The Future of the Book

INF2331H — The Future of the Book

This course considers the history and possible futures of books in a digital world. In this course “the book” is interpreted broadly, meaning not just an object with covers and pages, but also an evolving metaphor for conceptual frameworks for knowledge, and a metonym that brings together many different technologies, institutions, and cultural practices. The course introduces students to interdisciplinary approaches such as book history, textual studies, history of reading, and digital humanities, with an emphasis on balancing theoretical speculation with practical implementation. Readings will survey topics such as the ontology of born-digital artifacts, critical assessment of digitization projects, collaborative knowledge work, reading devices (old and new), e-book interface design, text/image/multimedia relationships, theories and practices of markup, the gendering of technologies, the politics of digital archiving, the materiality of texts, and the epistemology of digital tools. Students will also receive a practical introduction to XML markup and visualization tools.

Note: formerly Introduction to Digital Humanities; no change in content

• Syllabus Fall 2016
• Syllabus Winter 2018
• Syllabus Winter 2019
• Syllabus Fall 2019
• Syllabus Winter 2021
• Syllabus Winter 2022
• Syllabus Winter 2023
• Syllabus Fall 2023