Matthew Kirschenbaum
Election
Position
Name
Matthew Kirschenbaum
Candidate statement
Matthew G. Kirschenbaum. Professor of English and Digital Studies at the University of Maryland, and Director of the Graduate Certificate in Digital Studies. Affiliated faculty member with the College of Information Studies at Maryland, and a member of the teaching faculty at the University of Virginia’s Rare Book School. Co-founder of BookLab at Maryland, a makerspace for the book arts.
Book history is, as they say, having a moment, one which at its best is drawing together both early career and established scholars, academics as well as other academic professionals, adepts of technologies new and old (witness the current resurgence of interest in letterpress), and practitioners from a wide range of increasingly diverse (and globalized) fields. In my own scholarship I seek to practice a book history of the present, meaning that while my most recent research focuses on the logistics, infrastructure, and technological underpinnings of contemporary books and bookmaking, I do so with the historical and materialist sensibility that has been modelled by predecessors working in earlier time periods. I currently serve as an Advisory Editor of Book History, and I would look forward to the opportunity to play a role in stewarding the organization at such a lively time. As a member of SHARP’s Board of Directors, I would want to open channels with neighboring research communities, especially in media studies, digital humanities, and the rapidly emerging field of eco-humanities. I am also deeply committed to the public humanities, and believe SHARP is well-positioned as an organization to support scholars interested in public writing, podcasts, social media, and other forms of outreach.
Book history is, as they say, having a moment, one which at its best is drawing together both early career and established scholars, academics as well as other academic professionals, adepts of technologies new and old (witness the current resurgence of interest in letterpress), and practitioners from a wide range of increasingly diverse (and globalized) fields. In my own scholarship I seek to practice a book history of the present, meaning that while my most recent research focuses on the logistics, infrastructure, and technological underpinnings of contemporary books and bookmaking, I do so with the historical and materialist sensibility that has been modelled by predecessors working in earlier time periods. I currently serve as an Advisory Editor of Book History, and I would look forward to the opportunity to play a role in stewarding the organization at such a lively time. As a member of SHARP’s Board of Directors, I would want to open channels with neighboring research communities, especially in media studies, digital humanities, and the rapidly emerging field of eco-humanities. I am also deeply committed to the public humanities, and believe SHARP is well-positioned as an organization to support scholars interested in public writing, podcasts, social media, and other forms of outreach.