Michael Vicaro, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Communications
Main Building, 106A
Penn State Greater Allegheny
4000 University Drive
McKeesport, PA 15132

Michael Vicaro is a communication theorist with over 20 years teaching in colleges and universities. He has been a faculty member at PSU since 2012 and serves as the director of the Civic and Community Engagement Minor program


Teaching Interests: Communication theory, Rhetoric, Effective speech

Area(s) of Expertise: Philosophy of Communication, Classical and Contemporary Rhetorical theory

I'm working on a book examining various equality movements in recent American history

Haunting Dreams: Time and Affect in the Neoliberal Commemoration of “I Have a Dream”, in Rhetorics Haunting the National Mall, 2018

Deconstitutive rhetoric: The destruction of legal personhood in the Global War on Terrorism, The Quarterly journal of speech, 10/2016, Volume 102, Issue 4

Hunger for Voice: Transformative Argumentation in the 2005 Guantánamo Bay Hunger Strike, Argumentation and advocacy, 2015, Volume 51, Issue 3.

Ph.D. - University of Pittsburgh - 2012

M.A. - University of Colorado - 2004

B.A. - Rutgers College - 2000

Enacting Equality: The Neurodiversity Paradigm (NCA, 2021)