Date: Tuesday, April 28 2026, from 4:30-6:00PM  Eastern Time

Location: Calder Lounge (107 Uris Hall)

Series: Devotion and Distraction

Speakers: Lucy Alford (Wake Forest University), Jonathan Beller (Pratt Institute), and Natasha Schüll (New York University)

Moderator: Seth Kimmel (Columbia University) 

Attention is a valuable commodity. The capacity not only to keep distractions at bay, but also actively to pay attention to particular people, works of art, ideals, and politics is in constant tension with the attention claimed by mass media, consumption, and the wired ecosystem of our daily lives more broadly. Drawing into the present our year-long exploration of the relationship between devotion and distraction at various moments in the past, this final panel discussion turns to the places occupied by spirituality, self-help, and various other types of subject formation within the contemporary attention economy. Contemporary seekers are experimenting with strategies to counter distraction while at the same time competing for the time and attention of like-minded people who also desire deeper meaning and balance in their lives. What are these strategies and the coalitions in which they take shape? What do they share with attention techniques of the past? How have the dramatic technological and social changes of the last few years reshaped both the attention economy and the ways that we imagine ourselves as ethical and engaged individuals?

Free and open to the public

Registration is required—Please register in advance to reserve your spot

All prospective attendees must register by 11:59PM on Monday, April 27. Registration will close at that time.

Columbia University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you require disability accommodations to attend an event at Columbia University, please contact Disability Services (disability@columbia.edu or 212-854-2388) at least 10 days in advance of the event. Requests for CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) or sign language interpretation require two weeks' notice.