English Department

Visit our department's Facebook page and our LinkedIn page.

Our department has a dedicated faculty member coordinating internships: Sherry Shepler, sshepler@anselm.edu. We also work closely with the Career Development Center to develop on- and off-campus opportunities for students. Sites include:

New Hampshire Public Radio
NH Fisher Cats
Make-a-Wish of NH
Fidelity Investments
SNHU Arena
Big Brothers & Big Sisters of NH
WMUR Channel 9
Palace Theatre in Manchester
The Red Cross
recruiterboom
Hill Holiday Advertising
EVR Advertising
Cookson Strategic Communications
Allstate Insurance
Girls at Work, Inc.
Dismas House
Manchester Monarchs
SAC Campus Ministry

Amanda Conger ’20

Communications major and Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey player donates a kidney to a patient in need. See the Saint Anselm Hawks page for the full story.

Shannon Desmond ’19

Onboarding Lead, uConnect (a start-up in Cambridge, MA)

In June 2019, I began working at a start-up company called uConnect, which is a career services marketing platform that helps colleges and universities provide a dedicated space to centralize their academic and career resources. I am an Onboarding Lead, working directly with new clients to customize and build their uConnect platform, brainstorming ways to guide students to more meaningful career pathways. My role is to help colleges deliver on their promise of student career advancement by partaking in client calls, assisting with the design of institutions’ platforms, and encouraging campus communities to become involved in their students' career exploration process.

On Saint Anselm College
St A’s gave me the confidence and background I needed in order to take on this new role. The challenging English courses, ranging from Senior Seminar to Medieval Literature, pushed me to become a better writer and person. I learned how to step outside of my comfort zone through public speaking and presenting my thesis and other various projects. Not only was my workload beneficial in developing stronger research and writing skills, but the support I received from faculty was (and is) unwavering. My professors at St A’s always made themselves available during office hours, and worked around my schedule to provide extra support whenever it was necessary. Everyone cared about me as an individual and not just as a number. The faculty at St A’s always checked in to see how I was doing, constantly reassuring me that with hard work, the sky was the limit. I’ll always be grateful for the mentors I’ve encountered at Saint Anselm College, including Professor Malieckal, who still remind me to never give up, allowing me to get to where I am today. 

Juliann Guerra '19

Graduate student, University of Edinburgh 

I am beginning a master's degree in creative writing at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in fall 2019. I can credit the skills I learned in the English department to my acceptance into the program. The English department gave me more than I could ever ask for in and out of the classroom. I found myself enjoying books I would never have picked off the shelf by myself. I learned how to read a book to understand what was happening and what more meaningful message was being said. The English department helped me grow a passion for the correlation between reading and writing by forcing me to become an inquisitive reader (Why did that need to happen? Is that item placed there for a reason? Could that symbol be an essay topic?) and that transferred into my daily life. English can be challenging because there's never one correct answer, but every other major on campus needs English to be understood. 
 
The English department was responsible for my jobs and internships throughout college. My three internships during college took place at Simon & Schuster Publishing in London, England; the College Communications and Marketing at Saint Anselm College; and Brookstone Park Publishing in Derry, NH. By senior year I was also the News Editor for the school newspaper, The Crier. Working for The Crier had me talking to people in almost every department on campus, and I had to not only ask appropriate, concise questions but also record and quote responses accurately. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve any of these opportunities without the skills and recommendations of the English department.

The Saint Anselm Crier is the college's independent student newspaper, published bi-weekly. The objective of the paper is to provide a medium for information within the Saint Anselm community. Information is presented as unbiased and consistent with journalistic measure. The newspaper also provides a forum for the free exchange of students’ ideas.

Faculty Advisors: Fr. Jerome Day, O.S.B. and Keith Chevalier
 

This student-led club produces a weekly webcast covering campus happenings and updates on local and national politics and sports. Club members have the opportunity to write and present their own segments as well as learn all aspects of the broadcasting process.

Faculty Advisor: Prof. Jonathan Lupo

Student editors, writers, and photographers produce the College yearbook, including the coverage of special events throughout the year, documenting student activities and community engagement as well as coordinating senior photos. A senior and junior editor are chosen from student applications and are responsible for all aspects of the yearbook production.

Faculty Advisor: Prof. Jonathan Lupo

Access Academy, organized by Saint Anselm’s Meelia Center for Community Engagement, offers for-credit courses to Manchester high school students from refugee, immigrant, and underserved backgrounds. With a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, many of the program’s courses focus on using language to explore themes of identity, community, and agency. Students and professors from the English and Communication department are heavily involved with the program, often collaborating together. The program offers students the opportunity to connect with Manchester’s diverse communities and to gain experience and confidence as an educator.

Faculty advisor: Prof. Michael New

Quatrain is a longstanding student-run literary magazine, publishing two issues each academic year. The club solicits poems, stories, illustrations, and photographs from students, faculty, and staff. At our yearly poet-for-hire fundraiser on Valentines’ Day, we make cards and create poems on the spot using manual typewriters. We also organize outings, support literary events on campus, and participate in community service. Joining Quatrain offers students the chance to publish their work, learn editorial and production skills, and connect with the artistic community on the hilltop and beyond.

