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Thomas James Farrell is professor emeritus of writing studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). He started teaching at UMD in Fall 1987, and he retired from UMD at the end of May 2009. He was born in 1944. He holds three degrees from Saint Louis University (SLU): B.A. in English, 1966; M.A.(T) in English 1968; Ph.D.in higher education, 1974. On May 16, 1969, the editors of the SLU student newspaper named him Man of the Year, an honor customarily conferred on an administrator or a faculty member, not on a graduate student -- nor on a woman up to that time. He is the proud author of the book WALTER ONG'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO CULTURAL STUDIES: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE WORD AND I-THOU COMMUNICATION (Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2000; 2nd ed. 2009, forthcoming). The first edition won the 2001 Marshall McLuhan Award for Outstanding Book in the Field of Media Ecology conferred by the Media Ecology Association. For further information about his education and his publications, see his UMD homepage: Click here to visit Dr. Farrell's homepage.
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Thursday, February 19, 2026Charles Nadeau on Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse and Repentance (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging and deeply personal 4,495-word OEN article, I discuss (1) Charles Nadeau's "Bankruptcy is not repentance for clergy sex abuse" in The National Catholic Reporter (dated February 9, 2026), and (2) the mature work of the American Jesuit Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University, where, over the years, I took five courses from him, and (3) my life.
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Saturday, January 24, 2026Conservative Author Leah Libresco Sargeant's Feminist Manifesto (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present 2,825-word OEN article, I discuss the conservative American Catholic convert Leah Libresco Sargeant's 2025 book The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto (University of Notre Dame Press) -- in which, among other things, she discusses Pope Francis (1936-2025). I conclude that liberals and progressives might find the conservative American Catholic convert's book thought-provoking to read. 
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Thursday, November 6, 2025Elaine Pagels' New 2025 Book on the Historical Jesus (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present OEN article, I bring my experience of teaching the introductory-level Bible as Literature survey course at the University of Minnesota Duluth for twenty years to bear on discussing Princeton's seasoned religion scholar Elaine Pagels' new 2025 book Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus (Doubleday).
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Friday, September 19, 2025My UMD Course on the Bible as Literature, and Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging 4,115-word OEN article, I briefly discuss my life and education, and I also discuss in detail the Bible as Literature course that I taught at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). In addition, I succinctly highlight the relevant work of the American Jesuit scholar Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University, where I took five courses from him. 
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Tuesday, September 16, 2025Using the Work of Walter Ong and of Robert Moore to Discuss President Trump's Authoritarianism In the present wide-ranging 2,624-word OEN article, I use the work of (1) the American Jesuit scholar Walter Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard Univesity, 1955) of Saint Louis University and (2) the Jungian psychological theorist Robert Moore (1942-2016; Ph.D. in psychology and religion, University of Chicago, 1975) of the Chicago Theological Seminary to discuss President Donald Trump's authoritarianism.
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Sunday, September 14, 2025My UMD Course Literacy, Technology, and Society, and Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY) Over the years (October 2009 to August 2025), I have written 200 or so OEN articles in which i discuss the work of the American Jesuit scholar Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University -- where I took five courses from him. In my years of teaching at the University of Minnesota Duluth (September 1987 to May 2009), I designed the course Literacy, Technology, and Society.
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Saturday, August 16, 2025Charles Taylor on Cosmic Connections, and Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging and occasionally deeply personal OEN article, I succinctly highlight the Canadian Catholic philosopher Charles Taylor's new 2024 book Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press). In addition, I highlight the work of the American Jesuit scholar Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University.
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Wednesday, August 6, 2025NYT Columnist Thomas B. Edsall on the Gender Gap in the 2024 Presidential Election (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging and, at times, deeply personal 4,600-word OEN article, I highlight the thought of (1) NYT columnist Thomas B. Edsall, (2) certain other NYT columnists, (3) the author Richard Reeves, (4) Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955), and (5) Robert Moore (1942-2016; Ph.D. in psychology and religion, University of Chicago, 1975). I also discuss Donald Trump.
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Tuesday, August 5, 2025Molly Worthen on Charisma in American History, and Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging and, at times, deeply personal 7,563-word OEN article, I highlight the work of Molly Worthen (born in 1981; Ph.D. in American history, Yale University 2011) of the University of North Carolina and of the American Jesuit scholar Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University, where I took five courses from him. I also discuss Donald Trump extensively.
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Sunday, August 3, 2025Some Reflections on the Work of Robert Moore and Walter Ong (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging 21,913-word OEN article, I highlight the work of Robert Moore (1942-2016; Ph.D. in psychology and Religion, University of Chicago, 1975) and Walter Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955), and I also reflect on President Donald Trump's second term as the president of the United States.
