Niya Pickett Miller teaches communication studies courses related to race, gender and culture in the Department of Communication and Media, and within the university core curriculum—UCS 102. 

Her scholarly work centers on visual and rhetorical criticism of marginal identities and otherness in popular culture and media. Her publications include the books: Deconstructing the Albino Other: A Critique of Albinism Identity in Media (2020, Lexington Books), Lizzo’s Black, Female, and Fat Resistance (2021, Palgrave MacMillan), Sustaining Black Music and Black Culture During COVID-19: #Verzuz and Club Quarantine (2020, Lexington Books), and co-authored articles like Primitive or Empowered: Representations of Native Americans and COVID-19 in News Media (2022, Communication Quarterly). Pickett Miller's awards include the 2019 Alabama Communication Association Top Faculty Paper award and the 2021 National Communication Association's African-American Culture Division Top Paper Presentation.

Pickett Miller holds membership with the National Communication Association, serves on the Diversity Committee within the Southern States Communication Association and is vice president of the  Alabama Communication Association. Both personally and professionally, Pickett Miller is an albinism advocate. She talked about her experience parenting a child with albinism and the importance of inclusive communication as a 2019 TEDx Birmingham speaker. Watch the video.

Pickett Miller commits to ongoing work with the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH) and was their 2022 conference keynote speaker, where she talked about the power of personal narratives.

Degrees and Certifications

• PhD, Communication Studies, University of Southern Mississippi
• MS, Human resource management, Troy University
• MA, Communication Studies, University of Alabama
• BA, Telecommunication and Film, University of Alabama