Professor Andrea Medrado (She/her)

I am an Associate Professor in Global Communications and Co-Director of Research for the Department of Communications, Drama and Film. My work bridges boundaries between the Global South and North, and between the social and computer sciences. My research focuses on the participaton of marginalised communities, particularly in the Majority World, in decision-making about technology and inclusion. Working at the intersection of media anthropology, creative and ethnographic methods and information security, my interests lie in the fields of media activism, artivism, South-to-South and South-to-North communication, participatory action research, and critical data and artificial intelligence (AI) studies. As a first-generation academic, parent, and migrant, I enjoy cross-cultural collaborations, bridging grassroots movements and scholarly thinking; academia and creative practice; people and ideas.

My monograph “Media Activism, Artivism and the Fight Against Marginalisation in the Global South” (Routledge, 2023 – with Isabella Rega) emphasises the power of dialogue in uniting disenfranchised communities across the plural Souths. Praised for its South-South cross-cultural nature, the book received the 2024 “Outstanding Book Award” from the ICA - International Communication Association’s Activism Communication and Social Justice Interest Group. It was also shortlisted as one of the three best “Monographs of the Year” by the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) in 2024. In addition to authored and edited books, I have worked in several grants funded projects such as Favel IA (PI, INCT DSI - 2024-present), The Social Foundations of Cryptography, (Co-I - EPSRC – 2024-present); AI for the Social Good? , PI - Participatory Research Seed Funding 2022-2023; eVoices Redressing Marginality, Co-I - AHRC, 2018-2019) to produce articles in English, Portuguese and Spanish published in various peer reviewed journals as well as book chapters (see full list in publications section). 

I have also served as Co-Vice President of the largest and most international association in our field, the International Association for Media and Communication Research, IAMCR, for two terms - 2020 to 2024 and 2024 to 2028. At IAMCR, I lead the  IAMCR Webinar Series, which has hosted talks, screenings, roundtables and book launches for over 50 scholars, from all continents, including early career researchers. Since I joined Exeter, I have been appointed as Co-Director of Research for the Department of Communications, Drama and Film. I am leading efforts to support colleagues in establishing and consolidating three research centres: The Research Centre on Gender, Media and Sexuality (GEMS, led by Dr Woori Han), the Critical AI Centre (CrAIC- led by Dr Patrick Gilderleve and Dr Brett Zehner) and the Digital Majority Centre (DMC, led by Dr Mona Elswah