Studying Millennial Culture: Angela Christaldi ‘17

Christaldi

Christaldi

Millennials are lazy. They’re entitled. They’re narcissistic. At least, that’s what other generations say about them. But what if you give them a chance to speak for themselves?

Angela Christaldi ’17 is spending the summer composing a series of essays on the culture of the millennial generation. The collection, which is being written as part of a Summer Scholars project, is tentatively titled “Fear and Loathing of the Millennial Generation.”

“I applied for the Summer Scholars program because I wanted the opportunity to fully immerse myself in my writing,” Christaldi says. “I want to explore millennial culture through a variety of different lenses such as politics, economics and gender.”

Christaldi draws inspiration from “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” an influential collection of essays about life in California in the 1960s by Joan Didon. She discovered the book in a class taught by Owen Gilman, Ph.D., professor of English. Dr. Gilman now serves as Christaldi’s mentor for the project.

“Dr. Gilman’s course ‘Rereading the ‘60s’ exposed me to new types of writing, and his knowledge of that type of literature made him a perfect fit to oversee my project,” she says.

“Angela’s project could not be more timely, and she is rather perfectly located to be an essayist on American culture in the summer of 2016 heading toward the election in November,” Gilman says. “Her project will be a lively quest for understanding, a spirited effort to make sense of life in our time by writing.”

During the academic year, Christaldi is a tutor at the Writing Center and managing editor of The Hawk student newspaper. She is also a member of the Women’s Leadership Initiative and a student board member of SJU’s Women’s Center. She has made the dean’s list, studies in the Honors Program, and has been inducted into the Sigma Tau Delta English International Honor Society.

— Jeffrey Martin ’04, ’05 (M.A.)

Office of University Communications

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Summer Scholars Project Title: “Fear and Loathing of the Millennial Generation”
Mentor: Owen Gilman, Ph.D., professor of English
High School: Sacred Heart High School, Vineland, NJ