Spotlights
English Students Participate in Student Scholars Day 2026
Several of Associate Professor Tierney Powell's students developed presentations for the 30th annual Student Scholars Day. Students gave their presentations in the Kirkhof Center throughout the day on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
Congratulations to Emma Cervantes, Halle Evans, Tessa Brumfels, Cynthia Wrzesnski and Richard Chan on a successful creation of research and scholarship worthy of presentation!
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BY: EMMA CERVANTES
Paul Martínez Pompa’s poem, “While Late Capitalism,” describes the experience of a Latin American individual going through transnational migration by an unofficial method. The beginning line of the poem, “crammd-&-bangin-against-each-other-in-a-dark-aluminm-box,” the box is not just an abstract metaphor for containment, but the vessel of an often overlooked process of undocumented migratory perspectives. In this presentation, I will share how Martínez Pompa’s use of grammar, the shaved off letters, and the use of brackets establish the authenticity of the situation and offer a window into the often opaque experience of transnational migration. Pompa’s poem makes us aware of the dehumanization of transnational migration; it speaks the unspoken experiences of people who have gone through this, and impels the reader to see the humanity of the people who have and continue to experience transnational migration.
BY: RICHARD CHAN
The humanities are regularly credited for cultivating students' "soft skills" - personal abilities that can be applied to all career fields. These skills include, but are not limited to, creativity, multiperspectival thinking, adaptability, advanced research, and textual analysis. Despite this, the humanities have suffered from systematic underutilization and underfunding. Add to this the new obstacle that is artificial intelligence. However, there are still flaws and limits in technology, which only actual human beings (and their "soft skills") might overcome. It is therefore important to advance research into the humanities: what they offer and how they are evaluated. In this paper, I think through the value of the humanities, asserting the humanities offer much more than people give credit for—or lack thereof.
Capitalism,
Connectivity, Globalization: Dissecting the Capitalistic Virality
in Ling Ma's Severance
BY: HALLE EVANS, TESSA BRUMELS, CYNTHIA WRZESINSKI
Our podcast examines Ling Ma’s novel Severance and its portrayal of capitalism’s “virality” within a multicultural, globalized context, focusing on United States (U.S.) urban settings. The novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic world overtaken by a fungal infection called Shen Fever and alternates between the protagonist Candace Chen’s life before and during the collapse, as well as her immigrant parents’ experiences. These narratives explore how consumerism, globalization, and neoliberal ideals shape both individual and societal life. We focus on a scene in which Candace is trapped in a traffic jam with Jonathan, her future boyfriend, reflecting on 1980s neoliberalism and its impact on an immigrant perspective of Times Square. This scene critiques nostalgia for a capitalism that promises opportunity while enforcing systemic oppression. Alongside Danielle Wong’s article “Screen Time, or the Postviral Internet,” we consider how globalization and corporate practices erode human connection, mirroring Candace’s experiences and commenting on contemporary society. During our presentation, we will dive deeper into the podcast’s content, highlighting key analyses to demonstrate how Severance engages with the spread of viral capitalism. We encourage listeners to reflect on the society around them, recognizing how capitalism shapes daily life and influences the experiences of those within it.
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