THOMAS P. O'CONNOR
James Madison University
School of Media Arts & Design
MSC 4010
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
(540)568-6215
http://smad.jmu.edu/oconnor.html
M.F.A. Creative Writing;
Department of English
University
of Virginia, Charlottesville,
VA. 1990.
M.A. Communication;
Department of Communication
University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 1982.
B.A. College of
Literature, Science, and the Arts
University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MI. 1977.
Classical Acting
Training
Royal Academy of
Dramatic Art (London, England / Rochester, MI.) 1970-1971
PROFESSIONAL
POSITIONS
Independent Television
and Film Producer/Writer. 1979 - Present
James Madison University School of Media Arts & Design, Harrisonburg, VA
Associate Professor,
1986 - Present
University of
Steubenville, Steubenville, Ohio.
English Instructor,1984-1986
WSWP-TV/WPBY-TV, Public
Television, Charleston, WV.
Producer/Anchor for
weekly public affairs show. 1983-1984
WTVS-TV, Public
Television, Detroit, MI. Documentary Producer/Writer. 1982-1983. http://www.detroitpublictv.org/watch/index.shtml
Sunrise Video, Ann
Arbor, MI
Producer/Writer for
television documentaries. 1979-1982
COURSES TAUGHT
Screenplay Writing
(course developed by O'Connor)
Introduction to Mass
Media
Writing for Television
& Radio
History of Documentary
Film (course developed by O'Connor)
Feature Writing (print)
Film Adaptations (course
developed by O'Connor)
TELEVISION/FILM
PRODUCTIONS (Partial List)
Graham Greene: Dangerous Edge. Producer/Writer/Director.
Hosted by Sir Derek Jacobi, this 90-minute documentary examines the life and work
of greatest novelists of the twentieth century. Work-In-Progress.
Fools of Time. Feature screenplay about William ShakespeareÕs
ÒLost YearsÓ during the Jesuit Mission of 1580-81. Optioned by Michael Media,
2002.
The Idea Nobody
Wanted. Screenwriter/ Host. Television Documentary on first manned lunar landing in
1969. Broadcast via the NASA
Television Network, 1999.
Love One Another.
Researcher/Writer. Documentary film on a relief organization in the
Caribbean, Central and South America.
1997. Cine Golden Eagle
Award, 1998.
A Magic Carpet
Ride. Screenwriter. A 30-minute video tracing the historical uses of carpet from
the 3rd century Pazyryk Carpet to wall-to-wall carpeting. 1995.
A Place Called Home. Screenwriter. Documentary film on the social
and political upheavals of the baby-boom generation. Emmy - Best Documentary, 1993.
George Mason of
Gunston Hall. Writer/Director. Teleplay about George MasonÕs struggle
for a Bill of Rights at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. PBS, 1990.
Theater Wagon.
Producer/Director.
Documentary about a travelling theater company, run by an octogenarian
couple. PBS, 1988. http://www.vmfa.state.va.us/osp/film_videoT.html
Fatima. Screenwriter.
Ricardo Montalban hosts this documentary examining the roles of religion
and science in the 20th century.
International syndication -U.S., Europe (1984) and Russia, (1991). Emmy Award-Writing, 1985.
West Virginia Journal.
Producer/Host. Weekly
television series. PBS, 1983-1984.
Session 84.
Reporter. A weekly
television show covering the West Virginia State Legislature. Distributed --- same as above.
Who Pays? Producer/Writer/Director. Studs Terkel hosts this documentary on the impact of the auto crises
on workers in Detroit. PBS, 1982.
The Hawthorne
Dominicans. Producer/Writer/Director. Documentary on Nathaniel Hawthorne's
daughter, Rose, who founded an order of nuns who care for people with incurable
cancer. CBS-New York, 1981.
Ronald McDonald
Houses. Producer/Director. Family Channel, 1980.
Spirit. Producer/Writer/Director. 30-part documentary series. International syndication
1979-1982.
ARTICLES (Partial
List)
ÒComplex Adaptive
SystemsÓ, Santa Fe Institute Bulletin, Spring 2001.
ÒHarold Morowitz and The
Origins of LifeÓ, Ibid, Fall 2000
"Theater of
Pain," Our Sunday Visitor,"
March 1997.
"Suggesting
Transcendence," America magazine, August 1996
ÒWhat Edmund Campion
Died For," Catholic Digest, June
1995.
"Avery
Dulles," New Covenant magazine, June 1995.
ÒThe Witness of Edmund
Campion," America magazine
October 1994.
