People

The Observatory of Masculinities is based at University College Dublin, in the UCD School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice. Its members are educators and researchers committed to creating a forward-thinking, innovative, and transformative space for exchange and dialogue about masculinities.

Board

The Observatory of Masculinities has a Board of Members who are global scholars in redefining masculinity studies. Their expertise spans social justice, education, social sciences, and community engagement. Our board members guide our mission to foster fruitful dialogue and exchanges about masculinities to create lasting social change.

(opens in a new window)Sofia Aboim

University of Lisbon, Portugal
Sofia Aboim is a Research Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon. She has been involved in numerous research projects, including a European Research Council Consolidator Grant (CoG 615594) and is currently leading the RACE TROUBLE project funded by the Portuguese Science Foundation. Sofia’s recent publications include numerous academic articles and the monographs Plural Masculinities. The remaking of the self in private life (Routledge, 2016) and Gender Fields. The social organisation of gender identity (Routledge, 2024). Sofia’s recent work explores the intersections of gender, masculinities and trans identities with multiple marginalisations, from postcolonial and decolonial perspectives.

(opens in a new window)Sea Ling Cheng

Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sea Ling Cheng is a Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a leading scholar in the fields of transnational migration, sexualities, gender and masculinities. She is an anthropologist, graduated from the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford University. She was then a Rockefeller postdoctoral fellow in Gender, Sexuality, Health, and Human Rights at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. In January 2005, she began teaching at Wellesley College in the US. Her research is focused on sexuality concerning sex work, human trafficking, women’s activism, and policy-making. Her book, On the Move for Love: Migrant Entertainers and the U.S. Military in South Korea (University of Pennsylvania Press 2010), received the Distinguished Book Award of the American Sociological Association in 2012. Currently she is finalising a manuscript on African masculinities in displacement and love.

(opens in a new window)Jeff Hearn

Örebro University, Sweden
Jeff Hearn is Professor Emeritus of Management and Organization, Hanken School of Economics, Finland; Senior Professor of Human Geography, Örebro University, Sweden; Professor of Sociology, University of Huddersfield, UK; and formerly Professor in Gender Studies, Linköping University and Örebro University. He is co-managing editor, Routledge Advances in Feminist Studies and Intersectionality book series and was Co-Chair of RINGS, the International Research Association of Institutions of Advanced Gender Studies 2014–2020. He has researched long-term on gender, sexuality, violence, age, work, organizations, policy, ICTs and transnational processes, with a special interest in critical studies on men and masculinities. Recent books include Age at Work, with Wendy Parkin (2021), Knowledge, Power and Young Sexualities, with Tamara Shefer (2022); Digital Gender-Sexual Violations, with Matthew Hall and Ruth Lewis (2023); Routledge Handbook on Men, Masculinities and Organizations (2024), Routledge Handbook of Feminisms and Gender Studies (2025), and Interconnecting the Violences of Men (2025), all three co-edited.

(opens in a new window)Dannielle McKenna

Rialto Youth Project, Ireland
Dannielle Mc Kenna is the Project Manager of Rialto Youth Project who has worked with the project since 2009 and is committed to empowering young people and fostering positive change through the values of youth work and social justice. With a deep belief in the potential of every young person Dannielle, strives to create inclusive, supportive, and equitable spaces. Dannielle is also part of NYCI’s Equality Training team which includes delivering training to those working with young people on Transformative Practice and has developed practice manuals and education tool kits to support those working in this area.

(opens in a new window)Mezgebu Mengistie

Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Mezgebu Mengistie is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. His work centers on harmful constructions of masculinity, the impact of gender socialization in determining the fate of children, and the relationship between masculinity and feuding, as well as its socioeconomic consequences. He is dedicated to fostering healthy masculinity and gender equality. He actively works towards this goal by engaging with various academic platforms, including national and international conferences, seminars, and training workshops as well as utilizing local media.

(opens in a new window)Iva Šmídová

Masaryk University, Czechia
Iva Šmídová is a sociologist, an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. She has worked in the field of gender studies since the early 1990s in both research and teaching. She is a founding member of the gender studies community at Sociology, Masaryk. Her long-term research interests include critical studies on men and masculinities, gender relations in the family, sociology of health, illness and medicine, and bereavement studies. Her current research project is on(opens in a new window) Institutions of Ageing Men, and previous studies included topics such as alternative life courses of men (in environment protection), men on parental leave, men at childbirth, professional men in positions of power, or masculinities offside.

(opens in a new window)Mara Viveros-Vigoya

National University of Colombia, Colombia
Mara Viveros-Vigoya holds a PhD in Anthropology from EHESS, Paris. She is a full professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences at the National University of Colombia, affiliated with the Department of Anthropology and the School of Gender Studies, which she has directed three times. She was President of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) (2019–2020) and is currently the Simón Bolívar Professor at the Centre of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge. Her research explores Black middle classes in Colombia, antiracist ideologies, and intersections of class, gender, sexuality, and race in Latin America.