I hope that you enjoyed a rejuvenating spring break! As we settle back into our academic routine and continue our march toward the end of this semester, I want to take a moment to acknowledge your successes and let you know how proud I am of your accomplishments and your commitment to helping to build this unique community of learners that we have here at Villanova. Two events that happened just before break illustrate how our Grad CLAS students stand out.

First, at the University-wide Three Minute Thesis Competition on February 24, CLAS graduate students were six of the 13 finalists, and Chemistry student Eliana Uriona took first place and won the audience choice award! Psychology student Ryan Henderson (pictured here on stage) missed second place by the narrowest of margins. Second, a team that included Villanova MPA students Corie Alicea (also an esteemed member of the Graduate Studies staff), Evan Butts and Melanie Menkevich took first place in the Northeast Region of the 2023 NASPAA Simulation Competition, which challenges teams to work collaboratively in response to an issue of public importance. You can read more about these tremendous achievements below.

These are just two examples of the outstanding research and scholarship our students do each day. On April 28, we will celebrate the publication of the 2023 issue of CONCEPT, our interdisciplinary graduate student journal. Next week begins the dissertation colloquia of our first cohort of Theology doctoral students who will be graduating in May!

Finally, it wouldn't be March at Villanova without a little Madness. Good luck to the women's basketball team, which is hosting its NCAA first-round game at the Finneran Pavilion on Saturday, March 18.

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Go Cats!

Villanova University graduate chemistry student Eliana Uriona took First Place and the People’s Choice awards in the University's Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition on February 24 in the Mullen Center for the Performing Arts for her presentation “Optimizing Biochar Properties for Heavy Metal Immobilization in Contaminated Soils.” Uriona advances to the Northeast Regional Competition on April 28. READ MORE

Five Villanova Master of Public Administration (MPA) students participated in the 2023 Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) Student Simulation Competition Northeast Regional hosted by the University at Albany (SUNY) on March 4. Corie Alicea, Evan Butts and Melanie Menkevich joined three students from Syracuse University on the winning team. Mark Donovan and Ellen Speake also competed and performed well at the competition. READ MORE

Jessica Yarnall '20 MS is a graduate of Villanova University’s master’s program in Computer Science. In her academic work and in her work as a data analyst at a local children’s hospital, she’s studied and contributed to the major fields of artificial intelligence, from machine learning in data security to deep learning in the healthcare space. READ MORE

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at Villanova! On Friday, March 17 from 8 to 11 p.m. on Rowan Campus Green, enjoy music, a performance from the Irish Step Dancing Club, a beer garden, and multiple food trucks (including one serving green shamrock shakes).

The Villanova Department of Theology and Religious Studies is proud to announce that its first cohort of doctoral students will be completing their studies and earning their Doctorate of Philosophy in Theology this spring! Three students will be participating in a Dissertation Colloquia, which are open to the Villanova community.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of La Vang: Negotiating the Space Between Marian Devotion and Vietnamese Catholic Women

A Practical Theology of Spiritual but Not Religious Deconversion

Re-Membering Sexuality & Spirituality in Queer Spiritual Memoirs

God of Our Weary Years

To receive the dissertation abstracts or the Zoom links if you wish to attend virtually, please contact Theology Program Coordinator Lauren McLaughlin. Congratulations to these PhD candidates! Learn more about the Theology PhD students.

Introduction to Transkribus: Virtual Workshop – March 22

Join Meg Piorko, Distinctive Collection Librarian, on Wednesday, March 22 from 12 to 1 p.m. for an introduction to Transkribus. This virtual workshop will introduce participants to the functionalities of transcribing documents using Transkribus. Most of the session will be a tutorial for transcription using the free browser version, TranskribusLite. The session will conclude with a demonstration of the additional features available in the full downloadable version of Transkribus, such as training your own transcription model. Register for the Zoom link.

Do you need to know yourself to succeed? Hear from Latinx professionals who say, “YES!”

