MICHAEL K. MIDDLETON portrait
  • Director Of Forensics, Communication
  • Assistant Professor, Communication
  • Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College Of Humanities-Dean
  • Associate Professor, Communication

Creative Research

  • Public Debate & Discussion Forum: “The British Are Coming: A Public Debate Featuring the British National Debate Team.” Event Partners: National Communication Association’s Committee for International Discussion and Dialogue and the English Speaking Union’s British National Debate Team. Exhibition, completed 10/2019.
  • Alliance for a Better Utah Election Debate Series: SLC Mayoral Primary. Participating candidates: David Ibarra, David Garbett, Erin Mendenhall, Jim Dabakis, Luz Escamilla, Richard Goldberger, Rainer Huck, Stan Penfold Other, completed 06/26/2019.

Presentations

  • Middleton, Michael K. “You are Free to Move about the Field: Developing Critical Field Methods for Rhetoricians of Science, Technology, and Medicine” Conference Panel Respondent at the National Communication Association Annual Conference (National Harbor, MD; November 2023). Presentation, Presented, 11/2023.
  • Middleton, Michael K. “American Life at the Economic Margins: Rhetoricians Engage Recent Bestsellers on Poverty.” Conference Presentation (Panelist) at the National Communication Association Annual Conference . Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 11/2017.
  • Middleton, Michael K. “The Emerging Legacy and Relevance of Participatory Critical Rhetoric.” Conference Presentation (Respondent) at the National Communication Association Annual Conference . Presentation, Presented, 11/2017.
  • Lawson, Sean T., and Michael K. Middleton. “Cyber Pearl Harbor: Analogy, Fear, and the Framing of Cybersecurity Threats in the United States, 1991-2016.” Competitive Paper Presentation at the Institute for Information Policy Workshop on Legal and Policy Dimensions of Cybersecurity.(Washington, DC; September 2016). Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 09/2016.
  • Middleton, Michael K., & James A. Anderson. “Claim and value: Sixty years of rhetorical, critical and empirical research.” Competitive Paper Presentation at the International Communication Association Annual Conference (San Juan, Puerto Rico; May 2015). Poster, Presented, 05/2015.
  • Communication: The Unfinished Conversation. Invited Presentation as part of Roundtable on A Century of Communication Studies at the 2014 National Communication Association Annual Conference. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/2014.
  • “Sixty Years of Theory: Lessons from Analysis.” Communication Colloquium at the University of Utah Department of Communication Colloquium Series. (Salt Lake City, UT; November 2014). Co-Presenter: James A. Anderson. Presentation, Presented, 11/2014.
  • Middleton, Michael K., et. al. Transferring Mediation Certification Programs int Departments of Communication Studies: Program Development, Assessment, Improvement, and Impact. Conference Presentation at the Western States Communication Association Annual Conference (Anaheim, CA: February 2014). Respondent. Presentation, Presented, 02/2014.
  • Middleton, Michael K., et. al. Forensics Praxis: Points of Transfer between Practice, Pedagogy, and Theory. Conference Presentation at the Western States Communication Association Annual Conference (Anaheim, CA: February 2014). Respondent. Presentation, Presented, 02/2014.
  • Middleton, Michael K., & James A. Anderson. Developments in empirical and rhetorical communication theory. Competitive Paper Presentation at the International Communication Association Annual Conference (Seattle, WA: June 2014). Conference Paper, Refereed, Accepted, 01/2014.

