Humanists and the new communication patterns of the digital age

Michael A. Elliott, a professor at Emory University

The way how humanists convey their research to audiences that are external to the university, and the implications of new technologies and communication patterns will be discussed at a conference followed by a workshop with Michael A. Elliott, a professor of literature and culture of the United States at Emory University.

The Humanities and their Publics will take place on April 19, from 10.00 am to 12.00 pm, in the IEA's Events Room. Elliott will address the American academics' view of their role in society since the beginning of the 20th century. The possibilities and risks of becoming a public intellectual in the digital age will also be under discussion.

The workshop Research Without Frontiers: The Future of Academic Publication in a Digital World, from 2.30 pm to 5.00 pm, will be exclusive to guests. A work developed by Elliot for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will be used as a starting point for the activity. It is a project on how digital networks can change the academic monograph.

Both the conference and the workshop will be held in English and broadcast live on the web.

Jeffrey Lesser, currently a visiting professor at the IEA, will coordinate the activities.

Elliott specializes in the literature and culture of the United States from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to American cultures and the place of Native Americans in the United States.

He is the author of Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer (2007) and The Culture Concept: Writing and Difference in the Age of Realism (2002), and co-editor (with Claudia Stokes) of American Literary Studies: A Methodological Reader (2003).

Photo: Emory University