CV
Contents
Appointments
- Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities and Literature, Oregon State University, 2025–
- Visiting Assistant Professor of Data Science and Statistics, University of Richmond, 2024–25
- Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer, University of Virginia, 2021–24
Education
- PhD, English; Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities, Stanford University, 2021
- AB, English, magna cum laude, Harvard University, 2012
- Undergraduate Teacher Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2012
- Visiting Student of English, St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, 2011
Publications
- Fredner, Erik. “Reading with Language Models.” In “Cultural AI,” special issue, MFS Modern Fiction Studies 73, no. 1 (forthcoming).
- Fredner, Erik. “The Ends of Reading.” American Literature 99, no. 4 (forthcoming).
- Fredner, Erik, and Luca Messarra. “Leaving New York: The Dispersion of Twentieth-Century US Literary Publishing.” American Literary History 38, no. 4 (2026): 386–413.
- Fredner, Erik. “Moving the Capital of US Literature from Boston to New York: Evidence from 11 Million Library of Congress Catalog Records.” In The Nineteenth-Century Data Collective, edited by Meredith Martin and Megan Ward. Princeton University Libraries, 2025.
- Fredner, Erik, and J. D. Porter. “Counting on The Norton Anthology of American Literature.” PMLA 139, no. 1 (2024): 50–65.
- Fredner, Erik. “A Meaning Apart from Its Indistinguishable Words.” Nathaniel Hawthorne Review 48, no. 1 (2022): 82–98.
- Fredner, Erik. “Hamlin Garland’s ‘Problem of Individual Life.’” Nineteenth-Century Literature 76, no. 3 (2021): 354–83.
- Fredner, Erik. “Averaging Americans: Literature, Statistics, and Inequality.” PhD diss., Stanford University, 2021. Committee: Gavin Jones, Mark Algee-Hewitt, Mark McGurl, and Paula Moya.
- Fredner, Erik. Review of Enumerations: Data and Literary Study, by Andrew Piper. Studies in the Novel 52, no. 2 (2020): 220–22.
- Algee-Hewitt, Mark, Erik Fredner, and Hannah Walser. “The Novel as Data.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Novel, edited by Eric Bulson, 189–216. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
- McClure, David, Mark Algee-Hewitt, Steele Douris, Erik Fredner, and Hannah Walser. “Organizing Corpora at the Stanford Literary Lab: Balancing Simplicity and Flexibility in Metadata Management.” Proceedings of the Workshop on Challenges in the Management of Large Corpora (2017): 25–29.
Works in Progress
Please see my research page.
Awards
- Center for the Humanities Faculty Research Fellowship, Oregon State University, 2026–27
- Critical AI Literacy Summer Teaching Fellowship, Oregon State University, 2026
- College Fellows Development Grant (literature on Jeopardy!), University of Virginia, 2024
- College Fellows Development Grant (The MLA International Bibliography), University of Virginia, 2022
- Mellon Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Stanford Humanities Center, 2020–21
- City University of New York–Stanford Exchange Fellow, The City College of New York, 2018–19
- G. J. Pigott Scholar, Stanford University, 2017–18
- Excellence in Teaching Award, Department of English, Stanford University, 2017
Presentations
2026
- “Canons within Canons? Anthology Selections of US Literature across Series.” Mapping the Canon: Quantitative Approaches to Literary History, Technische Universität Darmstadt.
2025
- “The Literary Canon on Jeopardy!, 1984–2024.” Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa.
- “The ‘Already Implicit’ Canon: Data from Anthologies of African American Literature.” Digital Americanists Panel, American Literature Association, Boston, Massachusetts.
- “Leaving New York? Imprint Geographies of US Literature since 1945.” Stanford Literary Lab.
2024
- “The Ends of Reading.” Faculty and Staff Symposium, University of Richmond.
- “The MLA International Bibliography’s History of English-Language Literary Studies.” Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, George Mason University.
- “Anthologies as Databases.” Digital Americanists Panel, American Literature Association, Chicago, Illinois.
- “The Ends of Reading: Reading Statistics and the Overestimation of Literary Studies’ Aim.” Reader Studies in the Digital Age Symposium, Price Lab for Digital Humanities, University of Pennsylvania.
- “How Much Is Literary Knowledge Worth on Jeopardy?” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “How to Publish (Computational) Literary Studies Research.” Department of English, Stanford University.
- “Challenging Nineteenth-Century Data Legacies.” Mellon Sawyer Seminar, Stanford Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis.
- “Mining The MLA International Bibliography.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “Mining The MLA International Bibliography.” Modern Language Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- “Du Bois, Statistical Thinking, and Irony.” Modern Language Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2023
- “Implications of Large Language Models for Teaching and Research.” New Curriculum Pedagogy Workshop, University of Virginia.
