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Celebrating Pride Month with our LGBTQIA+ Community


Today is June 1, the first day of Pride Month, a celebration of LGBTQIA+ people and their positive impact on society. “The first Pride March in New York City was held on June 28, 1970, on the one year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising,” explains the Library of Congress website. We invite you to learn more about LBGTQIA+ events, resources, and audio/visual content on the LOC website.

Villanova University is joining in Pride Month as well, recognizing “the presence and contributions of LGBTQIA+ individuals to history, culture and society in general.”

At the Library, we offer our Pride-themed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion guide from 2020, which runs down a slate of curated content and resources. It gives the month proper historical context and provides many hours of educational and illuminating works.



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Foto Friday: Bloom


Photo (and chalkboard art) courtesy of Kallie Stahl ’17 MA Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library.

 

 


 


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Weekend Recs: Pride Month


Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. This new, relevant, and thought-provoking content will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

This week’s installment of Weekend Recs is courtesy of Kallie Stahl, Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. Annie will be back in a few weeks with new summer recommendations—Stay tuned! 

June 1 marked the beginning of Pride Month, a celebration of LGBTQIA+ people and their positive impact on society. Pride Month is celebrated every June in tribute to those involved in the Stonewall Riots of 1969, an uprising that occurred in response to a long history of police brutality. In the early morning of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village. Rather than leaving the club when dismissed, patrons, staff, and locals from the neighborhood began rioting on Christopher Street outside the club. Word of the riot spread and by that evening “thousands of protesters had gathered at the Stonewall and in the surrounding area. The protests continued into the next week, with another outbreak of intense fighting occurring on that following Wednesday.” The first Pride march was held on June 28, 1970, in New York City on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.

While we celebrate Pride Month, we must combat continued racism against members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We continue to see state legislatures advancing anti-LGBTQIA+ bills “that target transgender people, limit local protections, and allow the use of religion to discriminate.” We invite you to learn more about LGBTQIA+ history, related topics, needs, and challenges through resources at Falvey Library. If you are looking for a specific resource, please contact our librarians at ref@villanova.edu.

Below is just a snapshot of the many resources available. No list could ever be comprehensive, but we hope these recs will serve as a starting point this weekend.

If you have 5 minutesBrowse Falvey Library’s LGBTQIA+ reading list.

If you have 8 minutesRead this interview with Bess Rowen, PhD, on Villanova University’s Intro to LGBTQ Studies course. (The inaugural course ran during the spring 2023 semester).

If you have 10 minutes…Check out the full list of Pride Month events in Philadelphia.

If you have 15 minutes…Explore LGBTQIA+ resources at Falvey Library. View LGBTQIA+ resources on and off Villanova’s campus.

If you have 30 minutesRead more about legislation affecting LGBTQIA+ rights across the country.

If you have 62 minutesWatch this interview with Yvonne Ritter who discusses the raid at Stonewall.

Bonus: Read The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gale Pitman. *eBook available at Falvey Library.

If you have 4 hours…Stream the first season of “Heartstopper” on Netflix before the second season premiers on Aug. 3.


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


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TBT: 1956 Alumni Reunion

By Kallie Stahl

Image of the official reservation form from the 1956 Alumni Reunion.


Reunion 2023 begins tomorrow! This week’s Throwback Thursday (TBT) features the official reservation form from the 1956 Alumni Reunion. View the full schedule of events for Reunion 2023 here. Graduates from class years ending in 3 or 8 will celebrate milestone reunions with exclusive activities, though all alumni are welcome to attend. Have a fun weekend, Wildcats!

Photo courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.


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

 

 


 


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Falvey Scholars 2023: Madeline Scolio ’23 CLAS

 

Photo by Andrew McKeough ’19

The Falvey Scholars Program is an annual program established by Falvey Library to recognize outstanding undergraduate research. Now in its 21st year, the program is a collective initiative of the Library and the Center for Research and Fellowships. The recipients of this award are selected from a pool of candidates nominated by Villanova faculty and reviewed by Library staff.

