Christopher Funkhouser
Professor, Humanities & Social Sciences
425 Cullimore Hall (CULM)
About Me
I am a writer, musician, and multimedia artist who has authored of two scholarly monographs, Prehistoric Digital Poetry: An Archeology of Forms, 1959-1995 and New Directions in Digital Poetry. I have taught Communication and Media courses at NJIT since 1997, and was a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Multimedia University, Malaysia, in 2006. As a publisher I worked closely with Amiri Baraka and Kamau Brathwaite, and many other writers and artists. I was commissioned by the Associated Press to prepare digital poems for the occasion of Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, and in 2016 I performed at the Whitney Museum’s Open Plan: Cecil Taylor exhibition. I am a Contributing Editor at PennSound, host of the POET RAY’D YO radio program at WGXC (Hudson, NY), and am a member of the improvisational musical ensemble Most Serene Congress.
Education
Ph.D.
; University of Albany
;
; 1997
M.A. ; University of Virginia-Main Campus ; ; 1988
B.A. ; University of Virginia-Main Campus ; ; 1986
M.A. ; University of Virginia-Main Campus ; ; 1988
B.A. ; University of Virginia-Main Campus ; ; 1986
Website
2025 Fall Courses
COM 324 - PODCAST PRACTICUM
COM 353 - APPLIED VISUAL COMMUNICATION
COM 353 - APPLIED VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Teaching Interests
Digital (electronic) literature, Interactive Audio Production, Document Design.
Past Courses
COM 324: PODCAST PRACTICUM
COM 325: SPECIAL TOPICS IN COMMUNICATION
COM 325: ST: RADIO PRACTICUM
COM 325: ST: SPECIAL TOPICS
COM 353: APPLIED VISUAL COMMUNICATION
COM 353: COMPOSING DOCUMENTS FOR PRINT
COM 369: DIGITAL POETRY
ENG 333: CYBERTEXT
ENG 352: TECHNICAL WRITING
ENG 353: COMPOSING DOCUMENTS FOR PRINT
ENG 353: ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
ENG 354: COMPOSING DOCUMENTS FOR THE WEB
ENG 354: COMPOSING DOCUMNTS FOR WEB
ENG 492: CO-OP WORK EXPERIENCE III
HSS 403: HUMANITIES SENIOR SEMINAR - LITERATURE
HSS 403: LIT SEM:
HSS 403: LIT SEM: DIGITAL POETRY
HSS 403: LIT SEM: ELECTRONIC LIT
HSS 403: LIT SEM: ELECTRONIC LITERATURE
HSS 403: LIT SEM:ELECTRONIC LITERATURE
COM 325: SPECIAL TOPICS IN COMMUNICATION
COM 325: ST: RADIO PRACTICUM
COM 325: ST: SPECIAL TOPICS
COM 353: APPLIED VISUAL COMMUNICATION
COM 353: COMPOSING DOCUMENTS FOR PRINT
COM 369: DIGITAL POETRY
ENG 333: CYBERTEXT
ENG 352: TECHNICAL WRITING
ENG 353: COMPOSING DOCUMENTS FOR PRINT
ENG 353: ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
ENG 354: COMPOSING DOCUMENTS FOR THE WEB
ENG 354: COMPOSING DOCUMNTS FOR WEB
ENG 492: CO-OP WORK EXPERIENCE III
HSS 403: HUMANITIES SENIOR SEMINAR - LITERATURE
HSS 403: LIT SEM:
HSS 403: LIT SEM: DIGITAL POETRY
HSS 403: LIT SEM: ELECTRONIC LIT
HSS 403: LIT SEM: ELECTRONIC LITERATURE
HSS 403: LIT SEM:ELECTRONIC LITERATURE
Research Interests
In general, my research at present explores Digital Poetry, Podcast Audio Production, Contemporary Literature, and Hypertext/Hypermedia Pedagogy.
