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Purple Blurb, a New Digital Reading Series at MIT

This Fall, Purple Blurb, a new reading series for digital writing, is beginning in Cambridge at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The series is sponsored by the MIT programs in Writing and Humanistic Studies and Comparative Media Studies along with local arts organization Turbulence and the Electronic Literature Organization. The series features readings and presentations by digital writers of all sorts – poets, fiction writers, writers of nonfiction and criticism, and others engaged in language, narrative, and letters on the computer. The readings will start at 6pm at MIT in 14N–233 (second floor of building 14, in the wing that is across the courtyard from the Hayden Library). A flyer for the series lists the four events for this Fall, which are presentations by:

September 18
Robert Kendall – Clues, Faith, Logozoa, Pieces

October 16
Vika Zafrin – RolandHT, Words’ End

November 13
Barbara Barry – Mindful Documentary, One Degree Narratives

December 4
Andrew Plotkin – Shade, So Far, The Dreamhold, Delightful Wallpaper

Contact Nick Montfort (username nickm, domain nickm.com) if you have any questions about the series.

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CFP for Visionary Landscapes: Electronic Literature Organization 2008 Conference

Visionary Landscapes: Electronic Literature Organization 2008 Conference

Thursday, May 29-Sunday, June 1, 2008
Vancouver, Washington

Sponsored by Washington State University Vancouver & the Electronic Literature Organization

Dene Grigar & John Barber, Co-Chairs

http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/programs/dtc/elo08.html
Producing a work of electronic literature entails not only practice in the literary arts but sometimes also the visual, sonic, and the performative arts; knowledge of computing devices and software programs; and experience in collaboration, interdisciplinarity, and hybridity. In short, electronic literature requires its artists to see beyond traditional approaches and sensibilities into what best can be described as visionary landscapes where, as Mark Amerika puts it, artists “celebrate an interdisciplinary practice from a literary and writerly perspective that allows for other kinds of practice-based art-research and knowledge sharing.”

To forward the thinking about new approaches and sensibilities in the media arts, The Electronic Literature Organization and Washington State University Vancouver’s Digital Technology and Culture program are inviting submissions to the Electronic Literature Organization 2008 Conference to be held from May 29 to June 1, 2008 in Vancouver, Washington.

“Visionary Landscapes: Electronic Literature Organization 2008 Conference” is interested in papers that explore forms of digital media that utilize images, sound, movement, and user interaction as well as––or in lieu of––words and that explore how we read, curate, and critique such works. Topics may include:

• New, non-screen, environments for presenting multimedia writing and/or electronic literature
• Research labs and new media projects
• Strategies for reading electronic literary works
• Curating digital art
• Innovative approaches to critiquing electronic literature
• Emerging technologies for the production of multimedia writing and/or electronic literature
• Building audience for new media literary works and writing
• Digital, literary performances
• Publishing for print or electronic media connecting literature and the arts through common archiving and metatag strategies
• Artistic methods of composition used in intermedia storytelling(improvisation, collaboration, sample and remix, postproduction art, codework, hactivism, etc.

In conjunction with the three-day conference, there will be a juried Media Arts Show. Along with prizes for the most notable work, selected artists will be awarded bursaries to attend the conference featured at the show. Submission guidelines will be posted beginning August 15, 2007 on the conference website.

The keynote speaker is internationally renowned new media artist and writer, Mark Amerika, named a “Time Magazine 100 Innovator.” His artwork has been exhibited at the Whitney Biennial, the ICA in London, the Walker Art Center, and the Denver Art Museum and has been the topic of four retrospectives. Amerika is also the author of many books, including his recently published collection of artist writings entitled META/DATA: A Digital Poetics (The MIT Press), founder of the Alt-X Network, and publisher of the electronic book review. He currently holds the position of Professor of Art and Art History at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Deadline for Submissions for Presentations: November, 30, 2007
Notification of Acceptance: December 30, 2007

