Brian Michael Murphy, Dean of the College at Bennington College, will present "Bombproof Archives: Iron Mountain and the American Data Complex."
The United States has over 2,700 data centers—more than Germany, the United Kingdom, China, and Canada combined. In addition to these digital repositories, government agencies and corporations still maintain massive archives of paper documents, microfilm backups, and magnetic tape reels, as well as a vast network of securitized, climate-controlled locations to protect all these records. How and why did Americans become the most prolific generators and preservers of data on the planet? This talk explores the archives, vaults, and digitization labs of the Iron Mountain National Data Center in Boyers, Pennsylvania, a 150-acre facility located 220 feet underground, in a former limestone mine. With its armed guards, “bombproof” architecture, and intense surveillance systems, Iron Mountain embodies the key features of America’s “data complex”: the network of bunkers that safeguards "permanent" traces of American culture, records that certify state and corporate power, and a set of plans for national resurrection even after the end of the world. With those motives, it aims to establish an immortal America.
Brian Michael Murphy is the author of We the Dead: Preserving Data at the End of the World (University of North Carolina Press, 2022). His essays and poems appear in the Kenyon Review, Wall Street Journal, Lapham’s Quarterly, Narrative, Kweli, and in Italian translation in Ácoma. He is the Managing and Nonfiction Editor of Northwest Review, and co-editor, with Kris Paulsen, of a special issue of Media-N titled “Afterlives of Data.” A Fulbright Scholar, his work has also been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council, and the Ohio Arts Council. In the summers, he directs the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, where he previously taught for several years. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Studies from OSU, where he was a Presidential Fellow.
Co-hosted by the Department of Comparative Studies. This event is free and open to the public.
The Humanities Institute and its related centers host a wide range of events, from intense discussions of works in progress to cutting-edge presentations from world-known scholars, artists, and activists, and everything in between. In our current moment of riding the unpredictable currents of the pandemic, we reaffirm the value of in-person engagement. We strive to amplify the energy in the room. But we also recognize the need to be careful and the fact that not all our guests will be able to visit our space. We, therefore, will continue to offer Zoom access to all our events upon request. If you wish to have such access, please let us know by emailing huminst@osu.edu.
