Scholar Films
Harun's most recent film, In the Name of the Son, is based on his experiences growing up in wartime Bosnia
Tessa M. Oberg
“After I was awarded two prizes for stories which depict a man dealing with the loss of his memory to a tumor, several readers came forward with similar experiences, largely women who had been initially diagnosed with anxiety but later found they had physical illnesses as serious as Graves disease or ovarian cancer. These readers prove to me that my work is relevant, that I have a responsibility to share it with the public.”
- Alumni of: 2006 Graduate Scholarship Program
- Hometown: South Beloit, IL
- Four-year College or University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Graduate School: University of California, Irvine
Biography
Tessa Oberg describes herself as a doer. She studies literature because she believes there is much to learn about the human need to create, and writes fiction because she feels her stories can have an impact. Tessa also works with organizations to prevent sexual assaults "because I believe that rape can end." She took her drive for granted until the start of her junior year of college when she began to suffer spells that were incorrectly diagnosed as anxiety. Nine months later she had a grand mal seizure and a brain scan revealed a tumor.
She finished her junior year, underwent surgery and recovered in half the time predicted-and widened her focus in modern literature to include mental illness and creativity, "particularly Virginia Woolf's discussions of mental alienation and illness." She also is writing about her own experiences, hoping "to save another woman from an incorrect diagnosis which might waste precious time for treatment."
For years, Tessa has worked to curb domestic violence. She facilitated rape prevention workshops for college freshman and later helped train a men's coalition at Indiana University in starting a rape prevention program. Her Sussex research will go beyond Woolf and "her perceptions of female creativity and madness" to include other aspects of modern mental health, such as "the post-World War I recognition of shell shock."
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