Vancouver, Washington, located in the Pacific Northwest just across the Columbia River from Portland, OR, is about a six hour drive south of Vancouver, Canada and three hours south of Seattle, Washington. The conference day events will take place at Washington State University Vancouver, a Tier One research Institution built in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains with views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Saint Helens. The official conference hotel is the Hilton Vancouver located in downtown Vancouver, Washington with easy access to restaurants, bars, and evening conference events. Special rates have been negotiated for conference attendees. A conference shuttle will take attendees to and from the campus daily. The recommended airport is PDX at Portland, which is about a seven minute drive to downtown Vancouver, WA.

The cost of the conference is $150; graduate students and non-affiliated artists pay only $100. Conference registration covers access to all events, the reception, some meals, and shuttle transportation.

For more information, contact Dene Grigar at Grigar@vancouver.wsu.edu.

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The Chronicle of Higher Education Covers ELO Open Mic & Mouse

The Chronicle of Higher Education has devoted three pieces to the ELO/MITH Open Mic & Mouse event that was held as a kick-off to the Electronic Literature Symposium that was held at the University of Maryland in early May.

Click here for an article covering the event. Below the lead picture, you’ll find a link to the video story. And, on the right-hand side of the screen, under “Related Material,” you’ll see a link for an audio interview with N. Katherine Hayles.

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Postdoctoral Research Position at UCSD

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH POSITION
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

We are currently recruiting for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join a
new Software Studies initiative at UCSD. The researcher will work
with Dr. Lev Manovich (Professor, Visual Arts) and Dr. Noah
Wardrip-Fruin (Assistant Professor, Communication), playing a key
role in all projects and field-building activities.

The goals of Software Studies initiative at UCSD are:

* to foster research and develop models and tools for the study
of software from the perspectives of cultural criticism, the
humanities, and the social sciences;
* to help establish a new field of “software studies” that will
complement existing research in cyberculture and new media;
* to develop projects that will demonstrate how next generation
cyberinfrastructure can be used by humanists, social scientists, and
cultural practitioners.

For an introduction to “software studies,” see: Software Studies
Workshop, Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, February 2006.

POSITION DETAILS

The position is full time (40 hrs/week). The initial appointment is
for 1 year, with the possibility for renewal. The position comes with
full benefits covered by UCSD. The starting salary range is USD 38,000 – 42,000. The selected candidate can start immediately.

Required qualifications:

* a PhD in the humanities, social sciences, information science,
or related interdisciplinary area that has been completed and
defended before starting the position at UCSD;
* broad understanding of contemporary global culture and
familiarity with current debates in one or more cultural fields;
* familiarity with current IT developments; understanding of Web
2.0 concepts and social media optimization;
* the ability to write engaging and jargon-free texts that are
accessible to diverse global audiences.

Desired qualifications:

* experience installing and using research-oriented software
tools (e.g., data mining tools, GIS packages, visualization
technologies, databases, and/or other software used in digital
humanities);
* understanding of programming language and system integration
concepts; practical experience with computer programming or scripting;
* previous experience working with computer scientists on joint projects;
* previous research projects and/or publications which address
software from the perspectives of the humanities, social sciences, or
cultural criticism (for example: the history of software; studies of
software use in the sciences, cultural industries, and other fields;
the analysis of software structures and code).

This position is supported by the UCSD Division of the California
Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2)
and the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts (CRCA). Housing
over 900 faculty, graduate students, and staff researchers, Calit2 is
developing next-generation cyberinfrastructure tools with a
particular focus on multidisciplinary collaboration.

Calit2 is located on the UCSD campus, which is internationally
renowned as a place for study and research in digital art, computer
music, and digital theory. Between the departments of Visual Arts,
Music, and Communication, there are close to 30 full-time faculty
working in these areas.