Computer and network technologies have expanded the objects and forms of inquiry in the Humanities, writing, and the Arts. Scholars investigating these contemporary developments therefore must be defined through a multidisciplinary framework. My research engages not only with Digital Arts but also with Creative Writing and Literature. In order for a broader awareness of such innovative developments to be understood, significant historical and imaginative investigations are necessary. I have, therefore, taken on, as my primary task, the responsibility of becoming one of the researchers who lights a documentary path for others who explore and engage with these new literacies. Because technology continues to evolve and affect nearly every aspect of human activity, my research as a scholar, artist, and teacher investigates the disciplines of reading, writing, and digital media along a range of modalities.
Both of my books provide overviews of an artistic culture that situates writing in relation to digital technology and media. These books blend traditional and inventive approaches to analytical criticism, and deliver detailed, academic documentary studies on forms of electronic writing. As I study what occurs within my academic discipline, I am inspired to discover what possibilities digital media holds for writers, editors, and performers. Since 2015, my research focuses primarily on interactive digital audio, a practice I have been involved with since 1991. I create inventive poetic works for computer screens, auditorium stages, and also use hypermedia and the Web to convey many types of information to students. Research conducted within my primary areas of study is central to the courses I teach at NJIT.
Computer and network technologies have expanded the objects and forms of inquiry in the Humanities, writing, and the Arts. Scholars investigating these contemporary developments therefore must be defined through a multidisciplinary framework. My research engages not only with Digital Arts but also with Creative Writing and Literature. In order for a broader awareness of such innovative developments to be understood, significant historical and imaginative investigations are necessary. I have, therefore, taken on, as my primary task, the responsibility of becoming one of the researchers who lights a documentary path for others who explore and engage with these new literacies. Because technology continues to evolve and affect nearly every aspect of human activity, my research as a scholar, artist, and teacher investigates the disciplines of reading, writing, and digital media along a range of modalities.
Both of my books provide overviews of an artistic culture that situates writing in relation to digital technology and media. These books blend traditional and inventive approaches to analytical criticism, and deliver detailed, academic documentary studies on forms of electronic writing. As I study what occurs within my academic discipline, I am inspired to discover what possibilities digital media holds for writers, editors, and performers. Since 2015, my research focuses primarily on interactive digital audio, a practice I have been involved with since 1991. I create inventive poetic works for computer screens, auditorium stages, and also use hypermedia and the Web to convey many types of information to students. Research conducted within my primary areas of study is central to the courses I teach at NJIT.
Journal Article
Christopher T. Funkhouser.
2025. "POEMS WE LIVE WITH: BARAKA’S FRAMES."
Paideuma , pp. 8.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. 2024. "“Exploring the history of digital poetry from 1950 to Augmented Reality Poetry”." Multilingual African Digital Semiotics & E-Lit Journal (MADSEJ) , vol. Vol. 1 , no. 2 .
Christopher T. Funkhouser. 2021. "Applying Poetic Media in the Digital Humanities." Interférences littéraires /Literaire interferenties , no. 25 , pp. 35-50.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. 2020. "On Jim Rosenberg’s Word Space Multiplicities." Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics .
Christopher T. Funkhouser. 2018. "Being matter recorded: Cecil Taylor on/poetry." The Open Space Magazine , no. 21 , pp. 10-14.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. 2024. "“Exploring the history of digital poetry from 1950 to Augmented Reality Poetry”." Multilingual African Digital Semiotics & E-Lit Journal (MADSEJ) , vol. Vol. 1 , no. 2 .
Christopher T. Funkhouser. 2021. "Applying Poetic Media in the Digital Humanities." Interférences littéraires /Literaire interferenties , no. 25 , pp. 35-50.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. 2020. "On Jim Rosenberg’s Word Space Multiplicities." Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics .
Christopher T. Funkhouser. 2018. "Being matter recorded: Cecil Taylor on/poetry." The Open Space Magazine , no. 21 , pp. 10-14.
