November 2-November 3

The Franke Institute for the Humanities

Chicago University’s Department of English Language and Literature is hosting a graduate conference on “not reading.” The conference has a simple premise: every act of reading entails a decision, whether required or freely made, to not read something else. Not reading may then be something we do a lot more of, yet we seldom talk or write about that. How can acknowledging this fact help us rethink some of the most pressing issues of literary study, including new interpretive methodologies, canonicity, patterns of publication, the work of reading, lost texts, the archive, and the politics of what we (don’t) read? This conference aims to open up that conversation by inviting creative reflection on what is a necessary element in our scholarly work: not reading.

Please join for a two-day conference of panels, a faculty roundtable, keynote address, and performance art event. See the conference website for further details. Please direct questions about the conference to notreading.echicago@gmail.com.

See flyer above for more information.