At the MLA convention in Washington D. C. this year, Nick Montfort and Alan Liu are gathering folks from the electronic literature, new media arts, digital humanities, text-encoding, and related circles for an impromptu happy hour: Thursday, Dec. 29th, 5 pm in the lobby bar of the Marriott Wardman Park hotel. (If it’s too crowded, the swarm may end up migrating) Good cheer and buzz; plus a surprise announcement relating to the Electronic Literature Organization.
Sunshine 69
Bobby Rabyd, a.k.a. Robert Arellano, details the “Summer of Hate” by relating intermixed stories of death in the San Franciso Bay area in 1969. Sunshine ’69 was the first Web novel. On its release, Robert Coover said, “no one has grasped the nature of this new thing called the ‘Net with more supple-minded alacrity than the writer Bobby Rabyd.” See the Directory entry for more information about this piece.
Agrippa Files Site Launch
http://agrippa.english.ucsb.edu
Agrippa (A Book of the Dead) appeared in 1992 as a collaboration between artist Dennis Ashbaugh, author William Gibson, and publisher Kevin Begos, Jr.
The Agrippa Files is a scholarly site that presents selected pages from the original art book (with the permission of the publisher); a unique archive of materials dating from the book’s creation and early reception; a simulation of what the book’s intended “fading images†might have looked like; a video of the 1992 “transmission†of the work; a “virtual lightbox†for comparing and studying pages from the book; commentary by the book’s publisher and scholars; an annotated bibliography of scholarship, press coverage, interviews, and other material; a detailed bibliographic description of the book; and a discussion forum. Read more Agrippa Files Site Launch
Brown E-Writing Fellowship Deadline
There’s just one week left to apply for Brown University’s yearly graduate fellowship for electronic writing, the first ever offered in the U.S. (deadline December 15th). It comes with two years of support, three workshops with world-class writers, four other courses at Brown of your choice, and a nice MFA at the end. Last year’s graduate was William Gillespie, and the year before’s was Talan Memmott.
Online Creative Writing & Technology MA taught by Sue Thomas & Kate Pullinger
Applications are now being considered for Autumn 2006 entry to the Master’s Degree in Creative Writing & Technology at De Montfort University, Leicester. The course will be taught 95% online, plus one week on campus in Leicester, UK.
The course is devised and taught by Sue Thomas, formerly Artistic Director of the trAce Online Writing Centre, and Kate Pullinger, well-known novelist and new media writer.
The program is designed for writers wishing to experiment with the creative opportunities of technology and the internet and is ideal for those preferring to study online.
For more details and information on how to apply, visit the De Montfort U. Creative Writing & Technology MA Program.
Assistant Professorship, Comm Theory & Media Studies, Pace University
The Communication Studies Department at Pace University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level in Communication Theory beginning September 2006. The successful candidate should be a generalist with research interests in one or more of the following areas: communication theory, communication and public policy, critical media studies, political economy of the media, or digital media. Experience and facility with digital editing is a major plus but not required. The successful applicant will be required to teach introductory courses and to develop upper-level courses in his/her area of specialization. Ph.D. in communication or closely related field required. Interested applicants should send a letter of interest, a CV, a sample of scholarly work/research, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and three letters of recommendation to the Communication Studies Department, Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza, NY, NY 10038. Review of applications will begin January 15, 2006 and continue until the position is filled. For more information, contact Shawn Miklaucic.
Robert Coover Interview Archived on Web
Venerable experimental writer Robert Coover is interviewed on Santa Monica College radio station KCRW 89.9’s “Bookworm” program. Listen to the archived interview.
ELO Board Members at DAC, Copenhagen
A number of ELO’s board members participated in the recent Digital Arts and Cultures conference in Copenhagen. Nick Montfort teamed up with Georgia Tech’s Michael Mateas to present a paper entitled “A Box Darkly: Obfuscation, Weird Languages, and Code Aesthetics”. Noah Wardrip-Fruin participated in a group reading at Cophenhagen’s LiteraturHaus. Scott Rettberg presented a paper entitled “All Together Now: Collective Knowledge, Collective Narratives, and Architectures of Participationâ€Â. Conference proceedings will be available as a printed volume (long papers) and on CD (short papers). Visit the DAC 2005 website for news about when the proceedings will be available. Notes, photos, and blogs about the conference are available on the DAC 2005 conference wiki.
Rettberg Interviewed for Chicago Tribune Article
Scott Rettberg was recently interviewed by the Chicago Tribune’s cultural critic, Julia Keller, for an article entitled “Plugged-In Proust: Has E-Lit Come of Age?” William J. Mitchell, head of the Media Arts and Sciences program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was also interviewed for the piece, which examines the relationship between control and reading technologies.
Professorship or Sr. Lectureship in Digital Humanities, Lancaster University
The newly-formed Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at Lancaster University, Lancaster, U.K., seeks applications for a professorship or senior lectureship in Digital Humanities. The creation of this interdisciplinary position is part of the university’s goal of becoming a “centre of excellence” for ICT in the humanities and arts. Duties will include developing a research agenda; working with academic departments to establish new degree curricula at the postgraduate level; pursing research funding from external agencies; liasing with external stakeholders such as museums, libraries and galleries; advising colleagues in the faculty about digital research methods; promoting use of advanced ICT throughout the university; and helping to establish an international profile for Lancaster University in this field.
Requirements include a Ph.D. in a relevant research area, with an emphasis on cross-disciplinary engagement; demonstrated excellence in the use of advanced ICT relating to the humanities or arts; track record of relevant publication; proven ability to attract external research funding; teaching experience at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels; experience designing relevant programs of study.
This permanent appointment will begin in the summer of 2006. Application closing date is January 20, 2006. For a complete job announcement and instructions on application procedures, visit the Lancaster University employment website, or contact Professor Tony Gatrell, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.