Dr Dan O’Hara joins the English Faculty at New College of the Humanities
(PRWEB UK) 15 July 2014 -- Dr O’Hara will deliver lectures and lead seminars, small group tutorials and one-to-one tutorials. He will be responsible for the delivery of the module on American Literature. He will also contribute to four other modules (The Novel, Moderns, Postcolonialism and Approaches), mainly to teach postmodern theory and fiction.
He will work closely with other members of the department including Dr Catherine Brown, Dr Charlotte Grant, Dr Daniel Swift; and visiting professors Mr Howard Jacobson, Dr Peter Maber, Sir Trevor Nunn, Professor Sir Christopher Ricks, Mr Jaya Savige.
Dr O’Hara graduated with a first class degree in English and American Literature at Warwick University, which he followed with an MA in English. Dr O’Hara then moved to Christ Church, Oxford, to study for an MSt, which he achieved with distinction. He was awarded his DPhil on Machinic Fictions: a genealogy of machines in twentieth-century prose and art in 2007.
Dr O’Hara joins the College from the Centre for Fine Art Research (CFAR) at Birmingham City University, where he is Honorary International Research Fellow. From 2007 to 2012 he was Lecturer in English and American Culture at the University of Cologne, and from 1997 to 2006 he tutored at Oxford University, at colleges including Wadham College, Corpus Christi College, Christ Church, St Hilda’s College and Lady Margaret Hall. He has taught American Literature from 1800 to the present, British Literature from 1789 to the present, genre fictions, particularly science fiction and crime fiction, and philosophy and literature. His most recent book is Extreme Metaphors: Selected Interviews with J. G. Ballard, 1967–2008 (London: Fourth Estate, 2012).
Dr O’Hara’s research interests include: Materialism in art and literature; Mechanism & vitalism; Skeuomorphism; Gilles Deleuze; J G Ballard; Samuel Beckett; Art Brut, understood to include both fine art and first-person narratives; Ruin-sentiment and Apocalypse; Irony and Human-Computer Interaction.
Dr Catherine Brown, Convenor and Senior Lecturer in English, commented: “The English faculty is looking forward to Dr O’Hara joining NCH. His expertise in American literature, postmodernism, and post-War literary theory, will complement the existing research interests of the department, and - we predict - will be of great interest to our students.”
A C Grayling, Master of New College of the Humanities, said: “I am delighted to have Dan O’Hara joining the College. He will be a great addition to our academic community and his expertise and broad interests will be invaluable for our students.”
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Desi Lyon
T: +44 (0)2072911385
E: desi(dot)lyon(at)nchum(dot)org
Notes to editors:
About New College of the Humanities
New College of the Humanities (NCH) offers a new model of higher education for the humanities in the UK. NCH students enjoy one of the best staff-to-student ratios in UK higher education and benefit from a high number of quality contact hours including engaging and challenging one-to-one tutorials.
Our professors are international experts in their fields and our full- time academic staff members have been selected for their proven ability in teaching as well as for their research interests.
NCH welcomed its first intake of students in September 2012 and prepares students for undergraduate degrees in: Economics BSc; English BA; History BA; Law LLB, Philosophy BA and Politics & International Relations BSc.
In addition to their 12-module single honours undergraduate degree from the University of London, all NCH students study a further eight modules. These comprise four modules from another degree subject or Art History, Classical Studies, or Psychology as a contextual course, and three core modules in Applied Ethics, Logic & Critical Thinking, and Science Literacy, plus the College’s three-year Professional Programme.
The College is centrally located in Bloomsbury, London’s university district and students, as associate members of the University of London, have access to many of the resources of the University of London: the exceptional library in Senate House, the University of London Union, sports facilities, and many other opportunities to enrich themselves through extra-curricular activity.
The College’s rolling applications process is independent of UCAS and applications can be made in addition to the five UCAS choices. Visit http://www.NCHum.org or call 020 7637 4550 for all enquiries and applications.
https://www.facebook.com/NewCollegeH
Recent research
In March 2014 NCH commissioned YouthSight, an independent youth research agency, to conduct research into the academic experiences of NCH students. The survey was based on annual research YouthSight conduct for HEPI with c14000 students at public universities in the UK. Using the NCH results and data collected on behalf of HEPI, YouthSight were able to directly compare the academic experience of NCH students with students studying Humanities/Social Sciences at Russell Group universities in 2014. HEPI were informed that this research took place.
The statistics show (percentage in brackets reflects HEPI results for those studying humanities and social sciences at Russell Group universities):
General:
63 per cent of students at New College of the Humanities say that their university experience has exceeded their expectations. (2014: 28 per cent/ 2013: 32%)
Contact time:
New College of the Humanities students experience an average of 13.8 hours of contact time per week. (2014: 9.85/ 2013: 9.93)
Assignments and feedback:
• Students at New College of the Humanities complete 13.7 assignments per term (6.44)
• 84 per cent of feedback at New College of the Humanities is given in person (2014: 36 per cent/ 2013: 40%)
• 91 per cent of students at New College of the Humanities claim it is easy to schedule time to discuss work, or discuss work on email, outside of scheduled work hours (2014: 69 per cent/ 2013: 76%)
• 88 per cent of students at New College of the Humanities state they have sufficient access to academic staff outside timetabled sessions in order to discuss aspects of their work (2014: 71 per cent/ 2013: 73%)
• 88 per cent of students at New College of the Humanities are satisfied with the amount of timetables sessions (2014: 61%/ 2013: 62%)
Desi Lyon, New College of the Humanities Ltd, +44 2072911385, [email protected]
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