Dr. Aarushi Bhandari Book Presentation

The community and campus are invited to a presentation by Dr. Aarushi Bhandari on her book, “ Attention and Alienation: The International Political Economy of Attention ,” 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22 in the Table Mountain Rancheria Reading Room in the Fresno State Library.

Bhandari is an assistant professor of sociology at Davidson College, and her recent book weaves narratives about growing up during the Nepali Civil War and the internet boom from 1990 to 2020. In the lecture, she will discuss how the attention economy extracts data from users as a form of unpaid, and ultimately alienating labor. Bhandari helps us to see how common forms of leisure, like social media use, impoverish users both socially and materially.

The event is organized by the library and the Department of Sociology with co-sponsorship from the Division of Graduate Studies, Department of Economics, the Gandhi Center for Peace and the College of Social Sciences.

Bhandari has received the National Science Foundation CAREER award for her digital mindfulness project. She also teaches courses on statistics and advanced quantitative methods, digital media, popular culture, globalization, social movements and mindfulness. Her next book, “Happily Ever Algorithm,” studies ‘romantasy’ genre writers and readers to understand the sociological implications of the burgeoning body of literature. Students, faculty and staff can RSVP for an additional workshop from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Library 2206 before the event. Bhandari will discuss how participants can explore their interests in order to create their next professional project - be that an honors thesis, dissertation, research initiative or passion project.

Info: Dr. Sophia Boutilier, [email protected] .