Alan Liu

“This is Not a Book: Long Forms of Attention in the Digital Age.” Material Cultures of the Book Working Group, University of California, Riverside. 3 June 2014.

• Abstract: This talk argues that in the digital age, the “book”–whether physical, digital, or in some other media—is only a metaphor for “long forms of shared attention.” The book dissolves into, but also persists in, slowly-changing networks of discourse that are “transliteracies” because they span across media, across networks, and across time. The talk concludes with examples of recent digital projects—including the RoSE (Research-oriented Social Environment) at University of California, Santa Barbara–that attempt to represent such long forms of shared digital attention.
• Full text of original talk (with thumbnails of selected slides.

“The Big Bang of Online Reading.”  Friends of English Southland graduate conference on “Reading Matters,” UCLA.  30 May 2014.

“From ‘Search’ to Digital Humanities.”  Dean’s Forum on “The Co-Evolution of the Humanities and New Technologies,” UCLA.  28 May 2014.

“Mickey Mouse Creativity: New Media Arts After the Ideology of Creativity.” Lahey Lecture, Concordia University. 3 April 2014.

“Against the Cultural Singularity: Drafts For a Critical Digital Humanities — A Workshop.” mediations speaker series, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, 1 April 2014.

“The Big Bang of Online Reading.” mediations speaker series, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, 31 March 2014.

“Digital Humanities: An Introduction.” Panel on IT Research Methods, Center for Information Technology and Society, University of California, Santa Barbara, 11 March 2014.

“Learning and Using Enough Digital Humanities to be Viable for Jobs With a DH or New Media Component: A Guide for Non-Specialists.” University of California, Santa Barbara. 19 February 2014.

“The Heart of the Matter: A Workshop Discussion.” 4Humanities@NY6 Public forum on “Defining and Framing the Humanities Today.” Union College, NY. 10 February 2014.

• Workshop agenda (with links to The Heart of the Matter report, a version of the report annotated by Alan Liu, and other materials.

“Values, Strategies, and Technologies for Humanities Advocacy in the Digital Age.” 4Humanities@NY6 Public forum on “Defining and Framing the Humanities Today.” Union College, NY. 10 February 2014.

“Mickey Mouse Creativity: New Media Arts After the Ideology of Creativity.” Data Drive Research Programme, University of Amsterdam. 15 November 2013.

“Advocating for the Humanities Today: 4Humanities.org and 4Humanities@UCLA.” UCLA. 24 October 2013.

Abstract: 4Humanities is an initiative that advocates for the humanities by drawing on the technologies, new-media expertise, and ideas of the international digital humanities community and also on research and projects from local chapters at various universities. Alan Liu will give an overview of the initiative’s goals and projects and then participate with UCLA faculty, staff, and students in planning for a possible 4Humanities@UCLA local group. What research activities and project-building could a group that taps into UCLA’s pool of talent and expertise engage in? How might a UCLA local group collaborate with other 4Humanities local research groups—e.g., the ones at UC Santa Barbara and CSU Northridge?

• Twitter posts related to the talk (Storified by Viola Lasmana, @viola_lasmana)

“This is Not a Book: Long Forms of Attention in the Digital Age.” Print Culture Speaker Series, Simon Fraser University. 18 October 2013.

“Remembering Networks: Agrippa, RoSE, and Network Archaeology.” Print Culture Speaker Series, Simon Fraser University. 18 October 2013.

“Mickey Mouse Creativity: New Media Arts After the Ideology of Creativity.” University of Sydney. 30 July 2013.

“This is Not a Book: Long Forms of Attention in the Digital Age.” Humanities Research Centre Seminar Series, Australian National University. 23 July 2013.

“‘Literature+ ‘: A Project-Based Digital Pedagogy Model.” School of Cultural Inquiry seminar series, Australian National University. 22 July 2013.

Abstract: In this seminar, Alan Liu will discuss the paradigm of the “Literature+” courses he has evolved at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Designed to introduce students to the use of digital methods in humanities scholarship, the courses provide a rapid orientation in key topics of the “digital humanities” before then focusing on team-based project building. Liu will use the example of the course structure and of some of the student projects that have been produced to discuss larger issues of digital humanities pedagogy—including the way such pedagogy can position the humanities as both similar to and different from the “building” versus “interpreting,” collaboration, and other trends of contemporary “knowledge work” societies.

Links for Web sites Referred to in Talk:
/ excerpt » /

“Humanities Centers and the Digital Humanities.” Panel on The Digital Humanities and Virtual Research Environments. Australasian Consortium of Humanities Research Centres 2013 Annual Meeting. University of Western Australia, 8 July 2013.

• Slides for talk (.pptx, 1.6 Mb)
• Reports on the talk and the ACHRC meeting:
  • Karen Miller (@infoliterati), “The Humanities, Public Engagement and the Academic Library”
  • Jo Hawkins (@History_Punk), “10 Insights for Humanities Researchers from #ACHRC 2013”

“Values, Strategies, and Technologies for Humanities Advocacy in the Digital Age.” Australasian Consortium of Humanities Research Centres 2013 Annual Meeting. University of Western Australia, 8 July 2013.

• Slides for talk (.pptx, 16.6 Mb)
• Report on the talk and the ACHRC meeting by Karen Miller (@infoliterati)

“The Meaning of Digital Humanities.” Stony Brook University, SUNY. 6 May 2013.

