Taking notes on what we read and think can be a valuable tool to stimulate learning and mobilize our knowledge for future projects. Yet standard notes have limitations, as once taken down, its easy to fail to revisit and re-engage with them.

This workshop will explore a non-linear note-taking system called a Zettelkasten, or “slip box”, built on taking notes as separate slips and marking and ordering them to make connections between ideas. Championed by the prolific German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, similar practices have been employed by thinkers and writers from Leibniz to Umberto Eco. Zettelkasten have usually been built with physical note cards, but they can now also be created digitally through powerful software.

This workshop will not only introduce attendees to how a Zettelkasten works but will also demonstrate how to use the free and open-source software Zettlr to make a digital one. Along the way, attendees will also learn the rudiments of Markdown, a simple text formatting language

Registration for this event is encouraged, but not required.