e-Lit Resource
On the Human

“On the Human” is an on online forum sponsored by the National Humanities Center and edited by Gary Comstock, Phillip Barron, and Parker Shipton. According to Comstock, Barron, and Parker, the site "focuses on persons and the quasi-persons who surround them. As persons are biological, psychological, historical and moral beings, contributors to this site employ modes of inquiry from both the sciences and the humanities." The format of “On the Human” consists of featured essays followed by in-depth dialogue via threaded discussion. The site dates back to a single post submitted in 2006, but the forum itself became an active feature in early 2009, and included posts by scholars like Ian Hacking, Paul Rabinow, and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, with a strong focus on science, anthropology, and psychology. Of special interest to scholars of literature are essays by N. Katherine Hayles (May 2009), Joe Carroll (June 2009), and Joseph Tabbi (July 2009). Tabbi’s essay, “On Reading 300 Works of Electronic Literature,” will be of particular interest to readers of the Electronic Literature Directory as it pertains explicitly to the creation of the directory itself.