by Teyuna Darris, Ph.D.

As a Communication Scholar, I often look at how systems work—how messages are sent, how platforms are built, and how identity is constructed. While much of the world focuses on “posting” and “content,” 2025 for me was a year of strategic silence. It was a year of reading, thinking, and building the infrastructure for what comes next.

The Great Convergence:
Building Stanza & Story The most significant professional undertaking of the year was a structural one. I spent months merging my previous projects—Good Poetry and Good Literature—into a single, cohesive media entity: Stanza & Story.

This wasn’t just a website update; it was a branding and communication strategy. I needed a centralized home that could house not just text, but the broader spectrum of cultural media I am researching. By consolidating these platforms, I created a more robust digital infrastructure capable of supporting the audio, video, and curriculum work planned for the future.

Research as Observation
While I wasn’t hitting “publish” frequently this year, I was deeply engaged in the work of a media researcher: observation. My work involves looking at the artifacts of our shared history—old photographs, letters, and even cultural staples like food—and analyzing them through a communication lens.

I don’t just look at a historical photo to see who is in it; I look at how they are posed. What does their posture tell us about their agency? What story were they trying to tell about their family unit? I apply this same lens to cultural traditions—like the history of cornbread—analyzing them not just as recipes, but as vehicles for cultural transmission. This year was dedicated to gathering these insights and developing the frameworks to discuss them.

From Classroom to Concept
My background as a Licensed Educator (CPC) and curriculum writer also played a vital role this year. The principles of instructional design—scaffolding information, engaging an audience, and clear messaging—are the same principles required to build a media company. I spent 2025 applying these educational strategies to my own business development, ensuring that when Stanza & Story fully activates, it does so with a clear pedagogical and communicative purpose.

Looking to 2026
If 2025 was the year of planning and merging, 2026 is the year of execution. The digital foundation is laid. The research frameworks are set. Now, the work shifts from the quiet phase of development to the active phase of production.