Run:DM.C Summer Writing Retreat Brings Together Black Digital Scholars in Gainesville

Run:DM.C Summer Writing Retreat Brings Together Black Digital Scholars in Gainesville

The Digital Media and Community Initiative (Run:DM.C) hosted its first Summer Writing Retreat from July 26 to August 3, 2025, welcoming a dynamic group of scholars and creatives to Gainesville for a week of collaborative writing, reflection, and community engagement.

Held in partnership with the DISCO Network, the retreat featured invited guests:

• Dr. Aaron Dial, Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies and Africana and Latin American Studies at Colgate University
• Dr. Rianna Walcott, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Associate Director of the Black Communication and Technology (BCaT) Lab at the University of Maryland
• Dr. André Brock, Associate Professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech, renowned for his scholarship on Black Twitter and digital technoculture

These scholars joined faculty from the University of Florida’s:

• Department of Computer & Information Science and Engineering (CISE)
• College of Journalism and Communications
• African American Studies Program

Together, participants explored themes central to Black digital studies, including technoculture, abolitionist media practices, and digital storytelling. The retreat emphasized slow scholarship, joyful resistance, and radical imagination, creating space for deep writing, peer feedback, and interdisciplinary dialogue.

The Gainesville community served as a grounding backdrop for this work, reinforcing Run:DM.C’s commitment to community-centered research and public scholarship. Projects developed during the retreat will contribute to forthcoming publications, digital exhibits, and pedagogical resources.

Stay connected with Run:DM.C for updates on future events, student opportunities, and new collaborations at the intersection of Black studies, technology, and media innovation.

Run:DM.C is funded through the Digital Inquiry, Speculation, Collaboration, and Optimism (DISCO) Network, a Andrew W. Mellon project.