Karen Elisabeth O'Brien FRSA is a British academic administrator and scholar of English literature, specialising in the Enlightenment and eighteenth-century literature.[2] Since 2022, she has been Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University[3] (the first woman to hold the office), having previously been Professor of English Literature and Head of the Humanities Division, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of University College, Oxford.[4][5]
Karen O'Brien | |
|---|---|
| 25th Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University | |
| Assumed office January 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Stuart Corbridge |
| Personal details | |
| Alma mater | University College, Oxford St Cross College, Oxford |
| Salary | £353,000 (2022–23)[1] |
Prior to her time at Oxford, she was a pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Birmingham[2] and then Vice-Principal for Education at King's College London.[3][4] O'Brien's scholarly work focuses on the British, American and French Enlightenments, and on British literature more generally between 1660 and 1820.[6] She was awarded her doctoral degree (DPhil) by St Cross College, Oxford in 1986 for a thesis on English,[7] after having completed her undergraduate studies at University College.[8] She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge.[9]
Selected works
edit- O'Brien, Karen (1997). Narratives of enlightenment: cosmopolitan history from Voltaire to Gibbon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521465335.
- O'Brien, Karen (2009). Women and Enlightenment in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521773492.
- Garside, Peter; O'Brien, Karen, eds. (2015). English and British fiction: 1750-1820. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199574803.
- O'Brien, Karen; Young, Brian, eds. (2018). The Cambridge companion to Edward Gibbon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107035119.
References
edit- ^ "Durham University Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2023" (PDF). Durham University. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Professor Karen O'Brien". Humanities Division. University of Oxford. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Durham appoints new Vice-Chancellor and Warden". Durham University News. Durham University. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Professor Karen O'Brien". Faculty of English. University of Oxford. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ Ffrench, Andrew (20 May 2016). "Head of humanities appointed at Oxford University". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ "Karen O'Brien". The RSA. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ "Alumna Professor Karen O'Brien appointed Vice-Chancellor and Warden at Durham University". St Cross College. University of Oxford. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ "Karen O'Brien". University College. University of Oxford. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ "Professor Karen O'Brien biography". Durham University. Retrieved 8 March 2022.