John O'Brien

Article contrasting the significant investment in higher education in Saudi Arabia with marked disinvestment in higher education in the US.

Guest column in regional newspaper, advocating for light rail as a way to improve accessibility for students

Guest column in regional newspaper, highlighting new mandated college cost calculators

Guest column in regional newspaper, focusing on the value of college environmental sustainability efforts

Guest column in regional newspaper, focusing on the value of service learning in college communities

Guest column in regional newspaper, focusing on the national completion agenda

Guest column in regional newspaper, reviewing factors that go into choosing the best college or university

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Associate Editor, three issues of Communitas, a journal of ideas for Minnesota's Community Colleges (1997-2000).

Publisher Summary: Since sexuality and sexual politics account for the most consistently engaged tensions in Milan Kundera's fiction, it is surprising that critical attention to Kundera's work has yet to produce an extensive study that concentrates on the Czech novelist's problematic representations of women. In this study, O'Brien offers two such in-depth considerations: First he tracks the (mis)representations of the female characters; then he explores the promise of reading Kundera from the… Show more

Publisher Summary: Since sexuality and sexual politics account for the most consistently engaged tensions in Milan Kundera's fiction, it is surprising that critical attention to Kundera's work has yet to produce an extensive study that concentrates on the Czech novelist's problematic representations of women. In this study, O'Brien offers two such in-depth considerations: First he tracks the (mis)representations of the female characters; then he explores the promise of reading Kundera from the feminist perspective. Initially, O'Brien takes Kundera to task for representing women from a perspective dominated by either/or, opposition-based frameworks. Instead of dismissing Kundera as sexist, however, O'Brien takes these concerns further, arguing that a feminist-postmodernist approach shows Kundera exposing, not reinforcing, these misrepresentations. Using an eclectic perspective that draws on the insights of feminist criticism and deconstruction, the author develops a method of simultaneously appreciating the complicated surfaces and the paradoxical depths of Kundera's work. Considering O'Brien's own cross-purpose and Kundera's famous penchant for ambiguity, the duality of O'Brien's conclusions are appropriate. Milan Kundera & Feminism considers Kundera's contributions to the feminist critique of representation without ignoring the serious difficulties for the feminist reader. Show less

Presentation, "Happiness in Depressing Postmodern Literature," Phi Theta Kappa induction ceremony, Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN (1999).

Paper, "Milan Kundera and Representation," Midwest American Slavic Association conference, East Lansing, MI (May 1993).

Paper, "Episodic Aesthetics: Büchner's Woyzeck," 16th Annual International German Studies Association conference, Minneapolis, MN (October 1992).

Paper, "Composition Theory and the Teaching of Music,"… Show more

Presentation, "Happiness in Depressing Postmodern Literature," Phi Theta Kappa induction ceremony, Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN (1999).

Paper, "Milan Kundera and Representation," Midwest American Slavic Association conference, East Lansing, MI (May 1993).

Paper, "Episodic Aesthetics: Büchner's Woyzeck," 16th Annual International German Studies Association conference, Minneapolis, MN (October 1992).

Paper, "Composition Theory and the Teaching of Music," MCTE Conference (National Council of Teachers of English, Minnesota), St. Louis Park, MN (May 1992).

Paper, "Theorizing the Body in Milan Kundera's Novels," 33rd Annual Midwest/MLA conference, Chicago, IL (November 1991).

Session Chair, "The Intrusive Author in Contemporary Fiction," 33rd Annual Midwest/MLA conference (November 1991).

Paper, "Interrogating the Author," 33rd Annual Midwest/MLA conference (November 1991).

Paper, "Text, Subject, Author: Milan Kundera," Annual International Rhetoric Council conference on subjectivity theory, University of California, San Diego (November 1990).

Paper, "The Contemporary Novel in Australia," 32nd Annual Midwest/MLA conference, Kansas City (November 1990).

Paper, "Theoretical Implications of the Intrusive Author," Language and Literature conference, Dana College/Creighton University (April 1990).

Paper, "The Abbey Theatre and International Drama," Irish Literature and Culture conference, University of Notre Dame (March 1990).

Paper, "Waiting for Godot: Violent Content, Violent Form," 10th Annual North American Themes in Drama conference, University of California, Riverside (February 1988).

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