Faculty advisor: Prof. Michael New

The Anselmian Abbey Players, the Saint Anselm College drama group, regularly offers plays and musicals throughout the year and offers students an excellent opportunity to participate in and to learn all phases of theatre production. Typical annual productions include the Family Weekend show, the fall play, a night of one act plays, a spring semester musical, and scenes from Shakespearian plays.

Faculty advisor: Prof. Landis Magnuson

Combining a foundation in the liberal arts with expertise in aural and written language, our graduates have the versatile skills employers are looking for.

Recent employers, to name a few, include:

Harvard University Press 
ABC News
CNN 
Chicago Public Radio 
Christie's Art Auction 
Boston Consulting Group 
Hasbro, Inc.
Boston Beer Company
Covidien 
Saint Anselm College
Clarient, Inc.
Core Physicians Group
OwnerIQ, Inc.
Putnam Avenue Upper School

With exceptional skills in written and aural communication and close one-on-one relationships with advisors, our graduating seniors are poised for success in graduate school and beyond.

Recent degrees obtained by alumni include:

Doctorate in Education, Boston University

M.A. in Comparative Literature, University of Connecticut

M.A. in Educational Leadership, Southern New Hampshire University

M.A. in English and Creative Writing, Southern New Hampshire University

M.A. in Theatre Education, Emerson College

M.B.A. in Organizational Leadership, Rivier University

Master of Divinity, Andover Newton Theological School

Master of Education, University of Southern Maine

Master of Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston

M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology, Southern Connecticut State University

M.S. in Mass Communication, Boston University

Meaghan Spurling ’17

Hockey player, Boston Blades

Communications major Meaghan Spurling was selected by the Boston Blades in the 2017 Canadian Women's Hockey League entry draft. For the full story, see Saint Anselm's Portraits magazine piece.

Kelsey Walsh ’17

Production Assistant, ABC News, Washington, D.C.

I first worked with ABC News as a student during the New Hampshire First In The Primary debates hosted at Saint Anselm College. As a determined journalist, I was able to make a good impression and work in the production truck as the time-clock for the debates. I maintained my relationship with ABC and landed a position in the Washington bureau after graduation. Here in Washington, I field-produce live shots on Capitol Hill, teleprompt live shows and conduct pre-interviews. I have worked on shows such as Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and This Week. My favorite shift is preparing editorial documents for Good Morning America and cutting b-roll for the show. 

On Saint Anselm College

Saint Anselm College is a top-tier school. From day one, my adviser asked me what I was interested in post-graduation and throughout my four years, she ensured I was able to meet my goals. Since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of working for a major news network, and my adviser helped me strategically plan out what steps to take to reach that goal. She helped me make crucial decisions such as what internships to apply to and what courses to take to help build a professional portfolio.

I chose to attend Saint Anselm College because I knew that I could meet one-on-one with my professors. I am so thankful for Saint Anselm's Benedictine hospitality. Not only will you be able to leave a great, well-rounded individual thanks to a liberal arts education, you will also leave with personal relationships with your professors and the staff. There is no dream too big at Saint Anselm College, and there is a place for everyone and every inspiration. The English department is a community that fosters success. 

Jasna Numanovic ’13

Account Coordinator, Christie's Art Auction

Jasna Numanovic has her dream job. As an account coordinator in the art transport department at Christie's Art Auction, she arranges the domestic and international transport of art objects such as paintings, furniture, and antiquities.

Christie's offers over 450 sales annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $80 million.

Jasna was introduced to Christie's through fine arts professor Kimberly Kersey-Asbury, who took a student group to New York City to explore careers in the art world. When they stopped at Christie's to see an auction and get a behind-the-scenes tour, Jasna was hooked.

"I just fell in love with it. Seeing Andy Warhols being sold for $70 million in front of your eyes within two to three minutes, I was fascinated," she said.

"As soon as I got home, I researched the internship and started applying a year before the applications even went out." Jasna then interned at Christie's the summer before her senior year.

She worked with the Office of Career Services in the Center for Experiential Learning (CEL), who helped her prepare her career portfolio and supported her throughout the application process. She also stayed in touch with the people she met on the tour and saw her perseverance pay off.

Lauren Chooljian ’10

Politics and Policy Reporter, New Hampshire Public Radio

Lauren Chooljian's journey into broadcast journalism started early in her college experience with several hands-on learning experiences. All the steps she took at Saint Anselm prepared her for her job as a morning reporter and producer at Chicago Public Radio and then as a politics and policy reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio.

She became involved right away at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College during presidential primary debates. As a freshman, she had the chance to interview then-senator Hillary Clinton. The summer after her junior year, Lauren won a competitive internship at CBS. She spent 10 weeks in Manhattan working on the network's morning news program. She worked side by side with the show's producer on everything from brainstorming to interviews to editing.

"I learned to think like a news producer," she says.

Those experiences were critical to her career. But Lauren also credits her Saint Anselm professors and the note-taking skills she honed in her college classes. "Taking a lot of information and boiling it down to compelling stories that listeners can understand is what I do every day," she says.