The technical facilities and staff support for research in digital
media on the UCSD campus are among the best in the world. They
include a number of state-of-the-art research labs and performance
spaces which provide both current and next-generation tools for
immersive visualization, multi-channel audio spatialization, digital
cinema, motion capture, interactive performance, 3-D fabrication, and
computer gaming research. The UCSD campus also houses the San Diego
Supercomputing Center which provides facilities for petascale
computing, data storage, and visualization.

The position is open until filled, but application review will begin
after June 10th, 2007. For priority consideration, candidates are
encouraged to apply before this date. Applicants should send a
current CV with cover letter to Helena Bristow
with subject line “Application for Software Studies Postdoc Position.”

Manovich and Wardrip-Fruin will be available for preliminary
interviews at the 2007 Digital Humanities conference during the first
week of June, 2007. Please indicate whether you will be attending DH ’07 in your application.

For further information, please contact:

Helena Bristow
Administrative Director
Center for Research in Computing and the Arts
bristow@ucsd.edu

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Volume 1 of the Collection in The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Electronic Literature Collection, volume one is the topic of Katie Haegele’s column in the Philadelphia Inquirer this week. She writes:

But wouldn’t it be nice to get our arms around this thing, to get a sense of the full breadth and scope of what’s called digital literature?

The 60 works in the first volume of the Electronic Literature Collection (ELC) (http://collection.eliterature.org) – edited by N. Katherine Hayles, Nick Montfort, Scott Rettberg and Stephanie Strickland – show the wide range of forms that exist within the genre.

The column describes the keyword index and discusses four of the pieces included in volume one of the Collection in detail.

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Online journal is devoted to digital writing and art

BLACKSBURG, VA., February 20, 2007 — New River Journal, the first online journal devoted exclusively to digital writing and art, announces the release of its premier issue for 2007. After a period of dormancy, New River Journal has been redesigned and reborn, complete with exciting new works by some of today’s leading digital authors.New River Journal was founded by Virginia Tech English Professor Ed Falco in 1996, with the assistance of Len Hatfield, a computer guru then on the Virginia Tech faculty. The online publication has consistently tested the boundaries and rules of writing in a digital age. This new issue marks the first time the journal has been managed and edited by students participating in the MFA Creative Writing Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Managing editors for the inaugural launch are two graduate students, Laura Dulaney and Bryon Sabol.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to work as an editor on the New River Journal,” said Dulaney. “Digital writing has developed in astounding ways in the past decade, yet it is still in its infancy. Few schools in the country can offer their students the chance to be so involved with this medium on every level.”

The managing editors, with the help of Brent Jesiek of Virginia Tech’s Center for Digital Discourse and Culture, redesigned the New River Journal’s website to provide a user friendly interface and easier access to the journal’s archive. Beginning with this issue, the Journal plans to post new issues twice a year, in December and May.

The current issue includes works by David Herrstrom, Jason Nelson, and Dan Waber.

David Herrstrom’s “The Nicodemus Glyph” is a heady investigation of the ancient author and teacher, Nicodemus. Herrstrom has constructed the Glyph to taunt the reader’s desire for more definite knowledge of Nicodemus, while simultaneously signaling that we can never fully know a historical person or circumstance.

Jason Nelson’s work tests the boundary between “game-like” interfaces and serious poetry. “Poetry Cube” not only allows readers to reorganize Nelson’s words, but it also allows them to enter their own poetry and, with the click of a button, shuffle the lines into an array of possibilities. “Between Treacherous Objects” takes a form reminiscent of a video game flight simulator. Using the mouse, readers fly through the space of images and poetry, choosing to stop where they desire.

Dan Waber’s “Writing Through Time” examines and challenges the limitations and constructs of space and time as they traditionally apply to the written words. Words appear and disappear on the “page,” creating a layered fabric of text and meaning that can be further manipulated by the reader.

“It was an honor to have some of the leading digital writers from around the world contribute to this issue,” managing editor Bryon said. “New River Journal was at the forefront of the digital writing movement, and our goal when we took over the editorship was to reestablish the Journal’s place at the helm. I think with the new website and the excellent work from some of the world’s top digital writers, we accomplished that.”

