Teaching / Soft Publishing Fall 2026 Class

This course considers publishing not just as a final step, but as an active site where meaning, authorship, and audience are negotiated. Exploring expected and unexpected modes of circulation, students will investigate publishing as both a container for and a boundless extension of the conceptual concerns of their work. Resisting fixed, market-driven hierarchies, we will develop value-based approaches to publishing that address access, labor, and responsibility. The course culminates in a collaboratively produced publication that brings together the cohort’s work as a singular, collective form.

The 8-week course will be split into two sections. Section 1 is dedicated to theory and exploration, Section 2 to producing a collectively published project.

The weekly readings for Section 1 are linked in the syllabus, in the references section, and in the “Soft Publishing” Are.na channel. We will discuss each reading in class. Pay special attention to how the ideas and concepts relate to your own values and philosophies. If you do further research, I encourage you to share that during the class discussion.

• One written publishing manifesto
• One print publishing exercise
• One web publishing exercise
• Planning and production of the collective class publication

Section 1

Section 2