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Broadcast Media
"Poet Ray'd Yo"
Wave Farm, June, 2025.
"Poet Ray'd Yo"
Wave Farm, June, 2024.
"Poet Ray'd Yo"
Wave Farm / WGXC, August, 2023.
"The Whole World Smiles"
Kelly Writers House, PennSound, and the Poetry Foundation, May, 2023.
"Poet Ray'd Yo"
Wave Farm, 2022.
Wave Farm, June, 2025.
"Poet Ray'd Yo"
Wave Farm, June, 2024.
"Poet Ray'd Yo"
Wave Farm / WGXC, August, 2023.
"The Whole World Smiles"
Kelly Writers House, PennSound, and the Poetry Foundation, May, 2023.
"Poet Ray'd Yo"
Wave Farm, 2022.
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Essay
"“Media Safari Bag”"
Marsh Hawk Review, June, 2025.
"BOM SHANKAR : chapeau Andy!"
Shivastan Press, October (4th Quarter/Autumn), 2023.
"Recording Peter Lamborn Wilson "
Brooklyn Rail, October (4th Quarter/Autumn), 2022.
"Remembering Peter Lamborn Wilson"
No Quarter, September, 2022.
Marsh Hawk Review, June, 2025.
"BOM SHANKAR : chapeau Andy!"
Shivastan Press, October (4th Quarter/Autumn), 2023.
"Recording Peter Lamborn Wilson "
Brooklyn Rail, October (4th Quarter/Autumn), 2022.
"Remembering Peter Lamborn Wilson"
No Quarter, September, 2022.
Book Review
"The Cricket: Black Music in Evolution, 1968–69"
Rain Taxi, 2023.
"Review of The Correspondence of David Cope & Allen Ginsberg: 1976-1996"
Paterson Literary Review, 2023.
"The Poem Electric: Technology and the American Lyric"
Rain Taxi Review of Books, July (3rd Quarter/Summer), 2019.
"The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 "
Rain Taxi Review of Books, March, 2013.
""Digital Art and Meaning: Reading Kinetic Poetry, Text Machines, Mapping Art, and Interactive Installations""
Rain Taxi Review of Books, January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2012.
"“Tan Lin’s Seven Controlled Vocabularies”"
Edit Publications, February, 2011.
"“Bionanomedia Expression”"
Postmodern Culture , April (2nd Quarter/Spring), 2009.
Rain Taxi, 2023.
"Review of The Correspondence of David Cope & Allen Ginsberg: 1976-1996"
Paterson Literary Review, 2023.
"The Poem Electric: Technology and the American Lyric"
Rain Taxi Review of Books, July (3rd Quarter/Summer), 2019.
"The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008 "
Rain Taxi Review of Books, March, 2013.
""Digital Art and Meaning: Reading Kinetic Poetry, Text Machines, Mapping Art, and Interactive Installations""
Rain Taxi Review of Books, January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2012.
"“Tan Lin’s Seven Controlled Vocabularies”"
Edit Publications, February, 2011.
"“Bionanomedia Expression”"
Postmodern Culture , April (2nd Quarter/Spring), 2009.
Cited Research
" That Makes Me Feel Wonderful "
Splice Today, July (3rd Quarter/Summer), 2023.
""Illuminated Nanoscripts""
hemispheric institute E-Misferica, May, 2009.
Splice Today, July (3rd Quarter/Summer), 2023.
""Illuminated Nanoscripts""
hemispheric institute E-Misferica, May, 2009.
Other
"Personal Insights"
June, 2023.
"Unnameable EP"
Bandcamp, October (4th Quarter/Autumn), 2022.
"improvised is how the voice is used..."
Electronic Literature Organization, June, 2022.
"On David Rothenberg's "INVISIBILITY BEGINS WHEN SKY AND EARTH ARE INDISTINGUISHABLE" "
ModPo, June, 2022.
"Workers Sporing"
Bandcamp, April (2nd Quarter/Spring), 2022.
