How We Read

Perhaps no single activity defines college more than reading. We read textbooks and text messages, perform “close readings” of literature and “read between the lines” of course descriptions. Some readings are dense, and we struggle to discern their meaning; other texts are skimmed quickly. We take our literacy for granted, giving barely a thought to the complex neurological processes that enable us to interpret these lines. In an age of artificial intelligences, even machines “read.” In this seminar, we explore the histories, sciences, and technologies of reading. Guest lectures and visits to libraries and labs introduce different disciplinary approaches, as we ask: How did people read in the past? How do novelists, poets, and book artists conceptualize the act of reading? What happens in the brain when we read? And how do machines read differently from humans? Our investigations culminate in a multimodal exhibit, produced collaboratively.