Students Speak at English Honor Society Convention

The work of five University of Scranton students was presented at the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention in St. Louis, Missouri in March, with senior Cara Charles, an English major from Yardley, winning first place for Critical Essays on the Common Reader for her individual paper presentation “Tess Taylor’s Work and Days: Response to Theology and Science.”

Seniors David Rakauskas, a criminal justice major from Scranton; Phyllida Whittaker, an English major from Dimock; and Charles also presented together at the conference during a round table, “Peck Small Tracks – A Jesuit Reading of Work and Days,” through which they offered a close reading of the 2019 Sigma Tau Delta Common Reader (Tess Taylor’s ecopoetic text Work and Days) through the lens of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment. Seniors Emily Carr, a secondary education – English major from Elmhurst Township, and Matthew Criscione, a secondary education – English major from Elmwood Park, New Jersey, were also a part of this project, but were unable to attend the conference.

At the conference, Rakauskas also served as a panel chair for a session entitled “Creative Non-Fiction: Families Are Not as They Appear.”

All of the student projects were supported by the University’s Humanities Initiative Undergraduate Awards for Humanistic Inquiry. 

Sigma Tau Delta is the national honor society in English. The honor society recognizes students who major or minor in English, theatre or secondary education/English and maintain a grade point average of 3.4 or better in English, theatre and writing courses and an overall grade point average of 3.4 or higher. English professors Rebecca Beal, Ph.D., and Billie Tadros, Ph.D., serve as co-moderators of Scranton’s chapter of the honor society.

The five students will also present their work at the Celebration of Student Scholars at the University on April 26.