Diagramless Homology theories for Links in Three-Manifolds

I will explain recent work on constructing version of Khovanov Homology due to Adam MacDougall. The idea is to construct homology groups for links in three-manifolds using decorated one sided surfaces whose boundary is the link so that the surface is sufficiently unknotted. These theories are universal in the sense that when Khovanov homology is defined they contain as subgroups, the Khovanov homology of all the diagrams of the knots, plus other exotic pieces. The groups can be cut down by taking into account additional structure on the three manifold like a contact structure. We will discuss methods of doing this and the resulting theories.