English Majors Invited to Attend Literary Symposium
Three English majors represented Fairmont State University at the 2014 West Virginia Undergraduate Literary Symposium at Concord University on Saturday, April 5. Anthony J. Lacaria, Christopher J. Vance, and Lindsay Menas were invited to present papers at the event.
Lacaria, a resident of Bridgeport, is a senior majoring in English. He presented his paper, “The Powerful Female: Women Who ‘Kick-Ass’” during the Liminal Gender Perspectives session at the symposium. Lacaria wrote the paper for Dr. Deborah Nestor’s course in literary criticism.
Vance read his paper, “Humanity and Human Character in Renard the Fox,” during the Philosophical/Moral Perspectives session of the symposium. He wrote his paper for Dr. Sharon Hiltz’s course in medieval literature. A resident of Belington, Vance is a senior double majoring in English and Spanish.
“Although most readers, my medieval literature students among them, find the animal characters in Renard the Fox charming, the human characters who appear in this collection of 12th century satiric tales have received almost no critical attention. In his paper, Chris breaks new ground in drawing a connection between a little-known work, ‘The Life of Aesop,’ and the unflattering portrayal of homo sapiens in the Renard material. I am very proud of Chris and delighted that his fine work has been chosen for this year’s Undergraduate Literary Symposium,” said Dr. Sharon Hiltz about Vance’s work.
Menas was unable to present her paper, “The Chronicle of a Cunning Creature: Cultural Contexts of Renard the Fox” during the symposium. Menas, who is a native of Fairmont, is a senior English major.
The West Virginia Undergraduate Literary Symposium began at West Virginia University, which hosted it for more than a decade. The Symposium began to rotate among the other colleges and universities in West Virginia starting in 2011. Fairmont State sponsored the event in 2012, and Marshall University hosted it in 2013.
College of Liberal ArtsLanguage & LiteratureSharon HiltzUndergraduate Literary SymposiumAnthony LacariaChristopher VanceLindsay Menas