This year, eight students received awards for seven different projects, and their work reflects the breadth and depth of undergraduate research at the University as well as the support the Library, its resources and staff, provide student-scholars.

The blog will introduce our scholars and cover their research in their own words. Look for additional coverage of the Falvey Scholars in the fall issue of Mosaic.

Congratulations to all of our Falvey Scholars, past and present!


Madeline Scolio ’23 CLAS

Title: “Modeling the Relationship Between Surface and Air Temperature and Implications for Urban Sustainability and Well-Being in Philadelphia”

Faculty Mentors: Peleg Kremer, PhD, and Samer Abboud, PhD, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Hometown: Woodstock, Ill.

Other Honors: Alexander von Humboldt Medallion for Excellence in Geography, Cosmas Indicopleustes Medallion for Excellence in Global Interdisciplinary Studies, NSF Supplemental Grant from the National Science Foundation, Presidential Scholarship, Villanova Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Seamus Heaney Honors Program Writing Award


Describe your research in your own words.

Currently, it is common practice to use remotely sensed surface temperature as a proxy for air temperature in studies of urban heat and microclimate. It has been established that surface temperature is not a good proxy for air temperature. Thus my research revolves around creating a spatiotemporal model that related the surface temperature to air temperature in order to improve the quality of temperature data available for Philadelphia. I also worked to highlight human well-being and sustainability issues around the city that could benefit from this improved data.

How did Falvey’s resources, databases, and spaces impact your research?

In the Fall, I struggled with finding an approach to my project that would highlight its broad application in social and scientific domains and interdisciplinary nature. During this time, I met with Director of Research Services & Scholarly Engagement Jutta Seibert who helped guide my research towards questions of urban sustainability. This meeting was extremely helpful in narrowing down the focus of the geographic information systems (GIS) portion of my thesis while still complementing the more geotechnical question I was investigating. More specifically, she introduced me to Oxford Bibliographies which were extremely useful in building the urban sustainability and human well-being backbone of my project.

How did Falvey’s resources and databases impact your research?

The resources available through the Falvey Library website were critical in facilitating the foundational and explanatory research for my thesis project. I found it helpful to search for similar terms in different databases and compare the results. For example, I searched for literature relating to urban sustainability in both Scopus and JSTOR and got completely different results. This was extremely useful in situating my geotechnical research in a broader context.

Beyond that, I used the website to gain access to journal articles that informed the development of my methods and to gain a comprehensive understanding of a relatively novel field. For example, mobile air temperature monitoring has been conducted on foot, by bike and by car with each method having its own limitations and advantages. Understanding the methods of other researchers was useful in helping weigh the pros and cons of each method and ultimately deciding to collect my data by car. Through the many journals I was able to access through Falvey, I was able to participate in a long history of academic collaboration by building upon the work of other researchers.

What’s next for you?

I am taking a year off to work, travel, apply to graduate school, and spend time with loved ones. After that, I am planning on getting a master’s degree in architecture and urban planning.


Shawn ProctorShawn Proctor, MFA, is Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Library.


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Falvey Works with Campus Partners to Benefit Future Students

Staff members Samuel Jay and Olivia D'Aiutolo Mendenall sort textbooks for their respective students.

 

By Shawn Proctor

Falvey Library staff collaborated with partners across campus to boost sustainability efforts while benefiting students in the Center for Access, Success and Achievement (CASA) as well as  College of Professional Studies (CPS).

On May 30, Albert Motel, Waste and Recycling Manager, Facilities Management, coordinated a delivery of 461 pounds of books donated by current students during the spring move out. The books, which included theology and philosophy textbooks, novels, plays, poetry collections, and memoirs from every college at the University, were sorted in the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Idea Lab (IIE) by Samuel Jay, Assistant Director of Retention, CASA, Kirstin DeFusco Houtz, MS, Director, Academic Advising and Student Support, CPS, and Olivia D’Aiutolo Mendenall, MEd, Academic Advisor, CPS.

