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76677-01 - Seminar: Attention During Reading in the Post-digital Age (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Moniek Kuijpers (moniek.kuijpers@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | In the post-digital age, we live in, seamlessly interwoven print and digital technologies inform what we read for leisure, how we read it and how we communicate about our reading. Reading has never been more dynamic and social as a consequence of this. Even though there are researchers who worry about the effects of digitalization on people’s attention spans, there is not enough empirical research to make an effective argument that these developments have only harmed readers and reading. In this course, we will examine different types of attention during reading, different ways in which texts can grab our attention, and different ways in which we choose to allocate our attention to certain books, authors or reading activities. |
| Learning objectives | • Understanding how digitalization has influenced reading, particularly our attention during reading • Learning to observe your own reading behavior and critically reflect on it • Being able to critically reflect on the attention economy and how it influences us and our reading behavior • Learning several methods with which the activity of reading is scientifically studied • Learning open coding to analyze and interpret qualitative data on attention during reading collected over the span of the course |
| Bibliography | - Week 1: Fuller, D., & Rehberg Sedo, D. (2025). Around the World in an Insta (Group): The Potentialities of an Arts-based Online Method. Qualitative Inquiry, 31(6), 604-619. - Week 2: Mangen, A., & Van der Weel, A. (2016). The evolution of reading in the age of digitisation: an integrative framework for reading research. Literacy, 50(3), 116-124. - Week 3: Smallwood, J., McSpadden, M., & Schooler, J. W. (2008). When attention matters: The curious incident of the wandering mind. Memory & cognition, 36(6), 1144-1150. - Week 4: Kuzmičová, A., Supa, M., & Nekola, M. (2022). Children’s perspectives on being absorbed when reading fiction: AQ methodology study. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 966820. - Week 5: Bishop, C. (2025). Disordered attention: How we look at art and performance today. Verso books. (Introduction) - Week 6: Bálint, K., Hakemulder, F., Kuijpers, M., Doicaru, M., & Tan, E. S. (2016). Reconceptualizing foregrounding: Identifying response strategies to deviation in absorbing narratives. Scientific Study of Literature, 6(2), 176-207. - Week 7: Bentz, M., Cortez Espinoza, M., Simeonova, V., Köppe, T. and Onea, E. (2024) ‘Measuring Suspense in Real Time: A New Experimental Methodology’, Scientific Study of Literature, 13(1), p. 1–21. Available at: https://doi.org/10.61645/ssol.182. - Week 8: Barnett, T. (2014). Social Reading: The Kindle's Social Highlighting Function and Emerging Reading Practices. Australian Humanities Review, (56). - Week 9: Bennett, A. (2018). Contemporary fictions of attention: Reading and distraction in the twenty-first century. Bloomsbury Publishing. (Fragments of Chapter 3) - Week 10: Billington, J., & Steenberg, M. (2021). Literary reading and mental wellbeing. Handbook of empirical literary studies, 393-420. - Week 11: Driscoll, B. (2024). Networks of Readers. In: What Readers Do. Aesthetic and Moral Practices of a Post-Digital Age. Sydney: Bloomsbury |
| Comments | The language of the course is English. Please be aware that you will have to present and write in English. |
| Admission requirements | Participation is limited. Priority will be given to students of Digital Humanities if the course is oversubscribed. |
| Language of instruction | German |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Comments |
Beginnt am 23.09.2026 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 23.09.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Wednesday 30.09.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Wednesday 07.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 14.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 21.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 28.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Wednesday 04.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 11.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 18.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Wednesday 25.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Wednesday 02.12.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 09.12.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 16.12.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Modules |
Modul: Digital Humanities, Culture and Society (Master's degree subject: Digital Humanities) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | This is a pass or fail course. In order to receive a pass on this course, you will have to pass at least 2 out of the following 3 points: 1) Participation in class discussions (which will first take place in smaller groups and then within the whole classroom) about the reading material 2) Participation in our private online space (platform to be decided) discussions about the weekly self-reflection prompts about reading and attention 3) Final assignment: writing a “book reading” review in the format of your choosing, including a reflection on your attention before, during and after reading of the book and a critical engagement with at least 1 source from our reading list and 2 related sources on the topic of attention and reading in the post-digital age |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Digital Humanities Lab |