Dr. Heather M. O'Brien-Takahashi is a multidisciplinary artist and academic currently serving as Assistant Professor of Cinema within the School of Media Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. With an MFA from California Institute of the Arts, her artistic practice spans film/video, photography, and installation art that critically examines familial archives, nationhood constructs, and memory accuracy illusions. Educational background Teaching experience across four continents International exhibition history Research focus areas Her creative research explores intersections between expanded cinema, psychoanalysis, and decolonial theory through experimental formats. Recent projects like like the delayed rays of a star (2024) investigate Lebanese temporal politics while older works such as Where this photograph was found (2017) interrogate WWII legacy through family archives. Funded by organizations including The Mellon Foundation, European Commission ERASMUS+, and American University of Beirut Research Board, her practice incorporates diverse methodologies like FLOATS' maritime anthropology and Byrdcliffe Guild's ecological engagement. Collaborations with artist Jonathan Takahashi and scholars like Juli Carson demonstrate her interdisciplinary approach.