“The donation was an absolute success! Working alongside Shawn, Kirstin, and Olivia was a great experience, and it was all for the students’ benefit,” Jay says. “It gives our students the opportunity to borrow textbooks free of charge, in comparison to purchasing them from the bookstore where textbooks can be well over $100. A lot of students do not come from wealthy backgrounds, so this initiative provides our students the chance to borrow textbooks, while getting to save some money.”

 

Caring for Students and the Environment
The hundreds of texts selected by CASA were catalogued by Falvey staff in Resource Management and Description (RMD) and added to the CASA lending library, where they will be available to the center’s students, who are underrepresented, first-generation, or Pell Grant Eligible.

Kirstin DeFusco Houtz and Olivia D'Aiutolo Mendenall review books donated by Villanova students.

Kirstin DeFusco Houtz and Olivia D’Aiutolo Mendenall review books donated by Villanova students.

A wide variety of books were delivered to the CPS as well, which doubled the size of its recently created lending library. These books will help reduce the cost of attendance for CPS students, who are high achieving adults balancing their educational and professional aspirations with life commitments.

The remaining materials were collected by RMD and packaged to be shipped to a company that specializes in reselling textbooks.

“Our students in CPS have numerous financial obligations they must consider when deciding to pursue an academic credential. Often, this is money being moved from another area in their family budget – children’s education, retirement, groceries, etc. Providing affordable materials for our nontraditional students is crucial for promoting accessibility, inclusivity, and overall student success,” DeFusco Houtz says.

This multi-department initiative supports Villanova University’s commitment to sustainability and good stewardship of our planet by removing these books from the waste stream. It also lives out the University values of truth, unity, and love and the important missions of promoting diversity and equity in the campus community.

“The financial burden of expensive textbooks or materials can be discouraging and lead to attrition,” D’Aiutolo Mendenall adds. “Providing course materials will help to create a more equitable educational landscape at Villanova, empowering individuals to achieve their goals and will have many intergenerational benefits.”

 

Special thanks to the many other staff who contributed to this initiative: Falvey Library’s John Banionis, Director of Resource Management and Description, and David Burke, Metadata Librarian, who processed the donated materials; CASA’s Renee Boyd-Shaw, Administrative and Lending Library Coordinator, and Kevin Covington, Assistant Director, Retention and Outreach, for support and administration; and IIE’s Stephen Green, Assistant Director, and Ann Miller, Daniel J. Hogarty, Jr. ’61 Director, for graciously providing the space.

 


Shawn Proctor

Shawn Proctor, MFA, is Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Library.

 


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Falvey Scholars 2023: Becca Jacobson ’23 CLAS

Photo by Andrew McKeough ’19

The Falvey Scholars Program is an annual program established by Falvey Library to recognize outstanding undergraduate research. Now in its 21st year, the program is a collective initiative of the Library and the Center for Research and Fellowships. The recipients of this award are selected from a pool of candidates nominated by Villanova faculty and reviewed by Library staff.

This year, eight students received awards for seven different projects, and their work reflects the breadth and depth of undergraduate research at the University as well as the support the Library, its resources and staff, provide student-scholars.

The blog will introduce our scholars and cover their research in their own words. Look for additional coverage of the Falvey Scholars in the fall issue of Mosaic.

Congratulations to all of our Falvey Scholars, past and present!


Becca Jacobson ’23 CLAS

Title: “Identifying Factors that Promote or Inhibit Disability-Related Discussion in Secondary English Language Arts Classrooms”

Faculty Mentor: Christa Bialka, PhD, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Hometown: Randolph, N.J.

Other Honors: Secondary Education Medallion, Villanova Undergraduate Research Fellowship Grantee, Honors Senior Thesis Distinction


Describe your research in your own words.
I investigated the factors that influence English Language Arts teachers to discuss or refrain from discussing disability with their students through a qualitative, exploratory study via interviews with 13 in-service secondary English Language Arts teachers. My findings concluded that the role of disability representation in curriculum, role of classroom and school culture, and role of personal factors all contribute to teachers’ decisions to discuss disability. Teachers desired more representation in curriculum and professional development that frames disability as a social identity to aid them in facilitating these discussions.

