Future of Archives Symposium

What is the future of archives? Never before have we been as able to reconstruct a life, conscious or unconscious, as it is logged through its traces. Most of what we have ever done is recorded in our digital maps, text messages, keystrokes, and swipes. We leave an extraordinary ‘data exhaust’, which can be visualized, remixed, and translated into implied subjects. Yet other parts of our digital lives are remarkably ephemeral.

How are we to interpret forms of persistence and this ephemerality in the context of literary meaning, or our cultural lives? To whom do archives belong? How are we managing transitions between lack and excess? How safe is our memory – and with whom is it lodged?

This one-day symposium, hosted by Reading Writing Futures and the Gender and Sexuality Research Network, will focus on the future of archives. Our keynote speaker, Dr. Benjamin Lee (University of Washington), will be speaking about his work creating search and discovery with the vast archival holdings of the Library of Congress, as well as new developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Papers run from 10am - 4:30pm.

Host or Publisher Andrew Dean, Gilbert Caluya, and Ann Vickery