The Virginia Tech MFA Creative Writing Program was established in 2005. New River Journal’s managing editors Dulaney and Sabol are members of the program’s first class. The New River Journal is currently hosted by the Center for Digital Discourse and Culture.

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Registration Open for The Future of Electronic Literature

Registration is now open for the Electronic Literature Organization and MITH’s May 3rd public symposium on The Future of Electronic Literature. Keynotes are N. Katherine Hayles (UCLA) and Kenneth Thibodeau (National Archives), but that’s just the beginning of the list of terrific people who will be in attendance.

Registration is free for members of the Electronic Literature Organization, but all attendees must still register. Space is limited, so reserve early!

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Nebraska Digital Workshop — CFP

Call for Proposals
The Nebraska Digital Workshop
October 5 & 6, 2007

The Center for Digital Research in the Humanities (CDRH) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) will host the second annual Nebraska Digital Workshop on October 5 & 6, 2007 and seeks proposals for digital presentations by pre-tenure faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and advanced graduate students working in the digital humanities. The goal of the Workshop is to enable the best early career scholars in the field of digital humanities to present their work in a forum where it can be critically evaluated, improved, and showcased. Under the auspices of the Center, the Workshop will bring nationally recognized senior scholars in digital humanities to UNL to participate and work with the selected scholars. Selected scholars will receive full travel reimbursement and an honorarium for presenting their work at the Nebraska Digital Workshop.

Selection criteria include: significance in primary disciplinary field, technical innovation, theoretical and methodological sophistication, and creativity of approach.

Please send proposed workshop abstract, curriculum vitae, and a representative sample of digital work via a URL or disk on or before May 1, 2007 to: Katherine L. Walter, Co-Director, UNL Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, at kwalter1@unl.edu or 319 Love Library, UNL, Lincoln, NE 68588-4100. For further details, please see the Center’s website.

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Second Person: Role-Playing and Story in Games and Playable Media

MIT Press has just published Second Person: Role-Playing and Story in Games and Playable Media. Edited by Pat Harrigan and ELO VP Noah Wardrip-Fruin, the book includes contributions by ELO board members Helen Thorington, Talan Memmott, and Nick Montfort — as well as a diverse collection of writers, game designers, computer scientists, improv actors, media artists, and more. The book’s introduction and table of contents are available online.

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Technologist / Online Editor Sought for Blackbird at Virginia Commonwealth U.

Department of English
Virginia Commonwealth University
Collateral Instructor, Associate Technologist/Online Editor

We seek to hire a collateral faculty member who will serve as production editor for Blackbird, our award-winning online journal of literature and the arts, and will provide support and development for the interdisciplinary PhD program in Media, Art, and Text. This person will serve as an educator and developer for the production facility supporting both of these and other departmental efforts in media and technology, and will act as associate site manager. The position is a twelve-month renewable appointment beginning spring 2007. MFA or master’s degree required; PhD desirable. The candidate must demonstrate mastery—creative and practical—in at least two areas of multimodal (new media) writing and/or production, such as online publication, Web design, digital photography, audio production, and video production. Proficiency in Adobe/Macromedia products is an advantage. The candidate must have excellent writing and oral communication skills and a demonstrated interest in literary/artistic endeavors; editing experience is strongly preferred. Teaching/training experience in any of the above areas is a significant plus. The person will work closely with the PhD director and the Technology Coordinator to develop and lead workshops and training sessions for students and faculty; the position includes the opportunity for teaching.

Send application, c.v., and dossier including three letters of recommendation and a portfolio demonstrating experience in teaching or training as well as containing examples of relevant work in multimodal/new media and/or Web production to Terry Oggel, Chair, Department of English, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2005. Applications will be reviewed starting in late-January and will continue until position is filled. This position is contingent upon funding. VCU is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/