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Keynotes 2011
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Keynotes 2011:
O'Brien & Yang
Friday Keynote by Dr. John O'Brien:
"The Internet and the Destruction of
Discourse (JK)*"
O'Brien is the President of North Hennepin
College, MnSCU.
Friday, March 25, 12 noon
In his presentation, John O’Brien will
acknowledge and review how the Internet and related technology-enabled
communication have made it more difficult to promote thoughtful, crafted,
and well-rounded writing. However, the focus of his presentation is to
explore the ways existing and emerging technologies can also be a positive
influence for those involved in the teaching of English and writing.
* "Just Kidding"
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Dr. John O’Brien was appointed president of North Hennepin Community
College on St. Patrick’s Day, 2010. Prior to that, he directed
the
MnSCU
"Students
First"
initiative.
He served as acting president of
Century College
and academic vice president from 2005-2009. He also was
associate vice chancellor for instructional technology at the Office
of the Chancellor for six years, advancing the appropriate use of
technology to enhance student learning, building on his experience as
instructional technology coordinator during his faculty years at
Normandale Community College (1994-2000).
At Normandale, he taught
English and served as faculty association president. He has also
taught English and composition at the University of Minnesota, Augustana
College (SD), Augsburg College, and the University of St. Thomas.
Along with
creative writing, he has published scholarship in his academic
discipline over the years, and his
book
Milan Kundera and Feminism
was published by
St. Martin’s Press in 1995.
He earned his
Ph.D. in English from the
University of Minnesota
and a master’s degree in Anglo-Irish literature as a
Rotary Scholar
at
Trinity College
in Dublin, Ireland.
His undergraduate degree from
Augustana College
(SD) is in English and Education with a minor in speech,
communications, and theatre. |
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Saturday
Keynote by Kao Kalia Yang:
"Learning To Live in a
Story"
Yang is the author of The Latehomecomer.
Saturday, March 26, 1 pm
When the moment
writes itself into memory and memory shapes action, we become. This is an
exploration of how I have become: how I came to be a Hmong daughter in the American
experience, living diversity, writing literature, and speaking to life.
More importantly, it is an exploration of how each and every single one of
us becomes the happy ending (or not) of that man and that woman standing
in Time for all that we can be: the unity and beauty of difference joining
up in the life effort.
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"Kao Kalia
Yang, author of
The Latehomecomer: A
Hmong Family Memoir,
was born in the Ban Vinai Thai Refugee Camp in 1980, and then at the
age of seven came with her family to the U.S. She grew up in St. Paul,
where she learned to live in two worlds yet remain distinctly Hmong.
Audiences report her presentations are deeply moving and meaningful. Her work has appeared in the
Paj Ntaub Voice Hmong
Literary Journal
and numerous other publications.
The Latehomecomer is
one of the first memoirs by a Hmong writer released with national
distribution by a literary press" (foxcitiesbookfestival.org).
Together with her sister, Kalia founded Words Wanted, a company
dedicated to helping immigrants with writing, translating, and
business services. A graduate of Carleton College and Columbia
University, Yang has also recently completed a short film on the Hmong
American refugee experience (amazon.com).
Kalia's keynote will be recorded and available on this site.
Listen to Kalia talk about her book in a YouTube 9-min. video:
youtube.com/watch?v=JSzQffmBmPI. |
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Dr. John O'Brien
Author Kao Kalia Yang |
