Reading Group: The Circle by Dave Eggers

What if one tech company owned almost the entire market? The Circle by Dave Eggers is a novel about a young woman named Mae, who gets a job working at the largest tech company in the world. Eggers brings you on a journey through a world in which technological development can thrive without any limitations. He introduces you to various characters who want to improve themselves and the world…but at what cost?

Diving into The Circle offers a chillingly relevant look at how our obsession with connectivity, information acquisition, and profit can slowly morph into a surveillance state. By joining the discussion, you can help to deconstruct depictions of transparency, and explore what futures our real-world technological habits are leading us towards.

Dates:

Friday 22 May, 10-11 am

Friday 29 May, 10-11 am

Discussion Facilitators and Areas of Expertise:

Shannon Mora, MPhil, MPH, CPH

PhD Candidate, Centre for Digital Humanities, School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultural Studies

Early Career Research Fellow, Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute

Shannon Mora is PhD researcher in the Centre for Digital Humanities in Trinity College Dublin. Her interdisciplinary qualitative research examines the intersection of mourning, emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs), and public health, using Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study. Her work is grounded in the assertion that mourning is a social and cultural determinant of health, and that technology and culture share a symbiotic relationship. She previously earned a Master of Philosophy in Digital Humanities and Culture from Trinity College Dublin, where she conducted novel empirical research on digital condolence discourse on RIP.ie during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. Shannon also holds a Master of Public Health in Policy and Ethics and a Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences. She has over 15 years’ experience in public health, with expertise in policy analysis, strategic health communications, and project and programme management.

Vera Yakupova, MPhil, MSc,

PhD Candidate, Centre for Digital Humanities, School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultural Studies

Early Career Research Fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub

Vera Yakupova is a current PhD researcher in the Centre for Digital Humanities at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and examines how surveillance and privacy are imagined in speculative fiction in different linguistic and cultural contexts. Her work focuses on how fictional narratives in English, German and Russian depict surveillance systems, especially through the use of humour and satire, and how characters negotiate private spaces in surveillance societies. Vera obtained her Master of Philosophy in Modern and Contemporary Literary Studies at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, in 2023, after completing her Bachelor’s at Tübingen University, Germany, in 2021. She also obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from London Metropolitan University in 2025. Vera’s research focus ranges between literary studies, surveillance studies, digital humanities, computational literary studies, and psychology.

Neil Richards, JD, MA

Professor in Law, Washington University School of Law

Visiting Research Fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub

Professor Richards is one of the world’s leading experts in privacy law, information law, and freedom of expression. He holds the Koch Distinguished Professorship at Washington University School of Law, where he co-directs the Cordell Institute for Policy in Medicine & Law. He is also a Visiting Professor of Law at the London School of Economics, an affiliate scholar with the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, the Harvard Berkman Klein Center and the Yale Information Society Project, and a consultant and expert in privacy cases. Professor Richards serves on the advisory board of the Future of Privacy Forum and is a member of the American Law Institute. He writes, teaches, and lectures about the regulation of the technologies powered by human information that are revolutionizing our society. He is the author of Why Privacy Matters (Oxford Press 2022) and Intellectual Privacy (Oxford Press 2015). His award-winning writings on privacy and civil liberties have appeared in a wide variety of media, from the Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal to The Guardian, WIRED, and Slate.

This event is run in accordance with Trinity’s Dignity and Respect policy and its commitment to nurturing a respectful and inclusive research culture.

Please indicate if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: [email protected]

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Host or Publisher Trinity College Dublin; Centre for Contemporary Irish History, Trinity College Dublin; The Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute, Trinity College Dublin; Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.