Come on in! Stepping into DMAC to become a Digital Media Dweller

Abstract

Abstract This essay describes the Digital Media and Composition (DMAC) institute as a welcoming “technology gateway” with a “cultural ecology” that deeply influenced my digital literacy in lasting ways ( Selfe et al., 2007 , p. 208). DMAC created a professional development environment conducive to acquiring digital media savvy, rather than mere technological training. DMAC's theories, practices, rituals, language, workshops, and literacy project promoted cultural equity and inclusion, and disruptions of power structures. In recounting the evolution of my collaborative 2006 DMAC literacy documentary project and the subsequent repurposing of experiential classroom writing assignments, I explore how DMAC's pedagogical influence not only fostered an authentic acquisition of digital literacy, but also how its “cultural ecology” created a sense of place and belonging to the field of digital media and composition. Participating in DMAC, like walking a neighborhood or reading an essay or navigating new technologies, was an embodied and affective professional development experience of dwelling within digital literacies.