Alyssa J. O'Brien, Ph.D.
Research & Publications

"To search into (a matter or subject); to investigate or study closely. Also, to engage in research upon (a subject, a person, etc.)." -- OED

Since arriving at Stanford in 2001, Alyssa has written or co-authored seven textbooks as well as many articles and conference papers.  She’s been an invited speaker in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East on subjects such as global learning, communication for leadership, visual rhetoric, intercultural competencies, and “mapping a change in writing.”

 

Publications -- Books:

2009 New Books:  Christine Alfano and I have embarked on revisions of Envision, the short argument book, and Envision-in-Depth, the big reader.  Thanks to our reviewers, our students, and our colleagues who use these books in the classroom – especially at Clemson, at SLCC, and around the country.  A special thanks to our international friends at the American University in Cairo, at Orebro University in Sweden, at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, at Seoul National University, and at the University of Sydney.  We hope to offer more focus on diversity, multiple ethnicities, and global learning while providing solid instruction in rhetoric and writing for a visual world.

 

Stanford, Looking out to the Oval

Envision In-Depth: Reading, Writing, and Researching Arguments (A Visual Culture Reader).  Co-authored with Christine Alfano. Pearson Longman Publishers, 2007; MLA Edition 2009.  Find it on Amazon

 

The best of Envision but with nine chapters of readings as case studies on the most interesting topics today: gaming, photo ethics, body image, war, religion, copyright, international sports, media coverage, tattoo culture, and more!

Instructor’s Manual to Envision in Depth.

This comprehensive pedagogical guide, written by the authors of Envision, walks new teachers through the steps of designing, leading, and facilitating writing classes using technology, visual texts, rhetorical concepts, and the latest in composition theory.

Envision: Writing and Researching Arguments. Co-authored with Christine Alfano.  Pearson Longman Publishers, 2008; MLA edition 2009.  See it on Amazon.com

This majorly improved “second edition” offers a focus on different media in every chapter – how do we understand, analyze, write about, and produce multiple media?  Each chapter offers solid rhetorical instruction, model visual and textual readings, plus annotated student work.  An improved practical guide, Envision teaches core skills in analysis, argument, and research, using both contemporary examples to capture reader interest and key principles from classical rhetoric.

Instructor’s Manual to Envision

 

Written by the authors, in collaboration with Kristi Wilson, this guide helps new teachers use the shorter version of Envision.

Envision: Persuasive Writing in a Visual World. Co-authored with Christine Alfano. NY: Longman Publishers, 2004. 1st Edition.

Envision was the first brief argument rhetoric designed for students learning to write in today's visual world. We were proud to offer this book, with its flexible three-part organization, to instructors.  Those who want to focus on argument and rhetorical analysis can emphasize Part 1. Those who want more intensive work in research and source-based writing will focus on Part 2. For innovative courses that include visual design, oral presentation, and multimedia writing projects, Part 3 offers the most fully developed textbook coverage available in a brief rhetoric.

 Envision Online: The Comprehensive Companion Website.  Launched September 2004.  http://www.ablongman.com/envision

 

After extensive research, we put together this companion website that showcases over 240 student papers, annotated bibliographies for working with every media, in-class activities and assignment guidelines, and special resources for attending to diverse learners.  There are pages for instructors too.

Instructor's Notes to The New St. Martin's Handbook, 6th edition. Co-authored with Andrea Lunsford and Cheryl Glenn. Boston/ NY: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2008.

 

Thanks to Andrea Lunsford for inviting me again to work with her on this project as a contribution to our fields of writing and composition.

Instructor's Notes to The New St. Martin's Handbook, 5th edition. Co-authored with Andrea Lunsford and Cheryl Glenn. Boston/ NY: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2003.

 

Recent Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals or Book Collections:

°         “Cross-Cultural Connections: Intercultural Learning for Global Citizenship,” Alyssa O’Brien and Anders Eriksson.  In INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE: Educating the World Citizen.  Eds. Mara Alagic and Glyn Remington (forthcoming, 2009-2010).

°          “Drawn to Multiple Sides // Making Arguments Visible with Political Cartoons,” in Writing the Visual:  A Practical Guide for Teachers of Composition and Communication, Eds. Anne Richards and Carol David.  Parlor Press, 2008.  183-200.

°          “Improving Cross-Cultural Communication through Collaborative Technologies,” Alyssa O’Brien, Christine Alfano and Eva Magnusson. Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication, LNCS. Vol. 4744 (July 2007): 125-131.

Recent Articles in Online or Multimedia Publications:

°         Monthly Posts on Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Instructor’s Blog: http://ccr.stanford.edu/collabblog/

°         “Moving to Collaborative Multimedia Writing in the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project,” The Rhet Herring, American University of Cairo Writing and Rhetoric Newsletter.  July 2009.  URL forthcoming

°         “Stanford Writing Students Go Global through CCR,” Edutopia. “How to Go Global in Your Classroom Bob Lenz  June 30, 2009 http://www.edutopia.org/technology-global-classroom#comment-63553

°         “Cross-Cultural Rhetoric: Diversity on a Global Scale.  Invited Blog Entry on CCCC Blog.  March 19, 2009.  http://cccc-blog.blogspot.com/search/label/3%2F19%2F2009

°          “Studies in Global Rhetoric,” Stanford English Department Newsletter, September 2007.

°         “Plasma Screens as Portals to the World.” Alyssa O’Brien Feature Story in PWR Newsletter, Online Global News, Spring-Summer (June 2007). http://www.stanford.edu/group/pwrnewsletter/sp07/

°         Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Results: “White Paper: Assessment Report.” This white paper presents the results of data analysis, 2006-2007 Örebro-Stanford Exchange, Published June 2007.

