A manifesto for a radically open publishing commons; an expansion of remarks originally presented on a panel devoted to independent open-access academic publishing at the 2nd Biennial Meeting of the BABEL Working Group (Boston, Massachusetts, 20-22 Sep. 2012).

An expanded version of a talk presented at the Sub-conference of the Modern Language Association, “The Public and Its Privates,” Cheer-up Charlie’s, Austin, Texas, 7 January 2015, that ruminates both the difficulties of collective work as well as how various scholarly collectives create spaces of radical hospitality within which individual perso…[Read more]

An Open Letter & petition, with signatures, from punctum books to The New Press and Verso Books (UK), relative to their recent compilations (in print and e-book form) of Aaron Swartz’s selective collected writings, “The Boy Who Could Change the World,” in which the undersigned ask Verso and The New Press to reverse and repair this unfortunate…[Read more]

In its encounter with James Baldwin across form— “Letter to my nephew,” “Sonny’s Blues,” and archival footage of Baldwin being interviewed by the psychologist Kenneth Clark— this article offers an exploration of how Baldwin’s figuration of children and his own acts of care illuminate the political possibilities of both filiation and aff…[Read more]

This essay explores how Pierre Nora’s sites of memory work a specific cultural function through what Melvin Dixon refers to as “a memory that ultimately rewrites history.” I look at two of the most well-known poems of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes’s “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and Countee Cullen’s “Heritage,” one of which reveals a…[Read more]

Introduction to “Digital Methods and Traditional Chinese Literary Studies,” a special issue of the Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture.

This article combines qualitative and quantitative methods to rethink the literary history of late medieval China (830–960 CE). It begins with an overview of exchange poetry in the Tang dynasty and its role in the construction of the poetic subject, namely, the poetic subject’s distributed textual body. A total of 10,869 poems exchanged between 2…[Read more]

Developing less burdensome and more equitable ways to support scholarly difference is a preeminent challenge when thinking about the future of assessment and promotion in higher education. At stake in this is the very capacity of institutions to do the work of scholarly inclusion, to recognize the range of approaches well captured in the digital…[Read more]

The growing accessibility of digital technology has been met with an increased willingness on the part of scholars to integrate new digital methods into their interpretive and presentational practices. At the same time, the academic assessment structures that support scholarly work have not always been able to keep pace, thus making the pursuit of…[Read more]

Pages from a local East Chicago, IN, publication commemorating the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre at South Chicago’s Republic Steel. Lupe Gallardo Marshall (Mexican immigrant social worker at Hull House) gave this testimony to the La Follette Committee of Congress investigating the events of that day, May 30, 1937.

I am thinking about writing a…[Read more]

Cyberpoésies d’engagement est une collection de deux poèmes numériques: Ifrikiya lève-toi! et Lettre aux Nations Unies. Bien que le dernier poème ait été publié sur Core, celui-ci reste la version définitive.

Lettre à Union Africaine est un poème numérique qui exprime la philosophie de la supranégritude. Il dénonce le joue de blâmer les Colons au lieu de diriger bien les citoyens.

Letter to the African Union is a digital poem which expresses supranegritude philosophy that denounces the game of pushing blame on colonial masters instead of working for the compatriots.

Cyberpoetry for activism is a collection of two digital poems: Arise Africa! and Letter to the United Nations. The later was published in this Core repository before the official publication date . The poems communicate justice and encouragement.

Homosalus is a digital poem that suscitate the culture of saving humanity. It is written in French and English to foster a philosophy of people first before me.

Homosalus est un poème numérique qui suscite la culture de sauver notre humanité. Il est écrit en anglais et français afin de projecter une philosophie de considérer d’autrui d’abord.

Momenta is a digital poem for Africans. It is written in two languages-French and English. The poem aims at bringing hope in the continent.

Momenta est un poème numérique pour les Africains. Il est rédigé en deux langues-anglais et français. Le poème excite l’esproir.

The syllabus for a graduate course on “Digital Literary Studies” taught in the UVA English department. Course was co-taught and co-constructed by Alison Booth and Brandon Walsh.

Sepharadim participated in the Hispanic vernacular culture of the Iberian Peninsula. Even in the time of al-Andalus many spoke Hispano-Romance, and even their Hebrew literature belies a deep familiarity with and love of their native Hispano-Romance languages. However, since the early sixteenth century the vast majority of Sepharadim have never…[Read more]

An exhibition catalog from Living by the Book: The Jewish Bible and the Everyday Power of Text at UC Berkeley’s Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life. Bringing together scrolls, ritual objects, clothing, furniture, ephemera, and tourist memorabilia, the exhibition showcased the ways the Bible serves as an archive and a powerful platform for s…[Read more]