Date/Time
Thursday
13 Mar 2025
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Location
470 Stephens Hall

Event Type
Workshop

Nathaniel Comfort
Professor, Johns Hopkins University

In this two-week, hands-on workshop, Professor Nathaniel Comfort of Johns Hopkins University and current CSTMS Visiting Scholar will discuss the vital skill of getting the gist of a book in a short period of time. Sometimes called “x-raying” or “gutting,” this method seems rarely to be formally taught; So many of his students have said, “No one ever tells us this!” So this is Professor Comfort showing-and-telling you.

Attendance will be capped at 12, to ensure that those attending can participate fully. Graduate students, postdocs, and advanced undergraduates are welcome. Please sign up here before the first session so we can have a head-count.

The first week, we will discuss Pierre Bayard’s How to Talk about Books You Haven’t Read and analyze the methods he described. Please read this (short, funny) book before the first session. In the second session, we will put the methods to use and talk about books we haven’t read.

Required text: Pierre Bayard, How to Talk about Books You Haven’t Read (any format)