Mike Milford

Professor and Associate Director of Communication
229 Tichenor Hall
(334) 844-8735
msm0019@auburn.edu

Profile

Dr. Mike Milford (Ph.D., University of Kansas, 2005) is a professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Auburn University. He studies ideological and political rhetoric in sports  popular culture, and public address. Dr. Milford’s research has appeared in journals such as Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Mass Communication and Society, Rhetorica, Sport in History, Western Journal of Communication, Southern Communication Journal, Communication Quarterly, Communication Studies, Journal of Sports Media, Sport in Society, and the International Journal of Sport Communication. He earned his Ph.D. in rhetorical theory and criticism at the University of Kansas. He also has an M.A. in communication from Abilene Christian University and a B.A. in communication from Hardin-Simmons University.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Kansas, Communication Studies, emphasis in rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism, and public address
• M.A ., Communication Studies, emphasis in rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism
• B.A., Hardin-Simmons University, Communication Studies

Representative Publications

• Milford, M., & Smith, L. (2020). Communication and Contradiction in the NCAA: Assessing the Unlevel Playing Field of Intercollegiate Athletics. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. 
• Milford, M. (2019). Full Contact: Sexual Assault, Combat Sports, and the Myth of Self-Defense. Communication & Sport, 9 no. 3, 418-437. 
• Milford, M. (2018). Rhetorical Emancipation: Apologia and Transcendence on Death Row. Western Journal of Communication, 83, no. 3, 326-344. 
•  Milford, M. (2018). The “Reel” Jesse Owens: Visual Rhetoric and the Berlin Olympics. Sport in History, 38, no. 1, 96-117.
• Milford, M. (2017). Veiled Intervention: Anti-Semitism, Allegory, and Captain America. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 20, no. 4, 605-634.
• Milford, M. (2016). National Identity, Crisis, and the Inaugural Genre: George W. Bush and 9/11. Southern Journal of Communication, 81, 18-31.
• Milford, M. (2015). Kenneth Burke's Punitive Priests and the Redeeming Prophets: The NCAA, the College Sports Media, and the University of Miami Scandal. Communication Studies, 66, 45-62.
• Milford, M. (2012). The Olympics, Jesse Owens, Burke, and the Implications of Media Framing in Symbolic Boasting. Mass Communication and Society, 15, 1-21.

Classes Taught

• COMM 2010             Message Preparation and Analysis
• COMM 3600             The Foundations of Rhetoric and Social Influence
• CMJN 3650               The Rhetoric of Sports
• COMM 3700             Argumentation
• COMM 4100             Communication Strategies of Social Movements
• COMM 4970             The Rhetoric of War
• COMM 5600             Political Communication
• COMM 7010             Historical, Descriptive, and Critical Research Methods
• COMM 7230             Rhetorical Criticism
• COMM 7410             The Development of Rhetorical Theory

Last Updated: January 12, 2023