Antonio Byrd (he/they)

Antonio Byrd
Assistant Professor
Humanities and Social Sciences

Contact Info
Cockefair Hall 119
Digital Literacy; Critical Race Theory; Writing Studies; Technical Communication; Qualitative Research; Digital and Public Humanities

About

Antonio Byrd (he/they) teaches courses in Black literacies, professional and technical communication, multimodal writing and rhetorics, digital rhetoric, and composition. His research focuses on how the legacies of using literacy for liberation carry forward into present day Black digital literacies and media features. Antonio serves as co-chair for MLA Task Force on Generative AI Initiatives Standing and is a member of the CCCC Special Committee on GenAI.  His work has appeared in College Composition and Communication, Literacy in Composition Studies, Technical Communication Quarterly, and Writer: Craft and Context.  In 2025, Dr. Byrd published his first book manuscript, Black Tech Ecosystems: How Black Adult Learners Use Computer Code Bootcamps for Liberation with The WAC Clearinghouse.

Dr. Byrd is an affiliate faculty for UMKC's Center for Digital and Public Humanities. His work in digital and public humanities focuses on community engaged scholarship and digital literacy by connecting UMKC students with community partners and industry professionals for real world application of digital writing.

 

Academic credentials

Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019)
M.A. in Liberal Arts, emphasis in English, Auburn University at Montgomery (2014)
B.S. in Secondary Education – English/Language Arts, Auburn University at Montgomery (2011)

 

Achievements

2021 Richard Braddock Award for Best Research Article in College Composition and Communication 
2022 Early Career Faculty Travel Award
2022 UMKC Trustee Faculty Scholar Award
2022 Computers and Writing Emergent Scholars Award

 

Courses

English 304: Introductions to Professional and Technical Communication
English 305WI: Theory of Composition
English 380: Multimodal Writing and Rhetorics
English 381: Composing in Digital Environments
English 430WI/English 5530: Technical Communication
English 477/5477: Studies in Rhetoric and Composition
English 5519: Teaching Writing 

 

Publications

Byrd, A., Novotny, M., Pemberton, M., and Young, V.A. (2022) Frameworks, triumphs, and challenges for social justice conference planning. Writer’s: Craft & Context.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2688-9595.2022.3.1.28-44

Byrd, A. (2022) Black professional communicators testifying to Black technical joy, Black
technical and professional communication [special issue] Technical Communication Quarterly,
DOI: 10.1080/10572252.2022.2069287

Byrd, A. (2020). Like coming home: African American adults tinkering and playing toward a
code bootcamp. College Composition and Communication Vol. 71, (3), 426 – 452.

Byrd, A. (2019). Between learning and opportunity: A study of African American adult coders’
networks of support. Literacy in Composition Studies Vol. 7(2), 31-56. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21623%2F1.7.2.3