Education

Ph.D. The University of Alabama

Specialization

• Public Speaking
• Rhetoric of Sports and Public Memory
• Contemporary Critical Theory
• Argumentation and Debate
• Athlete Civil Rights and Social Movements

Courses

SPCH 140 Public Communication

Research Projects

I am currently working on two projects: Turning my dissertation into a book, and investigating rhetorical hauntologies of NBA superstar Nikola Jokic. The dissertation, titled Inescapably Everywhere: Mythic, Ideological, and Material Public Memory of Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant, explores how memorials, museums, and myths related to the infamous college football coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant contour the experience of college football fans today. The hauntology project critically analyzes discourses about 3-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and his relationship toward labor, basketball, and hobbies as a means to argue for broader athlete privacy rights.

Publications

   • Kevin G. Thompson, Gilbert Carter, Edwin S. Lee, Talal Alshamrani, & Andrew C. Billings, “‘We’re Human Too’: Media Coverage of Simone Biles’s Mental Health Disclosure during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” Electronic News, vol. 16, no. 3, 2022, pp. 187-201. DOI: 10.1177/19312431221095207
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Ben McAdoo Illegally Uses a Walkie Talkie: A Rhetorical Crisis Perspective,” In J. Sanderson (1st ed.) Corruption and Scandal in American Sport: Causes and Consequences. ABC-CLIO Publishing. 2022. ISBN 9781440878374.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “The Milwaukee Bucks’ Bubble Strike: Professional Athletic Labor’s Position in Racist Late-Stage Capitalism.” In T. L. Rentner and D.P. Burns (1st ed.) Social Issues in Sport Communication: You Make the Call. 2022. Routledge. ISBN 9781032288963.

Presentations

   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Grave Encounters: Specters of Abusive Coaches and College Sport Hauntologies.” Presented at the November 2024 National Communication Association, Critical & Cultural Studies Division, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Jarring Junction: Public Memories of Paul “Bear” Bryant and Mythologizing Abuse.” Presented at the November 2024 National Communication Association, Critical & Cultural Studies Division, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Conjuring the Sombor Shuffle: Late-Stage Capitalism and Rhetorical Specters of NBA Superstar Nikola Jokic.” Presented at the March 2024 Jefferson Emerging Scholars Symposium, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Militarism, Memorials, and Rhetorical Participation in Chris Kyle’s Memory.” Presented at the November 2023 National Communication Association, Communication & Military Division, in National Harbor, Maryland. Awarded Top Division Paper.
   • Dr. Ariel Seay-Howard, Dr. Scott Mitchell, Savannah Greer Downing, and Dr. Kevin G. Thompson, “Finding Countermemories and Countertemportalities in the Institutional and Noncommemorative Sites of Memory.” Presented at the November 2023 National Communication Association in National Harbor, Maryland.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “A Bear Walks into a Bar: Visual Rhetorics and Parodic Form in the Druid City Brewery.” Presented at the November 2023 National Communication Association, Communication & Sport Division, in National Harbor, Maryland.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Where Legends are Made: The Stench of Rhetorical Bullshit in the Paul W. Bryant Museum’s ‘Breaking Barriers’ Exhibit.” Presented at the November 2023 National Communication Association, Public Address and American Society for the History of Rhetoric Divisions, in National Harbor, Maryland.
   • Edwin. S. Lee and Dr. Kevin G. Thompson, “Past, Present, and Future of Critical Sport Communication Research,” Alabama Communication Association in Birmingham, Alabama, July 2023.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, ‘The Bear,’ Rhetorics of Memory, and The Crimson Tide.” Presented at the March 2023 Eastern States Communication Association Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Bear Bryant Abroad: Rhetorically Analyzing Public Memories of Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant outside of Alabama.” Presented at the September 2022 American Awakening: Interdisciplinary Interrogations in the 21st Century Conference in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Sensorial and Affective Rhetorics: Remembering “The Bear” In Situ.” Presented at the November 2022 National Communication Association, Communication & Sport Division, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, Gilbert Carter, Edwin S. Lee, Talal Alshamrani, & Andrew C. Billings, “‘We’re Human Too’: Media Coverage of Simone Biles’s Mental Health Disclosure during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.” Presented at the November 2022 National Communication Association, Communication & Sport Division, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Myth, Ideology, and Performance in Sport: A Critical Paradigmatic Perspective.” Presented at the July 2022 Alabama Communication Association in Mobile, Alabama.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, Denise Blanchard, and Max Thompson, “Rural School Debate Teams and the Impact on College Readiness.” Presented at the June 2022 Texas Rural Education Association in Round Rock, Texas.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Abusive Coaching and Affective Politics: Sensorial and Affective Rhetorics and the University of Alabama’s Public Memory.” Presented at the June 2022 NCA Doctoral Honors Seminar in Fairfax, Virginia.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Where Legends are Made: Rhetorically Destabilizing the Myth of Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant as a Barrier Breaker in the Jim Crow South.” Presented at the April 2022 Say Their Names BAMA: Race, Memory and the University of Alabama Social Justice Research Symposium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Forgetting in the Name of Forgetting: A Rhetorical Analysis of Alabama’s Helen Keller Memorial.”  Presented at the April 2022 Southern States Communication Association in Greenville, South Carolina.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, Edwin S. Lee, Jackson Harris, and Gilbert Carter, “Rhetoric, Memory, and Publics,” University of Alabama’s Rhetoric and Western Thought Seminar, April 2022.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, Dr. Meredith Bagley, Dr. Jessy Ohl, Gilbert Carter, Edwin Lee, and Rebecca Oliver, “The Confluence of Political and Sport Communication by Prominent Athletes and Coaches,” Southeastern American Studies Association Annual Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, March 2022.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Where Legends Are Made: A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of The University of Alabama’s Paul W. Bryant Museum.” Presented at the March 2022 International Association of Communication and Sport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, Gilbert Carter, Edwin Lee, and Talal Alshamrani, “We Are Human Too”: Media Coverage of Simone Biles’s Mental Health Disclosure during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.” Presented at the November 2021 Alabama Program in Sport Communication Research Symposium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
   • Kevin G. Thompson and Dr. Meredith Bagley, “Welcome to Greyhound Country! Rhetoric of Sport, Memory & Rural Identity in Texas Six-Man Football.” Presented at the November 2021 National Communication Association, Communication & Sport Division, in Seattle, Washington.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Memory as Abjection: A Rhetorical Analysis of New Orleans’ Museum of Death.” Presented virtually at the October 2021 ‘Memory, Guilt, and Shame’ International Interdisciplinary Conference in Gdansk, Poland.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Sniping Memory: The Rhetorical Mythos of Chris Kyle.”  Presented at the July 2021 Alabama Communication Association in Montevallo, Alabama.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “6-Man Football and the Rhetoric of Ruralized Memory.”  Presented at the October 2021 Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant’s Dramatistic Exploitation: A Scene-Act Pentadic Analysis of The Junction Boys.”  Presented at the October 2021 Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
   • Kevin G. Thompson, “Schizo-Persuasive Modernity: Deleuze and Rhizomatic Applications of the Agenda-Spin Theory.” Presented at the November 2016 National Communication Association, Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division, in Las Vegas, Nevada.