Research
Interests:
Rhetorical theory and criticism; the relationship of rhetoric to cultural studies; political theory and democratic practice; sport and democratic culture; sport cultures and the construction of individual, community, and national identity in
and through sport.
Selection
of Recent & Reoccurring Courses:
Human Communication (IPC 201); Communication and Criticism (IPC 310); Topic: Communication and Sport (IPC 406); Topic: Rhetoric of Social Movements (IPC 406); Rhetoric and Cultural Studies (COMS 780); Rhetorical Approaches to Democracy (COMS 727); Rhetorical Criticism (COMS 601)
Biography:
Michael L. Butterworth arrived at BGSU in August, 2006, after completing a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture at Indiana University. His dissertation, "Baseball and the Rhetorical Purification of America: The National Pastime After 9/11," examines the role of baseball as a cultural resource in the reconstitution of national identity following the terrrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He continues to work on projects at the intersection of rhetoric, democracy, and sport. The broad aim of his research is to examine the rhetorical production of sport as a democratic institution, locating both its limitations and possibilities for democratic life.
Selected
Publications:
Michael L. Butterworth, "Race in 'The Race': Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Heroic Constructions of Whiteness," Critical Studies in Media Communication 24 (August 2007): 228-244.
Michael L. Butterworth, "The Politics of the Pitch: Claiming and Contesting Democracy through the Iraqi National Soccer Team," Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 4 (June 2007): 184-203.
Michael L. Butterworth, "Pitchers and Catchers: Mike Piazza and the Discourse of Gay Identity in the National Pastime," Journal of Sport and Social Issues 30 (May 2006): 138-157.
Michael L. Butterworth, "Ritual in the 'Church of Baseball': Suppressing the Discourse of Democracy After 9/11," Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 2 (June 2005): 107-129.
Awards
and Honors:
Top Paper Awards for Gender Studies Division at 2005 Southern States Communication Association Convention for Critical and Cultural Studies Division at 2005 National Communication Association Convention
Robert Gunderson essay award for graduate students, Indiana University, Department of Communication and Culture, 2003 |
