CURRICULUM VITAE
Michael Humphrey
Department of Journalism & Media Communication
Johnson County Community College
mhumph18@jccc.edu | 913-469-8500 ext. 2887
EDUCATION
2017 Ph.D., Public Communication & Technology, Colorado State University
2010 M.A., Journalism, New York University
Notable Achievement: 2010 Edwin Diamond Award
1991 B.A., Communication and Philosophy, William Jewell College
Notable Achievement: President’s Humanitarian Award
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
2024-Present Assistant Professor, Journalism and Media Communication, Johnson County Community College
2018-2024 Assistant/Associate Professor, Journalism and Media Communication, Colorado State University
2017-2018 Visiting Assistant Professor, Journalism and Media Communication, CSU
2014-2016 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Journalism and Media Communication, CSU
2011-2014 Newsroom Adviser, Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation, CSU
2009-2011 Faculty Advisor, Washington Journalism & Media Conference, George Mason University
OTHER AFFILIATIONS
2024-Present Affiliate Faculty, Journalism and Media Communication, Colorado State University
2024-Present Associate Editor, International Journal of Listening, Taylor & Francis
2021-Present Editorial Board, Persona Studies, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
2019-2020 Visiting Scholar, Oxford Centre for Life-Writing, Wolfson College, University of Oxford
2019-2024 Affiliate/Core Faculty, Nancy Richardson Design Center, Colorado State University
EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE
2010-2020 Contributor, Forbes.com, New York, NY
2009-2010 Contributor, True Slant, New York, NY
2007-2010 Reporter, National Catholic Reporter and NCRonline.org, Kansas City, MO (contract)
1998-2009 Reporter, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO (contract)
2000-2004 Sports & Entertainment Writer, American Online-Digital Cities, Chicago, IL (contract)
1993-1996 Editor, District 1 News, St. Paul, MN
1992 Editor, Marion Daily Republican, Marion, IL
1991 Reporter, Lake-Sun Leader, Osage Beach, MO
OTHER RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022-2023 Director, Insights, Jobs for the Future, Boston, MA
2020-2021 Digital Communication Consultant, Scott College of Engineering, Fort Collins, CO
2019-2021 Analytics Consultant, University Communications at CSU, Fort Collins, CO
2012-2016 Writer, Jigsaw Media, Westport, CT
1996-2000 Publications Editor & Outreach Coordinator, Kansas City Public Library, KC, MO
PUBLISHED WORKS
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Humphrey, M. and Gbadamosi, E. Article on the YouTube comments around Usman vs. Covington hype. Peer reviewed journal article. (In press).
Humphrey, M. (2022) Pater for Millions: Negotiating the Collapse of a YouTube Father Persona. Persona Studies, 8(2), pp. 42-55.
Humphrey, M. (2021). Reexamining Arendt’s concept of Oikos through the lens of a YouTube Vlog. Persona Studies, 7(1), pp. 20-32.
Humphrey, M. & Gbadamosi, E. (2021). The ‘Imagined Author’: Contingent selves in an anonymous life writing subreddit. Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, 44(4), pp. 164-174.
Humphrey, M. (2020). The Narratable Self lost in a cave: Tracing hints of humanity in an Instagram trope. Storytelling, Self, Society, 16(2), pp. 225-243.
Humphrey, M. & Humphrey, L. (2020). Career Construction in volatile settings: seeking congruence in a journalist’s world today. Life Writing, 17(1), pp. 75-88.
Humphrey, M. (2018). Confession narratives and mass kinship of YouTube celebrities: A narrative rationality analysis. Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture, 9(2), pp. 225-237.
Humphrey, M. (2017). ‘I Am In No Way This’: troll-hunters and pragmatic digital self-reference. Persona Studies, 3(2), pp. 21-34.
Peer Reviewed Chapters
Humphrey, M. (2024). What is in a name? Honest telling and vulnerability in anonymous life writing, In Life Writing, Representation and Identity, Routledge, London.
Humphrey, M. (2023). Small Stories in Mass Media: Coalescent themes and tactics in Trump’s Twitter presidency, In Small Stories Research, Routledge, London.
Humphrey, M. (2020). The transmediated self as story: examining ‘working self’ narratives in social media. In Transmedia Earth Conference: Global Convergence Cultures, The Editorial Fund of the EAFIT University, Medellin.
Keats, E. & Humphrey, M. (2018). From penning to pinning: performing personal ‘unfinished stories’ across multiple social media, In Matters of Telling: The Impulse of the Story, Brill Publishers, Boston.
Invited Manuscripts
Humphrey, M. (2019). Has narrative found a challenge in Virtual Reality? Society for Technical Communication Intercom.
