Michelle Gibbons

Michelle Gibbons is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of New Hampshire. Her work bridges digital rhetoric, science communication, and vernacular public discourse to explore how scientific and technological concepts are rhetorically constructed in public culture.

• Education: B.A. in English (Vassar College, 2000), M.A. in History and Philosophy of Science (University of Pittsburgh, 2007), Ph.D. in Communication (University of Pittsburgh, 2010)

Her research focuses on:

• Rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine
• Digital humanities and ideographic analysis
• Cognitive science communication

Recent articles examine topics like X-ray images, neural networks, and public health discourse during the pandemic, with keywords spanning digital rhetoric, neuroscience, and crisis communication. In 2015, her work on Freud and neuroscience won the Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology’s Article of the Year Award.

At UNH, she teaches courses in Propaganda and Persuasion, Rhetorical Theory, and Digital Rhetoric. Her current research explores how commonsense psychological beliefs shape public argumentation.