The office of Donnarumma 113 feels like a quiet oasis amidst the typically crammed classrooms of this building. Emily J. Orlando, P.hD sits at her large L-shaped desk, the quiet clicking of her fingers on the keyboard the only sound breaking the stillness. On the wall, a towering bookshelf stretches nearly from floor to ceiling, its shelves filled with rows of colorful books, each one undoubtedly loved and pored over by Orlando herself. Contrary to the other offices in this hallway, the room is immaculately organized—papers neatly stacked, books carefully aligned and the desk clear of any random knick-knacks.
Despite the precision of her space, there is a lightness to the room, a sharp contrast to the often cramped atmosphere of the Donnarumma offices just down the hall. A fresh, floral scent lingers in the air, giving a burst of brightness as the afternoon sun shines through the windows.
Dr. Orlando’s demeanor mirrors her environment: poised and methodical, yet unmistakably warm and welcoming. Dressed in a wine-colored burgundy dress with a matching blazer, and sporting a fashionable brooch, Orlando is always chicly put together and poised.
As one of Fairfield English Department’s most beloved professors, Dr. Orlando has taught hundreds of students pursuing English and the humanities since she first started teaching at Fairfield in 2007. Prior to her Fairfield experience, Orlando first fell in love with literature during her undergraduate career at St. Anselm College. She notes Dr. Denise Askin, a former St. Anselm English professor, as a mentor and hero in Orlando’s eyes.
“I just loved her,” Orlando gushed, “I wanted to be her when I grew up.” Through Dr. Askin’s courses, Orlando realized her passion for literature, and values how “literature helps us understand the world and helps us understand people who are different from us.”
Despite the inspiration and praise that she received from some of her college professors, Orlando notes that she was not everybody’s favorite student. She shared how she had a teacher who constantly gave her bad grades and even wanted to get her kicked out of her college’s honors program.
“I’ve been through it all, too, you know,” she said, “and I also think rejection is an important part of the journey.”
Regardless of this discouraging professor, Orlando still found support and inspiration in others around her.
“I think all I needed was for the right person to see my value and sort of pull out that confidence, and I would love to be able to do the same thing for somebody.”
Inspired by the teachers who cultivated her passion for literature, Orlando’s teaching style is very “student-centered” while also being “fueled by [her] own research.”
“There’s definitely a synergy between the two,” she says, “I don’t think I could do one without the other. My research and writing on people like Oscar Wilde or Nella Larsen or Elizabeth Siddal just makes my teaching better. It gets me excited and sustains me.”
Orlando’s passion for literature is contagious, and many of her students credit her for their love of reading. Sam Ponessa, a Fairfield University senior, was enrolled in Orlando’s course on Edith Wharton. Orlando has previously described her Edith Wharton class as a “dream course” for her to teach, as Wharton is one of her favorite authors and inspirations.
As a Journalism and Politics major, Ponessa initially took this course to satisfy his literature requirement. What he wasn’t expecting was to find a newfound passion for literature.
“Even though Wharton isn’t an author that I would be typically drawn to, Orlando’s passion alone made me fall in love with it. She is by far one of the most passionate professors I have ever had,” Ponessa shared.
Along with Wharton, Orlando loves teaching courses on 19th-century literature. Her favorite assignment to do with students is her traditional “tableaux vivant” project, in which students recreate famous photos and artwork to go along with the course’s readings.
Orlando happily praises this assignment because “it calls on creativity but it also calls on critical research skills.” She always looks forward to seeing what her students create at the end of the semester.
Ponessa also shares that the tableaux vivants, as well as many other creative class assignments “were a lot of fun, and [he] still think[s] back on them today.”
To all students with a passion for literature, Orlando shares her words of advice: “Don’t ever say ‘I can’t do what brings my heart joy because it’s not gonna pay the bills,’ because it can.”Orlando encourages students to pursue what they love and are passionate about. She references Robin Williams’ iconic monologue from Dead Poets Society to prove her point on why we study literature: “Poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
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