Humphrey, M. (2018). No greater than who I actually am: virtue ethics in digital life narratives. In P. Plaisance (Ed.) Communication and Media Ethics. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
Research-Based Journalism & Essay Writing (Selections)
Humphrey, M. (January, 2024). The Digital Narrative of Democracy. STATE Magazine.
Humphrey, M. (April, 2022). What’s at stake for Trump, Twitter and politics if the tweeter-in-chief returns from banishment. TheConversation.com.
Humphrey, M. (October, 2021). What happens to your life stories if you delete your Facebook account? TheConversation.com.
Humphrey, M. (February, 2021). I analyzed all of Trump’s tweets to find out what he was really saying. TheConversation.com.
Humphrey, M. (August, 2020). Meet The Woman Who Helped Spark The Adventure Elopement Trend. Forbes.com.
Humphrey, M. (April, 2020). What We Can Learn From Students Rebuilding Universities In Minecraft. Forbes.com.
Humphrey, M. (March, 2020). A Craft Brewery Town Is Sent ‘Packaging’ By Coronavirus. Forbes.com.
Humphrey, M. (May, 2019). A Pod Of Her Own: Dear Media Bets Influencers Can Amplify Podcasts By Women. Forbes.com
Papers Presented
Humphrey, M. (2024, June). Narrative Listening as a Theory of Practice. International Listening Association Convention, Minneapolis, MN.
Humphrey, M. and Gbadamosi, E. (2023, August). Fight within a Fight: Analyzing Negotiated Narratives of a Controversial UFC Bout. AEJMC Sports Communication Interest Group, Washington, D.C.
Humphrey, M. (2021, October). Michael Harriot’s “Threads”: Weaving Stories for Change with a Twitter Affordance. Accepted to present at the International Auto/Biography Association – Americas.
Humphrey, M. (2021, July). Reconsidering Arendt’s Oikos in digital persona. Accepted to present at the Persona Studies Online Conference.
Parks, E. and Humphrey, M. (2020, August). Storylistening. Presented a digital poster at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Great Ideas for Teachers Awards. (Received 2nd Place).
Humphrey, M. (2020, January). Editing the digital ‘I’. Accepted to present at the Modern Language Association 2020 Conference, Seattle, Washington.
Humphrey, M. (2019, June). Narratable Self & the network: Considering Cavarero in the age of social media. Accepted to present at the International Auto/Biography Association – Europe, Madrid, Spain.
Humphrey, M. (2018, November). When a story is not a “story”: The limits of defining literature forms in a digital world. Accepted to present at the 116th Annual Conference of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, Bellingham, Washington.
Humphrey, M. (2017, May). First person persuasion: linguistic properties of personal narratives in persuasive political discourse on medium.com. International Communication Association Conference in San Diego.
Humphrey, M., Champ, J., Russell, G. & Stone, L. (2017, May). Communicating science efficacy for governmental decision makers: a supply chain metaphor. International Communication Association Conference in San Diego.
Humphrey, M. (2015, October). ‘I could use some privilege’: digital rhetoric, white privilege and life narratives as terministic screens. Accepted via blind review to present at “Internet Research 16.0: Digital Imaginaries,” Association of Internet Researchers in Phoenix.
Humphrey, L. and Humphrey, M. (2015, August). Avoiding the “bad jump cut”: developing a senior year experience for journalism students. Internship and Careers Interest Group section of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in San Francisco. (Awarded Best Paper).
Humphrey, M. (2015, April). Homo narrans digitalis? Examining life storytelling affordances in digital spaces. Western Social Sciences Association.
Humphrey, M. (2014, August). Uses & Grats 2.1: Considering ecosystem in User-Generated Content gratifications. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Humphrey, M. (2015, June). Quantifying a life story in digital ecosystems: content analysis on cowbird.com. International Auto-Biography Association-Americas.
Humphrey, M. (2015, March). The life you tell may be your own: social media and the algorithm of self narrative. “The Brain is Wider than the Sky” Conference, English Department, University of Wyoming.
Humphrey, M. (2014, October). ‘Small’ and ‘big’ narratives: considering the role of narrative arc in digital life storytelling. Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association.
ENGAGED RESEARCH
The Storylisteners Project
Present, An engaged research project that intended to improve the narrative listening skills of people who use them in their vocation. Using the medium of podcasting, we are interviewing exemplar “storylisteners” about their strategies of listening for patients/clients/customers’ stories to serve them in more holistic ways. Using the transcripts of the interviews, we will conduct textual analysis to find the most important skills within and across vocations.
Northern Colorado Deliberative Journalism Collaborative
2021-2022, Multi-department initiative to use Public Deliberation, Journalism and Political Science to help local communities work on “wicked problems” in intentional, collaborative, and well-informed settings (Received American Press Institute grant; received Ann Gill Faculty Development Award for Collaborative Projects).
