William Arctander O’Brien

William Arctander O’Brien is an Associate Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of California San Diego, affiliated with the Literature Department within the Division of Arts and Humanities. He joined UCSD in 1986 and holds a Ph.D. from The Humanities Center at Johns Hopkins University, alongside studies at the Universität Stuttgart and Université de Paris. His academic career includes teaching awards such as the UCSD Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching (2005) and recognition from Revelle and Eleanor Roosevelt Colleges.

His research focuses on Literature and Philosophy, Romanticism, and Critical Theory. Teaching spans Comparative Literature (Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Frankfurt School), German Literature (Romanticism, Enlightenment, Novalis, Brecht), Literatures in English (Allen Ginsberg, Edgar Poe), and Cultural Studies (Bob Dylan). His current work includes a monograph *The Late Nietzsche*.

Publications include *Novalis: Signs of Revolution* (Duke UP, 1995) and contributions to *The Oxford Handbook of European Romanticism* (2016). His scholarship explores themes like Novalis' symbolism, Romanticism boundaries, and textual deconstruction.