WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 5:30 pm, architectural historian Zeynep Çelik Alexander (Columbia University) will present a talk examining the architectural history of imperial data. 

 

Sharing material from her forthcoming book, Alexander investigates the construction of nineteenth-century storehouses of information in the British Empire. 

 

Alexander notes that what people call a "database" today was, first and foremost, a political technology that, she argues, could be understood as a legacy of imperialism. 

 

The lecture takes place in the Clark's auditorium and is free and open to the public. A reception in the Clark's reading room precedes the program at 5 pm.