On Wednesday, March 22, from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Career Center Employer Engagement Suite in Garey Hall Room 117, listen to their immigration stories and learn what influenced their career choices. Panelists include graduates from graduate programs at Villanova. Learn more and register.

"Less is more." This is both an apt approach to the Lenten season and an insight underlying our attempts to live more sustainability in an age of special concern for our planet. Join Campus Ministry on Friday, March 24 from 9 to 11:45 a.m. in Corr Chapel as they weave these two themes together for an "eco-spiritual" retreat open to participants of all spiritual and religious backgrounds. This free retreat is for Villanova faculty, staff, and graduate, law and professional students. Learn more and register.

Join your fellow graduate students on Friday. March 24, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the monthly Happy Hour at Gullifty’s. Appetizers provided courtesy of the Grad Center and drink specials available to students for purchase. Don’t miss the third Happy Hour of the semester. Please register to help get an accurate food count.

Do you know someone who might be a great fit for a Villanova graduate program? Please encourage them to sign up for one of the CLAS Graduate Studies Preview Week events running March 27 through April 1. Preview Week is designed to give admitted students and serious prospective students the opportunity to speak with faculty and students from their program of interest and meet with support staff to learn about about financial aid, graduate student life and more. CLAS Graduate Studies is offering online and in-person events, including a comprehensive day on campus on Saturday, April 1, that includes breakfast, lunch and campus tours! Learn more and register.

Join fellow graduate students on Wednesday, April 12 at 8 p.m. to see Villanova Theatre's production of Sunday in the Park with George at The John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts. Inspired by the painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s stunning masterpiece merges past and present into beautiful, poignant truths about life, love and the creation of art. One of the most acclaimed musicals of our time, this moving study of the enigmatic painter won a Pulitzer Prize and was nominated for an astounding ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

CONCEPT Recognition Ceremony – April 28

Join the Grad CLAS community on Friday, April 28 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Larson Kelly Auditorium (Rm. 132) and Atrium in Driscoll Hall to celebrate the launch of the 2023 edition of CONCEPT, the interdisciplinary journal of graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The ceremony will recognize this year’s Graduate Research Prize for top paper, along with all of the student authors and editors, faculty editors and peer reviewers. The panel discussion will be held in the auditorium, followed by a reception in the atrium. This event will also be live streamed. Please register for the event.

Graduate students from any program are invited to register for this one-credit synchronous/virtual course where students will work to develop a class assignment (or other draft) into a completed submission for a conference, academic journal, festival, program application or other venue. The course will include limited reading, scheduled writing, peer support and individualized feedback to move your project forward. Students will begin the class with a particular project and submission goal in mind, and will spend four weeks completing weekly goals to ready the project for submission. Most graduate programs allow students to take up to six credits in another discipline. Check-in with your program director if you are interested in registering for this course.

All graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences can use their Wildcard to access the Graduate Student Lounge on the third floor of Old Falvey, Room 306. The lounge has been fully renovated and is stocked with coffee and snacks. The lounge is a great study space that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Campus Ministry and Falvey Library invite the Villanova community to join them for a taste of mindfulness meditation every Monday from 1 to 1:30 p.m. on Zoom. Mindfulness Mondays offers a virtual, comfortable space where you are guided and encouraged to stop and focus on the “here and now.” Mindfulness is proven to reduce stress and enhance well-being. Registration is not required, all are welcome! Learn more.

Looking for a place to study? A place to connect with other graduate students? A time an place to reserve to study or write? The Grad Center offers St. Mary's Hall Room 110 each Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Coffee, tea, and snacks provided!

This group is for graduate students who want to experience stronger emotional connections with others while also working through personal issues that may be unique to being part of a graduate program at Villanova. If interested, please call or stop by the Counseling Center to schedule a brief 1:1 consultation with Dr. MacNamara or contact her via email. This group will meet each Wednesday from 3:30-4:45 p.m. in the University Counseling Center. Learn more about the Counseling Center and other discussion group topics.