Westminster English major publishes research

A Westminster College English major recently published research in the Richard Macksey Journal at Johns Hopkins University.

Lauren Millhorn, a senior from Rogers, Ohio, published her essay “From Receptors to Revisors: Readers in the Cruso(e) Narrative,” which examines the responsibilities that readers have while reading Daniel DeFoe’s “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” and J.M. Coetzee’s “Foe”—a 20th century response to “Adventures”—to determine how readers can exert authority over a text.

Millhorn began researching the topic last year in a course with Dr. David Swerdlow, professor of English at Westminster College. She presented her research virtually in April 2022 at the Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium hosted by Johns Hopkins University.

In summer 2022, Millhorn submitted her research to the Macksey journal to be considered for publication

“The first emotion I felt upon being published was pride,” said Millhorn. “The pride quickly turned to excitement and I couldn’t wait to share the news with my professors in the English department.”

Millhorn currently serves as president of Westminster’s chapter of the international English honor society Sigma Tau Delta, is a lead peer tutor in the Academic Success Center and is editor-in-chief of The Holcad.

After graduation, Millhorn plans to pursue graduate studies in English.

For more information on Westminster’s English program, click here.

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