Campus Compact of the Western Region, Engaged Scholars Initiative (ESI)
2019-2020, Engagement Scholarship Training cohort, Funded by the CSU Provost Office (Grant funded).
Externally Funded Projects as Co-PI
2016-2019, Science Storytelling for Policy Makers, CoPI Joseph Champ, US Geological Services (Grant funded by USGS).
INVITED LECTURES
Humphrey, M. & Mitchell, K. (March 20, 2024). Storylisteners Presentation at the ILA Meet Up. Online.
Humphrey, M. (June 17, 2023). Listening for Story: How to Trace the Narrative Pathways in Anyone’s Life, Kansas City, MO.
Humphrey, M. (April 3, 2023). Social Media and Community Engagement Strategies. Colorado Mountain College Campus Leadership Team, Leadville, CO.
Humphrey, M. (April 3, 2023). “The Gentle Art of Shutting Up: Hearing Stories from Those We Can’t Stand.” Colorado Mountain College Campus, Leadville, CO.
Carcasson, M., Athena, E., Frank, L., Humphrey, M., Larson, E. (March 22, 2022). “How to Tackle Wicked Problems in Local Communities: Exploring the Potential of Deliberative Journalism.” Hosted a panel discussion for Northern Colorado community members with experts in local journalism. Via Zoom.
Humphrey, M. (2022, January). Social Storytelling. University Wide Communications, CSU, Fort Collins, CO.
Humphrey, M. (2022, January). How to write and pitch for The Conversation. Professional, Development Institute, CSU, Fort Collins, CO.
Humphrey, M. (2021, August). Science on Tap: The Science of Storytelling. Department of Biology, CSU, and Wolverine Farm Publick House, Fort Collins, CO.
Humphrey, M. (2021, July). Strategic Communications Analytics. Office of University Communications, Colorado State University.
Humphrey, M. (2019, October). Digital Storytelling. Office of University Communications, Colorado State University.
Elkins, E., Humphrey, M., and Luna, J. (2019, September). Great Conversations: Does Technology Create or Heal Partisan Divides: Looking through the Lenses of the Liberal Arts. College of Liberal Arts, Colorado State University.
Georgakopoulou, A., Giaxoglou, K., M. Humphrey (2019, May). Ego Media. Oxford Centre for Life Writing, Wolfson College, Oxford, UK.
Humphrey, M. (2019, May). The Storyworld Conundrum: Immersion and the Mind in VR Narratives. Culture Vultures III, Johnson and Wales University.
Humphrey, M. (2018, October). Storytelling in Immersive Environments. Office of Vice President for Research “Ram Reality” Symposium, Colorado State University.
Humphrey, M. (2018, March). “The Flourishing ‘I’: Anscombe and the Ethics of Life Narrative in Digital Space.” Distinguished visiting scholar lecture sponsored by the Don W. Davis Program in Ethical Leadership in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, Penn State University.
Humphrey, M. (2015 & 2017, August). The Power of Story in Leadership. Presented as a module in the Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Arts and the Public program, at Colorado State University.
Humphrey, M. (2015, August). I Was A Start-Up Intern. A “lightning-round” presentation for the AEJMC Pre-Conference Workshop on Media Entrepreneurship, San Francisco.
Frank, R., Humphrey, M. and Manning, J. (2013, May). Developing digital-first student journalists. Presented at the Western Association of University Publication Managers, Denver.
TEACHING AWARDS
Great Ideas for Teachers – 2nd Place (August, 2020). Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Best Teacher Award (March, 2019). Alumni Association of Colorado State University.
Professional Affiliations
Online News Association
Association for Education and Journalism and Mass Communication
Colorado Press Association
Society of Professional Journalists
Broadcast Education Association
Media Appearances
2024 Scripps News. “Artificial intelligence introduces new ethical issues to newsgathering”
2022 KOA 850. “CSU Journalism Prof Michael Humphrey on Elon Musk’s twitter aspirations”
2022 Rocky Mountain PBS, “Should I Delete my Facebook Account”
2021 Rising Up With Sonali, “Analyzing Trump’s Twitter”
2021 CBS Denver, “CSU Researcher Analyzes Every Trump Tweet, Finds Underlying Theme”
2020 STATE: The Magazine of Colorado State University System, “Screen Time”
2020 CSU Source, “Posts have power”
2020 CLA Magazine, “Order, Authenticity, and Context Collapse”
2020 Compact Nation Podcast
2018 Office of Vice President for Research Podcast
2017 New Kings: The Power of Online Influencers
2016 The Vlogumentary, a feature documentary produced by Morgan Spurlock
2014 The New York Times
2013 Southern California Public Radio
2012 RT America
2012 PBS Channel 12
2012 KUSA Channel 9
2011 Public Radio International “The Story”