The 2023 English Undergraduate Excellence Conference took place April 21 in Shanks Hall. The following students presented papers or poems:

  • Sofie Anderson, Creative Writing, “The Girl With Bugs in Her Hair”
  • Sophia Campana, Professional and Technical Writing, “An Autoethnography of a Multiethnic and Queer Child of Divorced Parents”
  • Grace Dalton, Public Relations, “The Two Souths: A Discussion of the Polarized Perceptions of the Southern United States Through Media”
  • Emelia Delaporte, Multimedia Journalism and Professional and Technical Writing, “John Prine’s ‘Paradise’ in American Folk Music’”
  • Adreanna DeMarino, Creative Writing and English, “On the Host: Audience, Time, and Character”
  • Anja Hemesath, Creative Writing, English, and Professional and Technical Writing, “Nancy Drew: The Original Girlboss?”
  • Benjamin Hotaling, Creative Writing, “Crystalline Heart”
  • Emily Keshap, English and Professional and Technical Writing, “Tutoring Program That Embodies What It Means to Be a Hokie and Lives Up to VT’s Motto, Ut Prosim”
  • Elise McCue, Multimedia Journalism and Professional and Technical Writing, “College Women Deserve Better: Advocating to Prioritize Women’s Health and Life-Affirming Care”
  • Harper Mugford, English and Professional and Technical Writing, “Ending Food Deserts in Richmond, VA”
  • James O’Brien, Creative Writing and English, “Lines, Circles, Scenes, Letters, and Characters: Writing and Metatheatrics in Doctor Faustus”
  • August Reynolds, Creative Writing, English, and Professional and Technical Writing, “The Nothings, the Little Things” and “Carousel”
  • Kayla Roberts, English, “Stasis in Edmonton: The Danger it Presents”
  • Ananya Seth, “What is Machine Learning?”
  • Zainab Shamim, English, “Of Race and Caste: Discrimination Across Cultures in Shakespeare’s Othello and Bhardwaj’s Omkara”
  • Preeya Sharma, Creative Writing, “my body is my best friend”
  • Stephanie Sheets, Creative Writing, English, and Professional and Technical Writing, “Book Banning in the United States”
  • Caitlyn Simson, Creative Writing and Professional and Technical Writing, “Oh, Ohio”
  • Sydney Sladden, Creative Writing, “Justifications for Violence in The Corpse Exhibition”
  • Madison Storm, Multimedia Journalism, “Exploring the Brain Through the Gut: Sadia Ahmed’s Research in Postnatal Brain Development”
  • Brendan Thompson, English, “Reservation Dogs and White Public Space”
  • Marina Yingling, Creative Writing and Sociology, “Violence, Viewership, and Vigilante Justice”
  • Kat Zinn, Creative Writing, English, and Professional and Technical Writing, “Classroom D204”