- “How Literary Canons Evolve: A Data-Driven Approach.” Department of English, The College of William & Mary.
- “Elden Ring and Exegesis.” Department of English Speakers Series, University of Virginia.
- “What Good Is Distant Reading for Our Reading?” Duke University.
2022
- “On Scholarly Podcasting.” Stanford Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis.
- “Counting on The Norton Anthology of American Literature.” DH Unbound, Association for Computers and the Humanities.
2021
- “Counting on Literature.” New Curriculum Lecture, University of Virginia.
- “Length and Weight.” Universitatea Lucian Blaga, Sibiu, Romania.
- “Introduction to Computational Text Analysis in Python.” Stanford Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis.
- “New Histories of Quantitative and Computational Methods.” Modern Language Association, Toronto, Canada.
2020
- “Citizenship at Scale.” C19, University Park, Pennsylvania.
- “Antebellum and Postbellum.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “Typicality in the US Novel.” Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, Ottawa, Canada.
- “Celebrities.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “Introduction to Computational Text Analysis in Python.” Stanford Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis.
- “Models of Enlightenment Knowledge” (presider). Modern Language Association, Seattle, Washington.
- “Modeling Hawthorne’s Concept of the Nation.” Modern Language Association, Seattle, Washington.
2019
- “Microgenres.” Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, Utrecht, Netherlands.
2018
- “n Types of Typicality.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “Norton Anthologies: Database, Canon, Career.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “The Statistical Imaginations of Hamlin Garland and Henry James.” Department of English, Stanford University.
- “Typicality.” Stanford Literary Lab.
2017
- “Distant Reading with the Oxford English Dictionary.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “Reformism and Statistics in Jason Edwards.” Stanford Consortium on the Novel.
- “The Type of the Average.” Stanford Working Group on the Novel.
- “Microgenres.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “Reading the Norton Anthologies.” Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, Montreal, Canada.
- “Security in Foreign Affairs.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “Synchronic and Diachronic Suspense.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “How Many Novels Have Been Published in English?” Stanford Literary Lab.
2016
- “Reading Norton Anthologies.” SyncDH, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- “Reading the Norton Anthologies: Databases, Canons, and Careers.” Stanford Literary Lab.
- “Standing Underneath: Melville, Confidence, Testimony.” Berkeley-Stanford Conference, University of California, Berkeley.
2015
- “Fallible and Unreliable Narration in The Sound and the Fury.” Narrative and Narrative Theory, Stanford University.
- “Another Castle: The Stolen Princess Narrative in Literature and Video Games.” Infinite Possibilities: The Speculative Fiction Working Group, Stanford University.
- “Virality.” Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, Sydney, Australia.
- “Suspense... Language, Narrative, Affect.” Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, Sydney, Australia.
- “Current Projects of the Literary Lab.” SyncDH, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- “Two Blocks Joined by a Corridor: Time in To the Lighthouse.” Stanford Literary History.
2014
- “Inveigling Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Become a Ballet: cummings’s Tom.” Berkeley-Stanford Conference, Stanford, California.
- “On the Stanford Literary Lab’s Pamphlet Series.” Future of Publication Workshop, Stanford, California.
Collaborations
- “Counting on Anthologies of African American Literature,” with J. D. Porter, Arthur Knight, and Alexander Nwala, 2022–
- “The MLA International Bibliography as Literary History,” with Mark Algee-Hewitt, 2021–
- “Celebrity,” with the Smithsonian Institution
- “Typicality,” with Mark Algee-Hewitt, 2018
- “Microgenres,” with Mark Algee-Hewitt, Michaela Bronstein, Abigail Droge, Ryan Heuser, Alexander Manshel, Nichole Nomura, J. D. Porter, and Hannah Walser, 2017
- “Security,” with Mark Algee-Hewitt, Whitney McIntosh, and Stephen Stedman, 2015
- “Suspense,” with Mark Algee-Hewitt, Abigail Droge, Tasha Eccles, Morgan Day Frank, J. D. Porter, Andrew Shephard, and Hannah Walser, 2014
Teaching
- Introduction to Science Fiction and Fantasy, Oregon State University, 2026–27
- Introduction to Fiction, Oregon State University, 2025–26
- Advanced Data Science, University of Richmond, 2024–25
- Introduction to Data Science, University of Richmond, 2024–25
- Text Classification with Large Language Models, The Text Analysis Pedagogy Institute, 2024
- From Language to Data, University of Virginia, 2021–24
- Punching Up: US Satire, University of Virginia, 2021–24
- Summer Research Program, Stanford Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis, 2020
- Literary Text Mining, Stanford University, 2018–19
- World Humanities 101, The City College of New York, 2018–19
- Literary Text Mining, Stanford University, teaching assistant for Ryan Heuser, 2018–19
- Writing-Intensive Seminar in English, Stanford University, 2017–18
- Pedagogy, Stanford University, teaching assistant for Paula Moya, 2017–18
- Narrative and Narrative Theory, Stanford University, teaching assistant for Paula Moya and J. D. Porter, 2015–16
- Literary History III (1850–1950), Stanford University, teaching assistant for Franco Moretti, 2014–15
Public Humanities
Roles
- Data scientist, “The Stuff of Fame,” Stanford Literary Lab and Smithsonian Institution, 2019–21
- Editor, Café podcast, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2019–21
- Presenter, Data Privacy and Security Workshop, Stanford University, 2017–21
- Contributor, Techne, Stanford Literary Lab, 2016–
- Writer, Kill Screen magazine, Kill Screen Media, 2014–16
- Writer, Ph.D. Journalist Project, Stanford Humanities Center, 2014–16
Articles
- “Typicality in US Literature.” Techne, 2020.
