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Professor of French John C. O’Neal has authored a new book, The Progressive Poetics of Confusion in the French Enlightenment, published by the University of Delaware Press. 

At the invitation of the Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU) or the Norwegian University of Science and Technology at Trondheim, Professor of French John C. O'Neal participated on the doctoral dissertation jury for a Ph.D. candidate in French on Feb. 11.

The center for the study of 18th-century studies at the University of Trondheim in Trondheim, Norway, has published the invited paper Professor of French John C. O’Neal gave in December of 2008.

Professor of French John C. O'Neal gave a lecture titled "La frontière qui s'estompe entre l'âme et le corps chez Rousseau et les philosophes" for the research group on Rousseau studies at the Sorbonne in Paris on May 22.

The Centre d'Etude de la Langue et de la Littérature Françaises des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles at the Université Paris-Sorbonne Paris IV has named Professor of French John C. O'Neal a research associate in its center for 17th- and 18th-century studies. While on leave from Hamilton, O'Neal is working out of this research center. This is the second time he has been associated with the center, having first worked as a research associate there in 2004.

The biennial meeting of the Rousseau Association, held this year in Los Angeles, June 25-28, had as its theme "Rousseau's Legacies." In his paper for this conference, "Saint-Preux Becomes a Woman: Gender-Bending in Rousseau’s La Nouvelle Héloïse" Professor of French John C. O'Neal argues against the depiction of Rousseau as a misogynist by illustrating the profoundly transgendered qualities of the male protagonist in Rousseau's best-selling novel.

Four members of the Hamilton faculty were recognized for their research and creative successes through the Dean’s Scholarly Achievement Awards at Class & Charter Day on Friday, May 8. The Awards were instituted in three categories by Dean of Faculty Joe Urgo in 2008.

A year ago Professor of French John C. O'Neal learned he had been promoted from "chevalier" (or knight) to "officier" (officer) in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques (Order of Academic Palms), originally founded by Napoleon in 1808 to recognize meritorious achievements in teaching and research. On May 27, an awards ceremony was held at the French Embassy for Cultural Services in New York City to honor O'Neal and three others, each of whom received a medal from the French cultural counselor, Mme Kareen Rispal. In addition to some of O'Neal's family members and friends, several Hamilton community members were on hand for the event including John and Mary O'Neill, Ben and Laurie Madonia, John Lytle and Sarah Ziegler '05.

Professor of French John C. O'Neal has edited a volume of essays on Rousseau for  Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century (SVEC), a publication of the Voltaire Foundation in Oxford, England. Titled The Nature of Rousseau's 'Rêveries': physical, human, aesthetic, the volume brings together the work of international specialists to explore new approaches to the defining feature – the 'nature' – of the Rêveries. In essays which range from studies of botany or landscape painting to thematic or stylistic readings, authors re-examine Rousseau's intellectual understanding of and personal relationship with different conceptions of nature.

The Utica Observer-Dispatch published Professor of French John C. O'Neal's essay "A revolutionary idea: the French as our friends" in its viewpoints section (Dec. 23). In this piece, O'Neal summarizes the recent speech of French President Nicolas Sarkozy before the joint sessions of Congress and sees "a veritable sea change in French-U.S. relations."