How did Falvey’s resources, databases, and spaces impact your research?
The Falvey Library databases were integral to my research process, and I would not have been able to complete my thesis without using the databases. My thesis included a 13-page literature review—literature I retrieved from Falvey Library’s databases. This review served as the foundation for my research methods, data, and discussion.

I would be remiss to leave out the fact that I wrote the vast majority of my thesis inside the walls of Falvey Library. In fact, I wrote almost all 45 pages of my thesis at the same desk on the third floor of the Library by the windows overlooking Mendel Hall. I am the type of student who needs complete silence in order to concentrate and prefers to limit visual distractions, so the desks on the third floor that have hutches with dividers create an ideal learning environment for me. I always tell people, “I do my best work on the third floor of the Library,” and my thesis certainly is my best work.

How did the Library’s staff impact your research and academic experience?
I came to know how to navigate databases and conduct research efficiently and strategically because of the presentations from the many research librarians from Falvey Library. I also had the privilege of meeting with a research librarian one-on-one during my first semester at Villanova, which I believe was one of the smartest decisions I made, as I used the knowledge I gained from that meeting throughout the next four years.

What’s next for you?
I plan to secure a position teaching English Language Arts at a public high school in Northern New Jersey in the near future. In terms of future education, I plan to pursue a Master’s Degree in Special Education and move on to my Doctorate in Education later on in my career.

Also, this research has certainly inspired me to pursue research in the future. I want to examine disability-related discussion more deeply through transcripts of actual disability-related conversation in classrooms and the critical talk moves that teachers make in order to facilitate them.


Shawn Proctor Shawn Proctor, MFA, is Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Library.


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Villanova Remembers Our Veterans

This Memorial Day we join our campus community in remembering our country’s heroes: Veterans who have died while in service to the United States. We honor their sacrifice and thank them for protecting our freedoms.

Note: This photo was taken during the National Anthem at Villanova University’s 2023 graduation.


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Foto Friday: I Can See Clearly Now the Plexiglass is Gone

Picture of the Library service desk without the plexiglass installed during the pandemic.

We removed the plexiglass around the service desk. Stop by and say “hello!”


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

 

 


 


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Weekend Recs: Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. This new, relevant, and thought-provoking content will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

This week’s installment of Weekend Recs is courtesy of Kallie Stahl, Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. Annie will be back in a few weeks with new summer recommendations—Stay tuned! 

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month—Celebrating the “histories of Americans hailing from across the Asian continent and from the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.” This month was selected to commemorate AAPI heritage as the first Japanese immigrants migrated to the United States on May 7, 1842. The transcontinental railroad was also completed on May 10, 1869—the majority of the construction completed by thousands of Chinese immigrants.

As we celebrate the heritage of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, we must combat continued racism against the AAPI community. Falvey Library condemns anti-Asian racial discrimination and violence. We stand with the AAPI members of our Villanova community and all AAPI members in solidarity.

Cover of the novel "Crying in H Mart."

Image courtesy of Penguin Random House.

No list of this nature could ever be comprehensive, but we hope you explore some of the links below this weekend:

If you have 5 minutes…Read my article on AAPI resources available at Falvey Library.

If you have 22-30 minutes…Stream an episode of Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher’s show “Never Have I Ever.”

If you have 54 minutes and 11 secondsWatch an episode of PBS’ documentary series on the history of Asian Americans.

If you have 57 minutesListen to an episode of the “Time To Say Goodbye” podcast. Andy B. Liu, PhD, Assistant Professor of History at Villanova University, started the podcast with journalists Jay Caspian Kang and Tammy Kim. (Note: Dr. Liu left the podcast in 2022).

Bonus: Explore some of Dr. Liu’s work:

If you have 2 hours and 19 minutesStream Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

If you have 4 hours…Read Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (available at Falvey Library).


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

 

 


 


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Last Modified: May 26, 2023

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