Scholars@Duke
David Benjamin Landes

David Benjamin Landes

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Thompson Writing Program
Thompson Writing Program
david.landes@duke.edu
Thompson Writing Program, Box 90025, Durham, NC 27708

Selected Publications

Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement

Book · January 20, 2026 Drawing on a rich legacy of critical intellectuals and the creative wisdom of diverse traditions, Attensity! calls on us to come together to defeat the greedy dehumanizing forces of brute instrumentalization—and re-enchant the world. ... Cite

Silent Protests in and for the AttentionSphere: A Rhetorical Methodology for Studying Attention

Chapter · 2025 This book focuses on the rhetorical dimensions, power, potentialities, and constraints of silent protest. ... Link to item Cite

Kenneth Burke’s Theory of Attention: Homo Symbolicus’ Experiential Poetics

Journal Article KB Journal: The Journal of the Kenneth Burke Society · 2023 In light of cross-disciplinary interest in rethinking the conceptions of attention and attention economy, this paper conducts an archeology of Kenneth Burke’s concepts in order to construct a theory of attention implicit in his work. First, I overview key ... Open Access Link to item Cite

Marshall McLuhan’s Theory of Attention: How to Become a Psychonaut

Journal Article Explorations in Media Ecology · December 1, 2020 In light of surging cross-disciplinary interest in rethinking the conceptions of attention and attention economy, this article conducts an archeology of Marshall McLuhan’s concepts in order to construct a theory of attention implicit in his media paradigm. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Music Performativity in the Album: Charles Mingus, Nietzschean Aesthetics, and Mental Theater

Journal Article Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies · 2020 Link to item Cite

Needs and Policies: Dubai Classroom Narratives of Mobile Phones

Journal Article Global Media Journal · 2019 Cite

The Argument Lab

Chapter · 2017 Cite