Prof Brenda Murphy

With over 28 years’ experience and expertise in research, teaching, leadership, activism, and community engagement, I joined SETU, as Research Lead in the School of Humanities in In October 2023, where my role is to support colleagues, Departments and the School as it increases its research profile (training, mentoring, visibility etc.).

Prior to this I was based at the University of Malta, where I was Professor, Head of Department and founding member, in the Department of Gender & Sexualities at the University of Malta.

Prior to that I was Director of the The Edward de Bono Institute for Creative Thinking for 2 years and a member of the Institute for 8 years; and before that, I was lecturer, and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media and Knowledge Studies.

l have been involved in the design and delivery of postgraduate programmes and I have been active in EU projects as an expert, and research partner.

I am a collaborative researcher with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE); COST Actions, the European Commission, and the European Parliament. I served as the National Coordinator for the Gender Monitoring Media Project (GMMP) (Malta) since 2000 and engaged in EU and Global research projects in STEM, gender in ICT, Gender representation in the media, and cultural representations in victimology.

I have worked in the media industry in London and Dublin, Chaired the Gender Advisory Committee at the Malta Broadcasting Authority and served as President of the University of Malta’s Academic Staff Association (UMASA).

My research is located around Gender Equality, Gender Mainstreaming & Leadership (gendered places and spaces); Media & Gender - portrayal, representation and politic (identities, gendered bodies, symbolic violence, cyber cultures, online hate, male gaze, activism etc); Mediated Identities and Performances of Consumption (national, gender, ethnic etc.); and Masculinities.

I have had a collaborative relationship with the School of Humanities, (SETU) since 2007; Visiting Lecturer at UCC’s Department of Sociology in 2022-23, and most recently, external examiner to UCC (Masters in Women's Studies) and MunsterTU (BA Visual Culture).

My academic life is shaped and sustained by five pillars of engagement - research, teaching, leadership, community engagement/outreach and global/local activism.