Bio
Dr. Traci S. O’Brien, Distinguished Visiting Professor of German, joined the Department of Languages and Cultures in July 2024. Prior to coming to USAFA, Dr. O’Brien spent most of her academic career at Auburn University where she is also Professor of German and a scholar of nineteenth- and twentieth-century German literature and culture. Her book Enlightened Reactions (2011) focuses on the articulation of (feminine) autonomy via racializing metaphors. More recently, O’Brien has written on twentieth-century Austrian poet and critic, Ernst Schönwiese, contemporary Viennese crime fiction writer, Eva Rossmann, Czech-German modernist writer, H.G. Adler, and “Kafka’s last living heir,” Lenka Reinerová. Equally enthusiastic about pedagogical topics, O’Brien has also published pieces on “bridging the gap” between students’ proficiency levels in upper-level content courses, the importance of linguistic assessment strategies for graduate student teachers, and the value of defining culture and intercultural competence for undergraduate language learners.
Education
Ph.D., German Language and Literature, Graduate School, City University of New York
B.A., French and Creative Writing, Binghamton University, New York
Professional Experience
Distinguished Visiting Professor, United States Air Force Academy (2024-present)
Professor of German, Auburn University (2023-present)
Associate Professor of German, Auburn University (2012-2022)
Assistant Professor of German, Auburn University (2008-2012)
Visiting Instructor of German, Auburn University (2006-2008)
Full-time Instructor of German, Hunter College, City University of New York (2003-2006)
Research and Scholarly Interests
German language pedagogy from beginning levels to advanced content courses; literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, including: Modern Austrian literature, Czech-German literature
Publications
Book
Enlightened Reactions: Emancipation, Gender, and Race in German Women's Writing. Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Vienna: Peter Lang, 2011.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
“‘Die Grenzen der Grenzenlosigkeit’: Auf dem Weg zu einer ethischen Ästhetik in Lenka Reinerová’s Grenze geschlossen (1958) and Alle Farben der Sonne und der Nacht (2003).” Wortfolge 8 (2024). Forthcoming.
“Telling a Good Story: Proficiency-based Teaching, Advanced-level literary discussions, and Social Justice.” Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German 55.1 (2022): 41-58.
“‘Die Grenzen des Sagbaren’? H.G. Adler (on) Writing Literature After the Shoah.” Humanities 10.2 Special Issue: The Literary Response to the Holocaust (2021). Ed. David Patterson. https://doi.org/10.3390/h10020063
“Beyond Cash Value: Promoting Real-World Competence in the Global Turn.” Die Unterrichtspraxis/ Teaching German. 53.1 (2020): 82-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/tger.12120
“Note to Self? Postmodern Criminality and (Feminist) Consciousness in Eva Rossmann’s Freudsche Verbrechen.” Women in German Yearbook 31 (2015): 122-46.
“‘Bridging the Gap’ Within a Class: Managing a Range of Proficiency Levels in a Third-Year German Course.” Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German 42.2 (2009): 41-51. DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-1221.2009.00048.x
“A ‘Daughter of the Occident’ Travels to the ‘Orient’: Ida von Hahn-Hahn’s Gräfin Faustine and Orientalische Briefe.” Women in German Yearbook 24 (2008): 26-48.
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
“‘Farben, die es auf dieser Welt nicht gibt’: Remembering Reality in Lenka Reinerová’s Late Prose.” New Perspectives on Contemporary Austrian Literature and Culture. Ed. Katya Krylova. Oxford, UK: Peter Lang, 2018: 347-72.
“‘Guidelines’ for Future Professionals: A Case for Graduate Training in Assessment.” Taking Stock of German Studies in the United States: The New Millennium. Eds. Carol Anne Costabile-Heming and Rachel J. Halverson. Rochester, NY and Suffolk, UK: Camden House, 2015: 226-48.
“‘Full Steam Ahead!’ Technology, Mobility and Human Progress in Ottilie Assing’s Reports from America.” German Women Writers and the Spatial (Re)Turn: A New Perspective. Eds. Carola Daffner and Beth Muellner. Berlin/Boston: DeGruyter, 2015: 21-39. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110378283-003
“What’s In Your Bag?: ‘Freudian Crimes’ and Austria’s Nazi Past in Eva Rossmann’s Freudsche Verbrechen.” Tatort Germany: The Curious Case of German-Language Crime Fiction. Eds. Lynn Kutch and Todd Herzog. Rochester, NY and Suffolk, UK: Camden House, 2014: 155-74.
“A Progressive Traditionalist. Ernst Schönwiese as a Literary Critic.” Proceedings of the International Ernst Schönwiese Symposium. Ed. Robert Weigel. Francke: Tübingen, 2012: 63-89.