- “Finding Needles in 34 Million Haystacks.” Techne, 2019.
- “How Many Novels Have Been Published in English? An Attempt.” Techne, 2017.
- “The Peculiar Future of Video Game History.” Kill Screen, 2016.
- “Eavan Boland Interrogates Identity and Nationhood in New Collection.” The Humanities at Stanford, 2015.
- “Stanford Literary Scholar: White Whales and the ‘Melville Effect.’” The Humanities at Stanford, 2015.
- “The Year in Anti-Games.” Kill Screen, 2014.
- “Stanford Scholar Questions Whether Statues Are the Appropriate Way to Commemorate Mandela.” The Humanities at Stanford, 2014.
Podcasts
- “Matriculation: The Academic Transition to College.” Symposia, Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia, 2022.
- Andrea Goulet, Michelle Robinson, and Hector Hoyos on Crime Narrative. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2021.
- Nicholas Paige on Technologies of the Novel. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2021.
- Dorothy Hale, Nancy Ruttenburg, and Alex Woloch on The Novel and the New Ethics. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2021.
- Sharon Marcus on the 2020 Ian Watt Lecture. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2021.
- Wai Chee Dimock, John Plotz, and Colin Milburn on Planetary Futures. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2020.
- Ato Quayson, John Kerrigan, and Richard Halpern on Postcolonial Tragedy. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2020.
- Emily Apter, Rhonda Garelick, and Anne Higonnet on Fashion Stories. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2020.
- Stephen Best, Mario Telo, and Kris Cohen on None Like Us. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2020.
- Rita Felski on the 2019 Ian Watt Lecture. Café, Stanford Center for the Study of the Novel, 2019.
Service
- Reviewer, The Journal of Cultural Analytics, 2026–
- Reviewer, Humanities, 2025–
- Reviewer, Post45 Data Collective, 2025–
- Reviewer, PMLA, 2024–
- Generative Artificial Intelligence Committee, Department of English, University of Richmond, 2024–25
- Reviewer, National Endowment for the Humanities Office of Digital Humanities, 2024–
- Invited referee, European Research Council, 2023–
- Reviewer, Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 2022–
- Consultant, Department of English, Stanford University, 2020
- Website administrator, Stanford Literary Lab, 2017–20
- Reviewer, Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations Conference, 2016–
- Liaison, Berkeley-Stanford English Graduate Student Councils, 2015–19
- Examiner, American literature practice qualifying exams, Department of English, Stanford University, 2015–18
- Coordinator, Stanford Literary Lab, 2014–19
Conferences Organized
- Findings: Is Computation Changing the Study of Literature?, Stanford University, 2017
- Literature: A History of the Word, Stanford University, 2016
- Making and Breaking: The Berkeley-Stanford Conference, University of California, Berkeley, 2015
- Micromégas: The Objects of the Digital Humanities, Stanford University, 2015
Affiliations
- The Association for Computers and the Humanities, 2020–
- American Literature Association, 2020–
- C19: The Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists, 2019–
- Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, 2014–
- Modern Language Association, 2014–
Technical
-
Programming: Python, R, Tidyverse, Jupyter,
fish,git, Claude Code - Scientific publishing: Pandoc, Quarto, Markdown, LaTeX, Django
- Databases: SQLite, Postgres, DBeaver
-
Data visualization:
matplotlib,ggplot, Tableau -
Natural language processing: language models, Ollama,
spaCy,stanza,nltk
Languages
Spanish (intermediate); French (reading); Chinese (two semesters).
References
Available upon request.