2008 Graduate Humanities Forum Conference Keynote

The sudden rise and universal influence of the Internet search company Google has raised new and powerful challenges to the traditions of reading, writing, and publishing, as well as privacy and publicity. Cultural historian and media scholar Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Copyrights and Copywrongs, plots the worrisome influence of Google’s ubiquity and wealth.

How has Google affected the production and dissemination of knowledge? And how has it changed the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states?