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Sunday, August 3, 2025C. G. Jung on Fantasy Thinking versus Directed Thinking, and Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY) The Swiss psychiatrist and psychological theorist C. G. Jung (1875-1961) differentiated fantasy thinking from directed thinking. The Oxford-educated British conservative Mary Harrington sounds the alarm in her guest op-ed "Thinking Is Becoming a Luxury Good" in The New York Times (dated July 28, 2025) -- meaning that she is sounding the alarm that directed thinking involving logic is becoming a luxury good. Is this the case? 
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Saturday, August 2, 2025The New Supreme Court Ruling on Porn (REVIEW ESSAY) By a 6-to-3 vote, the conservative Supreme Court justices upheld a Texas law on porn. The conservative lawyer David French of The New York Times and the liberal lawyer Elie Mystal of The Nation published commentaries on the new ruling on porn. But their commentaries do not address the tragic anti-body heritage of Christianity -- or the need for body-positivity and sex-positivity to combat the anti-body heritage in the psyche. 
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Friday, July 4, 2025Thomas J. Farrell's 52 OEN Articles on Pope Francis (REVIEW ESSAY) Because I was in the Jesuits (1979-1987), I took a special interest in the first Jesuit pope, Pope Francis (1936-2025; elected pope in March 2013). Over the years of his papacy (2013-2025), I mentioned Pope Francis to one degree or another in 52 OEN articles. In the present 2,350-word OEN article, I list those 52 OEN articles after some introductory remarks about them and about my life.
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Tuesday, June 24, 2025Thomas J. Farrell's Life and Work -- and Walter J. Ong's Life and Work (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging and, at times, deeply personal 9,500-word OEN article, I succinctly highlight my life and work, especially some of my recent OEN articles. I also succinctly highlight the life and work of the American Jesuit Renaissance specialist and cultural historian and pioneering media ecology theorist Walter Jackson Ong, Jr. (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University
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Monday, June 16, 2025Thomas J. Farrell's Postscript Reflections on His Life and Work (REVIEW EESSAY) The present OEN article is a deeply personal postscript commentary on my 2,627-word OEN article "Thomas J. Farrell's Further Reflections of the Tragic Anti-Body Heritage of Christianity" (dated June 14, 2025). In it, I referred to the archetype of the Self as the source in my psyche of my experience of feeling mildly euphoric for about ten weeks in the fall of 2024. The present OEN article is about the necessary Ego-Self axis.
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Saturday, June 14, 2025Thomas J. Farrell's Further Reflections on the Tragic Anti-Body Heritage of Christianity (REVEW ESSAY) In the present 1,627-word OEN article, I further extend my inter-related thoughts in twenty inter-related OEN articles in recent months by reflecting further on the tragic anti-body heritage of Christianity. For Americans today to counter and combat the tragic anti-body heritage of Christianity in their psyches, I advocate body-positivity and sex-positivity. 
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Thursday, June 12, 2025Maia Szalavitz on Love as a Drug, and Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging and, at times, deeply personal 5,796-word OEN article, I review some of my OEN articles from the past to establish the cultural matrix with which I am working in the present OEN article. Then I turn to addressing Maia Szalavitz's guest op-ed titled Love Is a Drug. A.I. Chatbots Are Exploiting That" in The New York Times (dated June 3, 2025).
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Thursday, June 12, 2025David Brooks on Trumpism versus Abstractions, and Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present wide-ranging 5,996-word OEN article, I discuss NYT columnist David Brooks' column "I'm Normally a Mild Guy. Here's What Pushed Me Over the Edge" in The New York Times (dated May 29, 2025). A certain pronounced tendency in Trumpism is to avoid abstractions pushed Brooks over the edge. So, I discuss abstractions in the American Jesuit scholar Walter J. Ong's media ecology account of our Western cultural history.
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Wednesday, June 4, 2025Stanley McChrystal's Book On Character, and Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY) In the present 11,888-word OEN article, I succinctly highlight retired U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal's new 2025 book On Character: Choices That Define a Life (Portfolio Penguin). In addition, I succinctly highlight the thought of the American Jesuit scholar Walter Jackson Ong, Jr. (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955) of Saint Louis University -- where, over the years, I took five course from him. 
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Monday, May 26, 2025I Am a Hypomanic Personality Type Person (REVIEW ESSAY) In my wide-ranging and, at times, deeply personal 12,900-word OEN article "Thomas J. Farrell's further Reflections on His life and Work" (dated May 2, 2025), I reflected deeply on my life and work. In the present OEN article, I now claim that I am a hypomanic personality type person -- and that the Canadian University of Toronto media ecology scholar also was a hypomanic personality type person. Page 1 of 22 First Last Back Next 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 View All |
