Catherine O'Connell – författare

The return of blue-blooded fashionista Pauline Cook, whose search for a missing friend leads her from an iconoclastic book group to the deepest and most unfashionable reaches of the Far East.Back in Chicago after a disastrous European love affair, socialite Pauline Cook finds her finances nearly depleted, her co-op a shambles, and her best friend mysteriously missing—vanished along with Pauline''s cat. Though Whitney Armstrong''s husband offers a substantial reward for the return of his lost wife, Pauline can''t help suspecting that his grief is merely an act. But it''s a shocking suggestion by a member of Whitney''s book club that really gets Pauline moving—halfway around the world, in fact, to Thailand . . . in spite of a psychic''s warning of terrible danger.In Asia, a morass of dark motives and deadly corporate intrigues await the intrepid globe-trotter. And all the high society connections in the world aren''t going to ensure that Pauline makes it home alive. . . .

This book goes beyond now-familiar analyses of ‘neoliberal governmentality’ which tend to characterise academics as passive subjects or as ‘strategic actors’, drawing on and cynically exploiting metrics as a form of capital exchangeable across different fields. Instead, Universities in Crisis draws on newer paradigms by drawing on processual, post-critical and phenomenological approaches that leave room for new spaces of negotiation – discursive and practical – for understanding and advancing academic professionalism in this rapidly changing context.Contributors reflect various manifestations of the changing political and public climate, as well as the unease that surrounds contemporary debates which position the academy in troubling ways. Unifying concepts such as academic work, jurisdiction and transdisciplinarity are deployed to transcend functional divisions within and between academics, administrators, managers and students. Drawing on these theoretical and conceptual resources, contributors engage in critical consideration of whether the potential for ‘push back’ lies both in re-emphasising the specialness of academic professionalism and in defining the commonalities with other professional groups of knowledge workers.The book offers an unflinching analysis on the conditions which frame the darker side of professionalism and which are associated with increased precarity and reduced autonomy. The contributors explore the dilemmas, challenges and possibilities of professionalism for both early career academics and senior academic leaders.

This book goes beyond now-familiar analyses of ‘neoliberal governmentality’ which tend to characterise academics as passive subjects or as ‘strategic actors’, drawing on and cynically exploiting metrics as a form of capital exchangeable across different fields. Instead, Universities in Crisis draws on newer paradigms by drawing on processual, post-critical and phenomenological approaches that leave room for new spaces of negotiation – discursive and practical – for understanding and advancing academic professionalism in this rapidly changing context.Contributors reflect various manifestations of the changing political and public climate, as well as the unease that surrounds contemporary debates which position the academy in troubling ways. Unifying concepts such as academic work, jurisdiction and transdisciplinarity are deployed to transcend functional divisions within and between academics, administrators, managers and students. Drawing on these theoretical and conceptual resources, contributors engage in critical consideration of whether the potential for ‘push back’ lies both in re-emphasising the specialness of academic professionalism and in defining the commonalities with other professional groups of knowledge workers.The book offers an unflinching analysis on the conditions which frame the darker side of professionalism and which are associated with increased precarity and reduced autonomy. The contributors explore the dilemmas, challenges and possibilities of professionalism for both early career academics and senior academic leaders.

This book goes beyond now-familiar analyses of ''neoliberal governmentality'' which tend to characterise academics as passive subjects or as ''strategic actors'', drawing on and cynically exploiting metrics as a form of capital exchangeable across different fields. Instead, Universities in Crisis draws on newer paradigms by drawing on processual, post-critical and phenomenological approaches that leave room for new spaces of negotiation – discursive and practical – for understanding and advancing academic professionalism in this rapidly changing context.Contributors reflect various manifestations of the changing political and public climate, as well as the unease that surrounds contemporary debates which position the academy in troubling ways. Unifying concepts such as academic work, jurisdiction and transdisciplinarity are deployed to transcend functional divisions within and between academics, administrators, managers and students. Drawing on these theoretical and conceptual resources, contributors engage in critical consideration of whether the potential for ''push back'' lies both in re-emphasising the specialness of academic professionalism and in defining the commonalities with other professional groups of knowledge workers.The book offers an unflinching analysis on the conditions which frame the darker side of professionalism and which are associated with increased precarity and reduced autonomy. The contributors explore the dilemmas, challenges and possibilities of professionalism for both early career academics and senior academic leaders.

This book goes beyond now-familiar analyses of ''neoliberal governmentality'' which tend to characterise academics as passive subjects or as ''strategic actors'', drawing on and cynically exploiting metrics as a form of capital exchangeable across different fields. Instead, Universities in Crisis draws on newer paradigms by drawing on processual, post-critical and phenomenological approaches that leave room for new spaces of negotiation – discursive and practical – for understanding and advancing academic professionalism in this rapidly changing context.Contributors reflect various manifestations of the changing political and public climate, as well as the unease that surrounds contemporary debates which position the academy in troubling ways. Unifying concepts such as academic work, jurisdiction and transdisciplinarity are deployed to transcend functional divisions within and between academics, administrators, managers and students. Drawing on these theoretical and conceptual resources, contributors engage in critical consideration of whether the potential for ''push back'' lies both in re-emphasising the specialness of academic professionalism and in defining the commonalities with other professional groups of knowledge workers.The book offers an unflinching analysis on the conditions which frame the darker side of professionalism and which are associated with increased precarity and reduced autonomy. The contributors explore the dilemmas, challenges and possibilities of professionalism for both early career academics and senior academic leaders.

Manche Geheimnisse sind peinlicher als Mord … Ein ebenso vergnüglicher wie unblutig-spannender Thriller um sechs Freundinnen und einen Jungesellinnen-Abschied, der mit Mord endet Am Morgen nach ihrem Jungesellinnen-Abschied erwacht Maggie mit einem gehörigen Kater – vom Klingeln des Telefons: Ihre Freundin Angie wurde ermordet, offenbar kurz nachdem sie die ausufernde Party in einer Chicagoer Szene-Bar verlassen hatte. Und das ist nicht die einzig böse Überraschung für Maggie, denn bei dem nackten Mann neben ihr im Bett handelt es sich nicht um ihren Verlobten … Dem ermittelnden Detective Ron O''Reilly gegenüber behauptet Maggie natürlich, sie sei allein nach Hause gefahren. Doch O''Reilly hat einen Riecher für Lügen, und ihm ist schnell klar, dass jede der fünf Freundinnen, die er zu dem Mord vernimmt, in mindestens einer Angelegenheit die Unwahrheit sagt. Denn Maggie ist nicht die Einzige, die um jeden Preis ein peinliches Geheimnis bewahren will … Wer gerne unblutige, psychologisch raffiniert gestrickte Whodunits liest und Serien wie »Desperate Housewives« oder »Pretty Little Liars« mag, der kommt bei Catherine O''Connells Thriller voll auf seine Kosten.