Aaron Ottinger, PhD

Literature & Mathematics | Digital Colonialism

ABOUT

For the last decade, my research has focused on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature and mathematics. I examine how this relationship complicates rather than essentializes human being, and thereby requires a re-evaluation of the "realism of the subject." This project is ongoing.

A profile picture of Aaron Ottinger.

More recently, I have been focusing on digital colonialism and what I call "the global ecodigital divide." This interdisciplinary study examines literary and other artistic representations of the long historical connections between technology, systemic racism, and ecological destruction, from the transatlantic slave trade to mining cobalt in the DRC.

In the classroom, I teach literature, rhetoric and composition, the history of media, digital culture, and technical writing. I am trained to teach online and in person. I have also designed several service learning courses ("Social Justice and Digital Media"). All of my classes include hands-on activities. So if you take a class with me, you can definitely expect to make something (in addition to writing essays, of course!).

Outside the classroom, I'm a big foodie. I love making chicken adobo, Sunday ragu, and in the summer you'll find me by the grill. I make many of my meals AIP friendly. To keep my brain happy, I noodle around on my piano and guitar. I'm a bit of a swimmer, but I'd rather be a surfer. I was born in St. Louis; I lived in Chicago for several years, and then Seattle for over a decade. I now live in Tacoma, WA. I've also been a guest in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Greece, Germany, Italy, the UK, and more recently, Cuba, Mexico, and Guatemala. Next up, the Philippines!

Complete CV

 

 

 

RESEARCH

FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS

  1. Everything is out (for now)!

 

IN PROGRESS

  1. "Wordsworth's Anti-Euclid: Logic, Mathematics, and Realism in Lyrical Ballads," a journal article (submitted for review 9/22/23, revise and resubmit 1/4/24).
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  3. "Impossible Roots: The Mathematics of Black Being in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," a journal article for a conference proceedings issue of Romanticism on the Net (submitted for review 9/25/22, revise and resubmit 3/18/24).
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  5. "Less Than Nothing: Teaching Literature and Mathematics with Coleridge’s "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," an article for "Teaching With Science Writing in the Humanities Classroom" (MLA) (submitted for review 1/10/24).
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  7. "Astral Romanticism: Mathematics, Realism, and Subjectivities," a manuscript, drafting phase.

 

ARTICLES and BOOK CHAPTERS

  1. "The Global Ecodigital Divide: A Collaborative Mapping Exercise for Online Classrooms," Interdisciplinary Digital Engagement in Arts & Humanities, 21 Jul. 2021.
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  3. “The Mathematics of Associationism in Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy,” a chapter for The Palgrave Handbook of Literature and Mathematics. Edited by Alice Jenkins and Rob Tubbs. Palgrave, 2021, 439-56.
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  5. “Ecocritical Perspectives and Media Adaptations in the Anthropocene: Teaching Wordsworth’s ‘Written in Germany,’” an essay for “Teaching Romanticism in the Anthropocene,” Romantic Circles: Romantic Pedagogy Commons. Edited by Chris Washington. 2020.
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  7. “Astral Guts: The Nemocentric Self in Byron and Brassier,” a chapter for Romanticism and Speculative Realism. Edited by Anne McCarthy and Chris Washington, Bloomsbury, 2019.
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  9. “Geometry, the Body, and Affect in Wordsworth’s The Ruined Cottage.” Essays in Romanticism, vol. 21, no. 2, 2014, pp. 159-178.

 

DISSERTATION

  1. "The Role of Geometry in Wordsworth's 'Science of Feelings,'" University of Washington, 2016.

 

REVIEWS

  1. Romanticism at the End of the World: Romantic Revelations: Visions of Post-Apocalyptic Life and Hope in the Anthropocene, by Chris Washington and Disastrous Subjectivities: Romanticism, Modernity, and the Real by David Collings in European Romantic Review (2023): 101-106.
  2. The Order of Forms: Realism, Formalism, and Social Space, by Anna Kornbluh in Romantic Circles (2020).
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  4. Literature After Euclid: The Geometric Imagination in the Long Scottish Enlightenment, by Matthew Wickman in Romantic Circles (2017).
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  6. Romantic Intimacy, by Nancy Yousef in Romantic Circles (2015).
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  8. Plastic Intellectual Breeze: The Contribution of Ralph Cudworth to S.T. Coleridge’s Early Poetics of the Symbol, by Cristina Flores in The Coleridge Bulletin (winter 2009), 92-94.

 

SELECT BLOG POSTS

Blogger, Medium.

  1. "Academic Unemployment," 4 Sep. 2019.
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  3. "From Academic CV to non-Academic Resume, Step 1: Get Help," 26 Jun. 2019.

 

Editor and Contributor, “Ada Lovelace, Romantic from the Future,” a three-part series for The K-SAA Blog.

  1. "Ada Lovelace, Romantic from the Future: Adapting Ada," 10 Dec. 2018.
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  3. "Ada Lovelace, Romantic from the Future: An Interview with Roger Whitson, Part II," 28 Nov. 2018
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  5. "Ada Lovelace, Romantic from the Future: An Interview with Roger Whitson, Part I," 27 Nov. 2018

 

Communications Fellow, Keats-Shelley Association of America.

  1. "Interview: Keats Symposium:Ann Rowland on Keats, America, and Author Love" 22 Jan. 2018.

 

Staff Blogger, NASSR Graduate Student Caucus Blog.

  1. "The Day After Payday: Graduate Students, Gleaning, and Apocalypse," 11 Oct. 2013.
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  3. "Digital Humanities: My Introduction 1.3" 13 Jun. 2013.
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  5. "Digital Humanities: My Introduction 1.2" 14 May, 2013.
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  7. "Digital Humanities: My Introduction 1.1" 19 Feb. 2013.
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  9. "Toward a Map of the International Conference on Romanticism 2012: 'Catastrophes'" 12 Nov. 2012.
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  11. "A Meditation on the One-Year Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street: Fear, Silence, and Participation" 18 Sept. 2012.
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  13. "Back to School: Time to Learn" 8 Sept. 2012.
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  15. "The Painful Pleasures of Romantic Feet," 2 Aug. 2012.
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  17. "The Sublimity of '2001: A Space Odyssey,'" 21 Apr. 2012.
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  19. "The Speculative Turn and Studies in Romanticism," 30 Mar. 2012.

 

 

 

TEACHING

SYLLABI

Digital Studies

  1. DICE 4040: Social Justice and Digital Media, Seattle University, online, synchronous, winter 2021.
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  3. DICE 4020: Global Digital Cultures, Seattle University, online, asynchronous, fall 2020.
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  5. DICE 4010: Digital Identities, Seattle University, online, asynchronous, fall 2020.
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  7. DICE 3020: History of Text Technologies, Seattle University, online, asynchronous, spring 2020.

 

Literary Studies

  1. English 200: "Prometheus Bound and Unbound: Science and Literature from Oral Culture to Digital Media", University of Washington, face-to-face, fall 2017.

 

Rhetoric & Composition

  1. English 101: Mathematizing Human Life: Writing and Rhetoric in an Algorithmic Culture, Highline College, face-to-face, spring 2019.
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  3. English 101: Rhetorical Approaches to Writing and Ecopoetry, Highline College, face-to-face, spring 2018.
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ADDITIONAL TEACHING MATERIALS

Coming soon!