GEOFF COX: WE SUPERVISE TO FIND COMRADES

Just out, the multi-authored Publishing as Collective Infrastructure (Minor Compositions 2026).

FRIDAY 24 JULY 2026 10:30 - 11:30

This presentation argues that academic ‘supervision' can be rethought using ideas drawn from computational culture. In this way it might be possible to challenge the hierarchical, managerial connotations built into the word 'super-vision' and instead point toward more collaborative, distributed models of working to critically address the relationship between supervisor and student. To make the case, several publishing projects will be described to ask what research and mentorship might learn from open infrastructures, as well as from the use of tools that embody this thinking such as collaborative writing platforms and "feminist server" principles that reject the standard client-server hierarchy. Drawing on the concept of the "undercommons,” it argues that supervision under the modern university functions as a form of managerial discipline that avoids genuine study. As an alternative, it proposes ‘undervision',  a collectively organised approach to research that builds solidarity.