maurika smutherman

A maker and thinker.

Research

Browse this page to learn about my work as a researcher.

  • Slide for a presentation titled 'collaging beloved community.'
  • A presentation slide that reads '#BlackMoviesMatter' with an image of a man leaning against an old-school car

I am an interdisciplinary media studies scholar with interests in critical making, materialist media theory, and Black feminism. My work explores digital media and technology in the lives of Black women and girls. My research is intertwined with my practice as an instructor and new media artist. For more, please visit the Teaching and Instruction page on this website.

Areas of Expertise

I use critical theory and making to explore intersections between communication, culture, and technology from a Black Feminist, materialist perspective. My research is an attempt to make tangible and/or visible the ways Black women and girls produce and engage with technologies that are underrepresented in Western studies of communication and media. My forthcoming dissertation proposes the concept of BlackFem beatmaking as a tactile digital storytelling practice where historically feminized modes of making are central to the preservation and transmission of cultural knowledge.

Publications 

Smutherman, M. (2025). Braiding the Atlas: Black Feminist Cartography and Extensions of Care in Crooklyn’s Story Maps. JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 64(4), 124-140.

Smutherman, M. & Wesley, D. (2024). Digitized: The visual rhetoric of Black feminist storytellers on Instagram. In S. K. Haydel & D. Stamps (Eds.), Black Identities & Media. LSU Press. (Forthcoming, 2025)

Wesley, D., Pandya, M., & Smutherman, M. (2024). (Re)Imagining communication in a digital world. In Hummel, G. (Ed.), Perspectives on Communication. Kendall Hunt. (Forthcoming)

Smutherman, M. (2022). The ethics of online memes. In J. Lipschultz (Ed.), Social Media Law and Ethics (pp. 56-61). Routledge.

Presentations

Groth, Jason E. & Smutherman, M. (2024, November). Story Problems: Training and Inspiring Student Workers through Creative Media Making Challenges. Association of Creative Technologies in Academic Librarites (ACTAL) Conference: Arlington, TX.

Fontaine, L., Hewett, C., & Smutherman, M. (2024, March). Femme Space: Nurturing Safe Exploration in Gaming, Making, and Digital Media for Femme Identities. NC Live Conference: Wilmington, NC.

Smutherman, M. (2024, May). A Black History of Femme Beatmaking: Reflections on Doing Black Digital Humanities. Digital Humanities Institute: Virtual Presentation.

Wesley, D., Smutherman, M., & Pandya, M. (2023, November). “(Re)Imagining Communication in a Digital World” [Paper presentation]. National Communication Association Conference: National Harbor, MD.

Rogers, A., Smutherman, M., Dufresne, K., & Ward, K. (2023, November). Graduate Assistants in Creative Technology Spaces. Association of Creative Technologies in Academic Libraries (ACTAL) Conference: Virtual Presentation.

Murray, C., Covington, S., Whitley, M. Y., Smutherman, M., & Wesley, D. (2023, October). Black Feminist Ecologies and Materialisms. Black Women’s Studies Association Symposium: Virtual Presentation. 

Dufresne, K., Duarte, F., Smutherman, M., & Higginbotham, C. (2023, June). Marginalia Making: Critical Care as Critical Making Workshop Series at NCSU. HASTAC Conference: Virtual Presentation.

Baker, M. Wesley, D., Smutherman, M., & Scrivens, K. (2023, March). Amplifying Voices of Black Communities. Black Research Symposium: Raleigh, NC.

Smutherman, M. (2022, November). Developing Digital Media Assignments for Hybrid Learning. ACTAL Conference: Raleigh, NC. 

Halm, M., Wiley, S. B. C., Khan, K. L., & Smutherman, M. (2022, May). Alphabets, Algorithms, and Activism. Computers and Writing Conference: Greenville, NC.

Smutherman, M. (2022, April). Multimodality in the HBCU Writing Center. Conference on College Composition and Communication: Virtual Presentation. 

Wiley, S. B. C., Smutherman, M., Wesley, D., & Khan, K. L. (2022, March). Reflections on the Decolonial Media Studies Archive as Anti-Colonial Infrastructure. CRDM Symposium: Virtual Presentation. 

Johnson, D. & Smutherman, M. (2022, February). For Us by Us: The Cultural Uniqueness of Writing Centers at HBCUs. Southeastern Writing Center Association Conference: Virtual Presentation.

Smutherman, M., Flannery, M., & Wiedrich, G. (2024). “Fostering Student Wellness and Belonging Workshop Series” [Poster presentation], North Carolina State University: Raleigh, NC.

Smutherman, M. (2022, April). “Decolonizing the Literate Subject: A Genealogy of Black Multiliteracy” [Poster presentation]. Graduate Student Research Symposium: Raleigh, NC

Invited Lectures and Talks

Smutherman, M., Yalcinkaya, A., & Ahanu, D. (2024, November). Artistry in the Age of AI Balancing Innovation and Creativity [Panel]. AI @ NC State Hot Topic Monthly Series, Data Science and AI Academy: Raleigh, NC.

Smutherman, M. (2023, October). Black Women in STEM in the 1970s [Public Talk]. A/V Geeks at the Library: Raleigh, NC.