“4Humanities — Planning Next Generation Digital Humanities Tools for Public Engagement.” Digital Humanities Initiative, New York University. 2 May 2013.

“The Meaning of the Digital Humanities.” Goldstone Lecture. New York University. 1 May 2013.

• Video of talk (1 hr. 47 min.) [Talk presents a fuller version of the paper subsequently published in PMLA.]

“4Humanities: Values, Strategies, Technologies for Humanities Advocacy in the Digital Age.” University of Virginia. 17 April 2013.

• Podcast of talk. (1 hr, 25 min.)

Co-presented with Rama Hoetzlein. “History of Thought as a Networked Community: The RoSE Prototype.” University of Virginia. 16 April 2013.

• Abstract: What if bibliographies of past authors and works could be modeled as a dynamic, evolving society linked to today’s scholars and students? What if scholars and students could add data about biographical, historical, and intellectual relationships to the bibliographical entries, thus using present-day crowdsourcing to make more socially meaningful the crowds of history? And what if visualizations could help us actively “storyboard” intellectual movements and not just spectate them? Alan Liu and Rama Hoetzlein present the conceptual framework and some of the discoveries and challenges of the RoSE Research-oriented Social Environment (in beta at the conclusion of a NEH Digital Humanities Start-up grant).
• Podcast of talk. (1 hr, 7 min.)

Co-presented with Rama Hoetzlein. “The RoSE Prototype.” SNAC Advisory Board Meeting, University of Virginia. 16 April 2013.

“Micky Mouse Creativity: New Media Arts after the Ideology of Creativity.” Conference on “Creative Labor and the Humanities,” Florida State University, Tallahassee. 22 March 2013.

• Announcement of talk on FSU Digital Scholars site

“The Meaning of Digital Humanities.” Oklahoma University. 25 February 2013.

• Page for talk and colloquia organized by the Oklahoma Digital Humanities working group

“Academic Expertise and Networked Public Knowledge.” Oklahoma University. 25 February 2013.

• Page for talk and colloquia organized by the Oklahoma Digital Humanities working group

“This is Not a Book.” Oklahoma University. 25 February 2013.

• Page for talk and colloquia organized by the Oklahoma Digital Humanities working group

“Digital Pedagogy: Literature+.” Oklahoma University. 25 February 2013.

• Page for talk and colloquia organized by the Oklahoma Digital Humanities working group

“Advocating the Humanities: Values and Strategies for the Digital Age.” Webinar. 11 February 2013. Webinar Series on “The Global Crisis and Promise of Higher Ed,” co-sponsored by Kean U. and 4Humanities.

• Details on the Webinar series.
• Registration instructions

“The Meaning of Digital Humanities.” Rutgers University. 23-24 January 2013.

“Close, Distant, and Unexpected Reading: Modern Literary Analysis and Digital Humanities.” University of Pennsylvania. 13 November 2012.

“3 Key Digital Humanities Trends: How Digital Humanities Register Changes in the Humanities Today.” Digital Humanities Forum Workshop. University of Pennsylvania. 12 November 2012.

• Prezi for Talk

“This is Not a Book: Transliteracies and Long Forms of Digital Attention.” Translittératies Conference, École normale supérieure de Cachan, Paris. 7 November 2012.

• Abstract: This talk argues that in the digital age, the “book”–whether physical, digital, or in some other media—is only a metaphor for “long forms of shared attention.” The book dissolves into, but also persists in, slowly-changing networks of discourse that are “transliteracies” because they span across media, across networks, and across time. The talk concludes with examples of recent digital projects—including the RoSE (Research-oriented Social Environment) at University of California, Santa Barbara–that attempt to represent such long forms of shared digital attention.
• Slides from talk
• Video of Alan’s talk
• Videos of other keynote talks

“The Meaning of the Digital Humanities.” Duke University. 11 October 2012.

• Storified tweet stream from the talk.

“Creating a Humanities Advocacy Media Plan in the Digital Age.” Meeting of the Faculty Steering Committee for the Carolina Digital Humanities Initiative. University of North Carolina. 9 October 2012.

• Materials Relating to Talk:
  • Alan Liu and William G. Thomas III, “Humanities in the Digital Age” (Inside Higher Ed — Views, 1 October 2012.
  • 4Humanities
  • Prezi for Alan’s talk on “Creating a Humanities Advocacy Media Plan in the Digital Age”
• Alan’s visit to the Blake Archive Offices at UNC (Photos)

“3 key Digital Humanities Trends: How Digital Humanities Registers Changes in the Humanities Today.” National Humanities Center. 5 October 2012.

Presentation Materials:

• Alan’s Prezi
• Eric Steiner and Zephyr Frank, The Socio-Spatial Network of Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas — Tracking Interactions Between People, Spaces, and Themes (Stanford Spatial History Project)
• RoSE (Research-oriented Social Environment) — dir. Alan Liu; co-directors Rama Hoetzlein and Rita Raley (NEH Digital Humanities Start-up Grant, Level II, 2011-12)

“When Was Linearity? — Linear Thought, Graphics, and Freedom in the Age of Knowledge Work.” North Carolina State University. 3 October 2012.

“Digital Humanities, Pedagogy, and Tomorrow’s Humanities — An Informal Presentation.” North Carolina State University, 3 October 2012.

Seed materials for Discussion:

• Alan Liu and William G. Thomas III, “Humanities in the Digital Age.” Inside Higher Ed — Views, 1 October 2012.
• Literature+ courses (Instructor, Alan Liu)