Elvin received his degrees in English and Mathematics from the Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland. His current research is methodologically informed by (though not necessarily loyal to) media archaeology, philology, and poststructuralist thought. Thematically, his inquiries center around comparative grammatology, multilingualism, media-induced temporalities, and esoteric modes of knowledge transmission.
A focal point for Elvin’s research is emic theorizations of Chinese-to-Manchu translation during the Qing, a rich discursive field that assembles intellectual-historical currents as diverse as music theory in early China, Sanskrit pedagogy in medieval East Asian Buddhism, grammatological theses in the encyclopedia of Zheng Qiao (1104-1162), and the cosmic aspirations of the Brahmic ‘Phags-pa script. Other focal points include the phenomenology of (re)reading Anglophone modernist literature, material histories of telepathic and clairvoyant communication, and technical media in contemporary East Asia.
Elvin’s broader interests include Mahāyāna and Esoteric Buddhist philosophy, embodied histories of mathematics, guqin music, and the ontological turn.
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant (Johns Hopkins):
AS.110.212 Honors Linear Algebra
AS.110.202 Calculus III
AS.110.109 Calculus II
Publications
“Reintroducing the Sirens’ Fugue” forthcoming.
“Viral Text: Translation, Censorship, Community” forthcoming.