°         “Hej! That's Swedish for Hello,” Alyssa O’Brien Feature Story PWR Newsletter, Online Global News, Winter (January 2007). http://www.stanford.edu/group/pwrnewsletter/w07/index.htm

°          “Envision: A technology-enhanced means of teaching writing in a visual world,” Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning Newsletter (Jan 2005): http://scil.stanford.edu/news/envision.html

Articles Published before my arrival at Stanford University:

 

“Theorizing Feminisms: Breast Cancer Narratives and Reconstructed ‘Women,’” in Exclusions in Feminist Thought: Challenging the Boundaries of Womanhood, ed. Mary F. Brewer, Sussex Academic Press, 2002.

“The Molly Blooms of ‘Penelope’: Reading Joyce Archivally,” The Journal of Modern Literature 24.1 (Fall 2001): 7-24.  HTML version (Project Muse)

“Manipulating Visual Pleasure in Muriel,” The Quarterly Review of Film and Video 17.1 (April 2000): 49-61. 

Book Reviews:

  • “Reading Modernist Time through Four Women Writers,” Review of Modernism, Daily Time, and Everyday Life, by Bryony Randall. ELT: English Literature in Transition, forthcoming 2009-2010.
  • “Ibsen: Rethinking Modernism’s Grand Narratives,” Review of Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism, by Toril Moi. ELT: English Literature in Transition.  51.3 (September 2008): 315-319.
  • “The Virtual Marshall McLuhan,” by Donald Theall, Review in The James Joyce Quarterly 40.4 (Summer 2003): 885-888.
  • “Modernist Aesthetes as Commodities,” Review of “Am I a Snob?”: Modernism and the Novel, by Sean Latham.  ELT: English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 48:3 (2005): 348-352.
  • “Ulysses's Promise for a Post-Colonial Ireland,” Book Review of Joyce's Revenge: History, Politics, and Aesthetics in Ulysses, by Andrew Gibson (NY: Oxford University Press, 2002): ELT: English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 47:2 (Jan 2004): 231-235.
  • "Cites for Sore Eyes," Book Review of Joyce, Joyceans, and the Rhetoric of Citation, by Eloise Knowlton, in The James Joyce Literary Supplement, 15.2 (Fall 2001): 18-19.

Manuscript Reviews:

  • The NEXT Reader.  Manuscript Review for McGraw-Hill.  September 2004; March 2005; May 2006.
  • The Everyday Writer, Revision Review for Bedford/St. Martin's, March 2003.
  • The Contemporary American Short Story, Manuscript Review for Longman, March 2002.
  • Behind the Short Story: From First to Final Draft, Manuscript Review for Longman, January 2002.
  • Shaping the Story, Manuscript Review for Longman Publishers, December 2001.
  • Quick Access, by Lynn Quitman Troyka; Book Review for Prentice Hall Publishers, November 2001.

Dissertation:

“Gendered Disidentification in the Fiction of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Nella Larsen: A Modernist Aesthetic of Mobility.” Director: James Longenbach, University of Rochester, Department of English.

Research Collaboration Endeavors:

  • Stanford-University of Texas, Austin, research core collaboration, 2009
  • Wallenberg Global Learning Network, International Collaboration, 2006-2009
  • Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Collaboration, 2006-2009
  • Writing Program Administrator’s Reading and Professional Development Group, 2004-2007
  • Visual Rhetoric Reading Group; Co-Founder, 2004
  • Professional Activities Committee Co-Chair; Research Discussions Series, 2003-2004
  • IHUM-PWR Scholarship Exchange, Founder, 2002
  • Rhetoric Reading Group, Stanford University, 2001-2003
  • Radical Pedagogy Group, Stanford University, 2001-2002
  • Feminist Theory Group and Interdisciplinary Exchange, Stanford University, 2001-2003

 

Research "Bio" or Biography:

Alyssa J. O’Brien completed her Ph.D. in literature, focusing on modernist literature as a feminist / postcolonial challenge to 1920s political rhetoric. During her graduate school years, she published on James Joyce, French film theory, and representations of breast cancer activism.  During this time, her research interests centered on gendered images across Dublin, London, and Harlem in the 1920s.  She taught literature, creative writing, and computer-enhanced writing courses at the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music.

Subsequently, Alyssa completed a post-doc at Cornell University, where her research branched into the areas of creativity and pedagogy; she continued her interest in visual culture, literature, politics, and activism.

Since joining Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric in 2001, her research has focused on visual rhetoric & multimedia literacy, intercultural communication theory, and pedagogy & digital media.  She has conducted empirical research through grant funding provided by the Wallenberg Global Learning Network.  See her most recent research endeavor as Coordinator of the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric project at Stanford (http://ccr.stanford.edu or read her regular posts on the CCR Instructor’s blog at http://ccr.stanford.edu/collabblog/.  

Alyssa now teaches courses in visual rhetoric, cross-cultural communication, global leadership, and rhetoric for graduate public policy students.  She is a regular instructor in Stanford’s Continuing Studies Program, teaching both in-person classes on writing & speaking, as well as in the Online Writer’s Studio where she loves to teach “Getting Started in Creative Writing.”

 

As a writing teacher who writes, Alyssa also makes time to contribute articles to her local paper, CoastViews Magazine.

 

Contact

Alyssa J. O'Brien, Ph.D.
Stanford University
Program in Writing and Rhetoric
Stanford, CA 94305
Tel. (650) 723-3802
aobrien@stanford.edu

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Last Modified: August 24, 2009