projects around the world. No GIS or mapping experience is required! We’ll show you how to get started with mapping.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14

Open House: Geography Virtual Reality exhibit in the CAVE

2-3 p.m.; Location: Old Falvey, Room 203

Come join us at the Villanova Virtual Reality CAVE located on the Mendel Field side of Old Falvey in Room 203. CEET software developer Andrew Grace will host a variety of visualizations produced by Geography staff and students. Visualizations will include 3D models of our beautiful campus captured by drones, immersive 360 panoramas, and much more!

Open House: Falvey Library Map Collections Tour

3-4 p.m.; Location: Falvey Library 205

Peruse georeferenced maps and highlights from The John F. Smith, III and Susan B. Smith Antique Map Collection and other map holdings from Falvey Library’s Distinctive Collections. Rebecca Oviedo, Distinctive Collections Archivist, will show a selection of historic items from early printed maps of the 16th and 17th centuries, 19th century local real estate atlases, to 20th century military maps, and Erica Hayes, Digital Scholarship Librarian, will show some georeferenced historical maps of Villanova’s campus.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Policy Map for Practical Purposes

12-1 p.m.; Location: Zoom

Introduction and practical insights to using Policy Map, the interactive mapping and analytics platform that brings together a data warehouse of 21st century Census and policy material from over 50,000 current governmental, proprietary, and open resource agency indicators. No technical skills are required to make understandable data visualizations or reports from information across multiple siloed agencies.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16

GEV Colloquium Speaker: Jon C. Malinowski

“Ghosts in the Landscape: The Challenges of Creating a Historical Atlas”

5:30-6:30 p.m.; Location: Mendel 154

Dr. Jon Malinowski, Professor of Geography at the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, will discuss the rewards and pitfalls of bringing historical geography research to a wider audience. In 2022, Dr. Malinowski self-published The West Point Landscape: 1802-1830 and is currently revising and expanding the book for the West Point Press. He will address archival and less obvious data sources, technical obstacles, and the pitfalls and revelations of a multi-year project. This talk is co-sponsored by GTU (Gamma Theta Upsilon), the international honor society in geography.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17

Geospatial Career Panel

12:30-2 p.m.; Location: Mendel G60 Classroom

Come meet geospatial professionals and learn about the many applications of GIS in your career. Panelists will discuss their own career paths, tips for GIS jobseekers, and more. Please come prepared with your own questions for the panelists!

Geography Trivia 

2:30-3:30pm; Location: Mendel G60

Break out that map knowledge and join us for an afternoon of pub-style geography trivia hosted by the GEV Student Association! Teams of 2-4 people can register using the form on the GeoWeek website. Snacks will be provided, and prizes will be awarded to the top-scoring team.

ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS

Alumni Blog Posts

Catch up with GEV alumni during Geography Awareness Week by reading short blog posts about how geography has been woven into their lives and careers. Hosted on the Falvey Library Blog.

Geography Student Poster Display

Stop by Falvey Library room 205, the Digital Scholarship Lab Lab in Room 218A (9 a.m.- 3:00 p.m., Monday-Friday), and the GEV suite hallway near G61 on the ground floor of Mendel to learn about the latest undergraduate and graduate research at Villanova.