Publications

  • Roberta Chevrette, Jenna Hanchey, Michael Lechuga, Aaron Hess & Michael K. Middleton (2023). Rhetorical Field Methods/Rhetorical Ethnography. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. Published, 11/2023.
  • Kyle Cheesewright & Michael K. Middleton (2020). Modernizing Racism: The Localization of Settler-Colonial Logics in Utah House Bill 93. Selected Papers from the 21st Biennial Conference on Argumentation. Accepted, 11/2020.
  • Aaron Hess, Samantha Senda-Cook, Danielle Endres & Michael K. Middleton (2020). (Participatory) Critical Rhetoric: Critiqued and Reconsidered. International Journal of Communication. Published, 01/2020.
  • Sean T. Lawson & Michael K. Middleton (2019). Communication Studies of/and Cybersecurity. The Handbook of Communication and Security. Published, 08/2019.
  • Sean T. Lawson & Michael K. Middleton (2019). Is ‘Pearl Harbor’ Still a Valid Cyber Metaphor?. Fifth Domain. Published, 07/25/2019.
    https://www.fifthdomain.com/2019/07/25/is-pearl-ha...
  • Sean T. Lawson & Michael K. Middleton (2019). Cyber Pearl Harbor: Analogy, Fear, and the Framing of Cyber Security Threats in the United States, 1991-2016. First Monday. Vol. 24. Published, 05/2019.
    https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/v...
  • Michael K. Middleton & Kevin A. Johnson (2018). Critical Deliberation Under Fire?: Milblogging, Free Speech, and the “Soldiers’ Protocol to Enable Active Communication Act. Alta Biennial Argumentation Conference. Published, 11/2018.
  • Sean Lawson & Michael K. Middleton (2018). Communication Studies of/and Cybersecurity.. Routledge. Accepted, 09/2018.
  • Samantha Senda-Cook, Aaron Hess, Michael Middleton & Danielle Endres (2018). Readings in Rhetorical Fieldwork. (pp. 500). Routledge. Published, 09/2018.
  • Sean Lawson & Michael Middleton (2018). Cyber Pearl Harbor: Analogy, Fear, and the Framing of Cyber Security Threats in the United States, 1991-2016.” . First Monday. Accepted, 02/2018.
  • Danielle Endres, Michael K. Middleton, Samantha Senda-Cook, and Aaron Hess (Eds.). “Special Issue: Rhetorical Fieldwork.” Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies 16.6 (2016): 511-580. Published, 12/2016.
  • Michael K. Middleton, Samantha Senda-Cook, Aaron Hess, and Danielle Endres. “Contemplating the Participatory Turn in Rhetorical Criticism.” Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies 16.6 (2016): 571-580. Published, 12/2016.
  • Danielle Endres, Aaron Hess, Samantha Senda-Cook, and Michael K. Middleton. “In Situ Rhetoric: Intersections Between Qualitative Inquiry, Fieldwork, and Rhetoric.” Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies 16.6 (2016): 511-524. Published, 12/2016.
  • Senda-Cook, Samantha, Michael K. Middleton, and Danielle E. Endres. “Interrogating the Field.” Text+Field. Eds. Robert Asen, Sarah McKinnon, and Karma Chavez. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2016. Print. Published, 02/2016.
  • Middleton, Michael, Aaron Hess, Danielle Endres, and Samantha Senda-Cook. Participatory Critical Rhetoric: Theoretical and Methodological Foundations for Studying Rhetoric In Situ. Lexington Books, 2015. Published, 12/2015.
  • Anderson, James A., and Michael Middleton. “Epistemological movements in the field of communication.” A Century of Communication Studies: The Unfinished Conversation. Eds. Pat J. Gerhke and William M. Keith. New York: Routledge, 2015. Print. Published, 01/2015.
  • Middleton, Michael K. “Housing, Not Handcuffs: Homeless Misrecognition and ‘Safeground Sacramento’s’ Homeless Activism. Communication, Culture, & Critique 7.3 (2014): 320-337. Published, 12/2014.
  • McHendry Jr, George F., Michael K. Middleton, Danielle E. Endres, Samantha Senda-Cook, and Megan O’Byrne. "Rhetorical Critic(ism)'s Body: Affect and Fieldwork on a Plane of Immanence." Southern Communication Journal 79.4 (2014): 293-310. Published, 09/2014.
  • Middleton, Michael K. "“SafeGround Sacramento” and Rhetorics of Substantive Citizenship." Western Journal of Communication 78.2 (2014): 119-133. *Lead article in special issue on Communication & Community Building. Published, 04/2014.
  • Johnson, Kevin A. and Michael K. Middleton. “Challenging the “Givens” of Political Life: Social Movements and the Destructive Orgy of Unreason.” In Robert C. Rowland (Ed.), Selected Papers from the 17th Biennial Conference on Argumentation. Washington, DC: AFA/NCA. Published, 12/2011.
  • Middleton, Michael K., Samantha M. Senda-Cook, and Danielle E. Endres. “Articulating Rhetorical Field Methods: Challenges & Tensions.” Western Journal of Communication 75.4 (2011): 386–406. *Winner: 2011 B. Aubrey Fisher Article of the Year Award from Western Journal of Communication. Published, 09/2011.
  • Middleton, Michael K. and Nicholas A. Russell. “It’s Bigger than Hip-Hop”: Don Imus and the Racial Enthymeme.” In Dennis Gouran (Ed.), The Functions of Argument and Social Context: Selected Papers from the 16th Biennial Conference on Argumentation. Washington, DC: AFA/NCA. Published, 02/2010.
  • Middleton, Michael K. Participation For All: A Youth Parliament Handbook (Expanded Edition). New York: International Debate Education Association, 2006/7. Published, 12/2006.
  • Middleton, Michael K. Participation For All: A Youth Parliament Handbook. New York: International Debate Education Association, 2005. Published, 03/2005.