Manhattan University Students Presented Papers At Annual European Aphra Behn Conference
First Undergraduate Students To Present At The Scholarly Gathering In Kent, England
Manhattan University announced that this past summer five of its English majors from the Kakos School of Arts and Sciences were selected to present their research papers at the eighth Annual European Aphra Behn Conference at the University of Kent, England. The prestigious gathering honors Aphra Behn (1640-1689), the first woman poet, playwright, and fiction writer to make her living by writing. This marks the first time in the Conference history that undergraduate students from any institution have been included on the program to share their research.
Under the supervision of their professor, Dr. Heidi Laudien, the students engaged with senior scholars from four continents, lived among the scholars at the University of Kent, attended theatrical productions of Behn’s works, and visited the author’s gravesite at Westminster Abbey.
The selected students and their topics include:
- Phillip Austin – Aphra Behn and the Word of Man: Poems on Several Occasions
- Cornelia Eboh – Aphra Behn’s Guidebook for Love
- Prudence Hajmeli – Aphra Behn and the Loud Female: Interrogating Poetic Multivocality
- Sofia Petroski – The Atomic Astrea: Looking at Desire Through a New Lens
- Natalie Schmitt – Unmasking the Veil of the Forbidden
Said Dr. Laudien, “These five students, several of whom are first-generation college attendees, have accomplished an amazing feat. They presented their papers to a gathering of scholars – all Aphra Behn experts - at the highest level representing 17 countries from around the world. What started as a discussion in one of our classes blossomed into intense scholarly research and an excitement among the students to attempt a never-before occurrence – to form an undergraduate panel at the European Aphra Behn Conference. To experience the joy when we heard of their acceptance was nothing short of remarkable.”
The Conference, where the students collectively presented their papers with a Q&A session, took place from July 1 through July 5 at the University of Kent.