Digital IDEAS is the Digital Studies Institute’s annual summer institute exploring the cultural, political, and social dimensions of digital technologies. Bringing together graduate students, artists, scholars, technologists, and activists from across disciplines, the institute creates space for collaborative inquiry, experimentation, and critical dialogue around technology, media, and justice.

The 2026 Digital IDEAS theme, AFTER, asks participants to consider what comes after technological, environmental, political, and social rupture. Through the interconnected strands of Aftermaths, Afterlives, Afterworlds, and the Hereafter, participants will explore questions of memory, survival, repair, speculation, and collective futures in relation to digital culture and emerging technologies.

Digital IDEAS 2026 will take place May 31–June 5 at the University of Michigan. This year’s institute is a closed event for registered participants and invited guests only.

Digital IDEAS 2026 is co-sponsored by the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies; Department of American Culture; Department of English Language and Literature; Department of Film, Television, and Media; Department of Sociology; Institute for Research on Women and Gender; Life Changing Education; School of Information; and Sweetland Center for Writing.

If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Torsch, DSI Academic Program Specialist, at dsi-studentservices@umich.edu