Jobily Gillis
Major
English – Writing
Submission Type
Oral Presentation
Area of Study or Work
English-Writing
Faculty Advisor
Joanne Diaz
Faculty Advisor
Patrick Zajac
Location
CNS E101
Start Date
4-11-2026 8:30 AM
End Date
4-11-2026 9:30 AM
Abstract
Writers and scholars of campus novels often reinforce the conventions of classic stories centered around an academic setting and its students and faculty. The focus on the insular setting, archetypal characters who tend to have narrow and self-involved perspectives, and exploration of the “forbidden” create a sense of dramatization that distracts from the internal ongoings of diverse students who happen to share an academic setting. I believe at the heart of campus novels, just like any novel, should be grounded characters who are concerned with personal issues as well as the world around them. In the excerpt that I will read from Jobily Gillis, I construct the five simultaneous narratives of four disparate students attending the fictional Taylor University on the outskirts of Boston in the early 1990s, and the one student who unknowingly assists their journeys of self discovery through his art. My approach aims to create grounded characters with age-less struggles that reflect what students on today’s campuses, and students of every time, experience while pursuing their education and trying to build a life for themselves.
Jobily Gillis
CNS E101
Writers and scholars of campus novels often reinforce the conventions of classic stories centered around an academic setting and its students and faculty. The focus on the insular setting, archetypal characters who tend to have narrow and self-involved perspectives, and exploration of the “forbidden” create a sense of dramatization that distracts from the internal ongoings of diverse students who happen to share an academic setting. I believe at the heart of campus novels, just like any novel, should be grounded characters who are concerned with personal issues as well as the world around them. In the excerpt that I will read from Jobily Gillis, I construct the five simultaneous narratives of four disparate students attending the fictional Taylor University on the outskirts of Boston in the early 1990s, and the one student who unknowingly assists their journeys of self discovery through his art. My approach aims to create grounded characters with age-less struggles that reflect what students on today’s campuses, and students of every time, experience while pursuing their education and trying to build a life for themselves.