Ibid. Social Issues
Research Series, Renaissance
Database, 1994.
"In The
World," New Covenant
magazine, June 1994
"Something's
Wrong," Ibid, February
1993.
"Epiphany,"
Ibid, January, 1992
"Almighty
Irony," Ibid, December 1992.
"Hawthorne's
Legacy,Ó National Catholic Register, June 1983.
"A Pope With A
Mission,Ó Ibid, May 1982.
"NYPD Blue: Faith
on the Force," Our Sunday Visitor. Sept. 1994.
"Martyrdom at the
Met," Ibid, April 1994.
PAPERS:
"Moon
Project." SVHC
Conference. Hampton
University. Hampton, Virginia,
July1999.
"History into
Drama: Fools of Time." 1999 Hoghton Tower Shakespeare
Conference . Lancaster
University. Lancaster, UK,
July 21-23, 1999
"Media and American
Culture." Lumen
Conference. Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic.
February 5 - 10, 1992.
"Bacon's
Rebellion." Co-sponsored by
Virginia Council for the Arts and Virginia
Foundation for the Humanities.
Williamsburg, VA. October 15, 1990
"Cultural Perspectives
in American Television."
Lumen Conference. Bogota,
Columbia.
September 8 - 13, 1988.
"Development of
Mediated Classrooms."
Virginia Foundation for Humanities & Public
Policy. Charlottesville, VA.
March 1-2, 1988.
á
Cine Golden Eagle,Ó
Love One Another,Ó 1998: CINE.org -
Competition Winners!
á
Emmy: A Place
Called Home, 1992
á
Emmy: Fatima, 1985.
á
Gabriel Award: The
Hawthorne Dominicans, 1982.
PROFESSIONAL
CONSULTING
á
Media Advisor,
Domino's Foundation, Ann Arbor, MI. May-September, 1989
á
Advisor to
International Cultural Affairs Television Series. Lumen Foundation, Hilversum,
Holland. June-August, 1993, 1994.
á
Hoghton Tower
Shakespeare Project, Lancaster, U.K.
á
NASA Faculty
Fellowship Program. Hampton, Virginia.
June-August, 1998.
NASA
Langley Research Center's Office of Education
Virginia Commission for the
Arts. Judge for the Governor's Screenwriting Competition. Summers1989 -1990. http://www.arts.state.va.us/index.html
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
á Fellow, Society for Values in Higher Education. http://www.svhe.org
á
University Film
& Video Association
á
Faculty Member in
Residence, JMUÕs Semester
in London Program, 1998. Directed all aspects of
residential, academic and cultural programs.
á
Co-founder: "Word and Image," an
interdisciplinary creative writing program in Ireland, Summer 1995. JMU's Office of
International Programs.
á
Faculty Member in
Residence, Dublin/London, 1995. Office of
International Programs, James Madison University
á
1993, Oxford
University, Campion Hall. Researched how the English Counter-Reformation
influenced ShakespeareÕs plays. I published four articles on the subject.
á
2000, London,
England/Los Angeles, CA.
Researched and wrote a screenplay on Edmund Campion and William
Shakespeare.
SELECTED SERVICE TO
JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
University Committees
á
Faculty Senator,
James Madison University Faculty Senate
Fall, 2001 - Spring 2003
(Alternate)
Fall 1986-Fall 1988
(Primary).
University Committees
Cont.
á
Interdisciplinary
Creative Writing Committee
Fall 2001 - Spring 2003
Fall 1999 - Spring 2001
á
Interdisciplinary
Film Studies Committee
Fall 2001
- Spring 2003
Fall 1999
- Spring 2001
á
International
Education Committee
Fall 1995 - Spring 1997
Fall 1988 - Spring 1990
College Committees
á
Annual Screenplay
Competition Judge. College of Arts and Letters
Fall 2001 - Spring 2003
á
Grants and Faculty
Assistance Committee, College of Arts & Letters.
Fall 2002 - Fall 2003
Fall 1993 - Spring 1994
á
Writing Across the
Curriculum Committee, College of Arts and Letters.
Fall 2000 - Spring 2002.
á
Dean's Advisory
Committee, College of Arts and Letters.
Fall 1990-Spring 1991.
Departmental Committees
á
Curriculum and
Instruction Committee, School of Media Arts and Design.
Fall 1998 - Spring 1999
Fall 1992 - Spring 1993,
Fall 1988 - Spring 1989
á
Faculty Search
Committee, School of Media Arts & Design
Fall 1996-Spring-1997.
Fall 1990 - Spring 1992.
Fall 1986 - Spring 1988