June, 2023.
"Unnameable EP"
Bandcamp, October (4th Quarter/Autumn), 2022.
"improvised is how the voice is used..."
Electronic Literature Organization, June, 2022.
"On David Rothenberg's "INVISIBILITY BEGINS WHEN SKY AND EARTH ARE INDISTINGUISHABLE" "
ModPo, June, 2022.
"Workers Sporing"
Bandcamp, April (2nd Quarter/Spring), 2022.
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Chapter
Christopher T. Funkhouser.
"Listening as learning: documenting preverbs."
In Burt Kimmelman, eds.,
"Zero Point Poesis: George Quasha's Axial Art,"
pp. 140-154. Aporeia, 2022.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "being matter ignited...: an interview with Cecil Taylor." In Adam Pendleton, eds., "Pasts, Futures, and Aftermaths: Revisiting the Black Dada Reader," pp. 138-162. DABA; Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz Konig, 2021.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "“Notes on the Body in Relation to Technopoetry” ." In Edwin Torres, eds., pp. 194-201. Counterpath Press, 2019.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "Pressing Record: On Ginsberg." In Benjamin Boretz, et al., eds., pp. 315-329. The Open Space Magazine, 2018.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "“First generation poetry generators: foundations in form,”." In Douglas Kahn and Hannah Higgins, eds., pp. 34 pp. U California P, 2012.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "being matter ignited...: an interview with Cecil Taylor." In Adam Pendleton, eds., "Pasts, Futures, and Aftermaths: Revisiting the Black Dada Reader," pp. 138-162. DABA; Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz Konig, 2021.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "“Notes on the Body in Relation to Technopoetry” ." In Edwin Torres, eds., pp. 194-201. Counterpath Press, 2019.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "Pressing Record: On Ginsberg." In Benjamin Boretz, et al., eds., pp. 315-329. The Open Space Magazine, 2018.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "“First generation poetry generators: foundations in form,”." In Douglas Kahn and Hannah Higgins, eds., pp. 34 pp. U California P, 2012.
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Conference Proceeding
""Midiazine Research Performance ELO 2018 / Eastern Bloc, Montreal, August 15""
Les Presses de l’Écureuil – ALN / NT2, 2020, November, 2020.
"“Players only Love you when they’re Playin’: Community as Algorithm in Programmable Poetics”"
Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice, November, 2012.
"“On Jackson Mac Low, ‘Stanzas for Iris Lezak’”"
Jacket2, May, 2011.
Les Presses de l’Écureuil – ALN / NT2, 2020, November, 2020.
"“Players only Love you when they’re Playin’: Community as Algorithm in Programmable Poetics”"
Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice, November, 2012.
"“On Jackson Mac Low, ‘Stanzas for Iris Lezak’”"
Jacket2, May, 2011.
Website Launched
"Funk's SoundBox: version archival"
We Press, January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2020.
We Press, January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2020.
Book
Christopher T. Funkhouser.
"Whereis Mineral: Selected Adventures in MOO."
158 pp. Gauss PDF, 2015.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "pressAgain." 68 pp. Free Dogma Press, 2014. ISBN 9780988598300.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "Electro Perdix." 43 pp pp. Least Weasel, 2011.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "November 2010." 30 pp pp. Chapbookpublisher.com, 2011.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "pressAgain." 68 pp. Free Dogma Press, 2014. ISBN 9780988598300.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "Electro Perdix." 43 pp pp. Least Weasel, 2011.
Christopher T. Funkhouser. "November 2010." 30 pp pp. Chapbookpublisher.com, 2011.
Regular Column in Journal or Newspaper
""in audio practice: I-XII""
Jacket2, April (2nd Quarter/Spring), 2014.
Jacket2, April (2nd Quarter/Spring), 2014.
Monograph
"New Directions in Digital Poetry"
Continuum P, January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2012.
Continuum P, January (1st Quarter/Winter), 2012.