Dr Miriam Kent

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds as Lecturer in Film and Media in 2022. I gained a PhD in Film Studies at the University of East Anglia in 2017, where I was a Lecturer in Film and Media Studies for two years, and there I taught a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules in film and media analysis, feminist media studies and gender studies. Prior to Leeds, I was a Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Essex.

My research critically examines contemporary visual media, including film, television and comics. Broadly, I focus on how these media construct and circulate ideas about gender, identity and power. Drawing on feminist media theory, cultural studies, and film theory, my work interrogates the ideological workings of popular culture. Alongside traditional textual and theoretical analysis, I actively engage with and develop creative-critical research practices. Throughout my career, I have been dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, particularly in the field of comics studies, where I explore the medium’s unique capacities and cultural significance.

My monograph, Women in Marvel Films (2021, Edinburgh University Press), reaches to film studies, comics studies, cultural studies and gender studies to make sense of portrayals of feminine identity in Marvel superhero films through a detailed critique of postfeminist culture. It is the first major study of portrayals of women, heroic and otherwise, in films based on Marvel comics from the 1980s to the present.

Responsibilities

• Programme Leader - MA in Film, Photography and Media
• Co-convenor - Visual Media and Communication Research Group

Research interests

My research programme explores the intersection of visual media, ideology, and identity, with a particular emphasis on feminist perspectives and the cultural work performed by popular genres and transmedia narratives. I investigate how media forms such as film, television, and comics negotiate societal norms around gender, representation and power. Another strand of my work involves developing and applying creative-critical methodologies, seeking new ways to generate and disseminate knowledge both within and beyond academia.

I am happy to work with prospective PhD applicants interested broadly in popular media genres, gender and identity in the media, popular feminisms and transmedia.

My key research interests include:

• Feminist media theory and criticism
• Film and television studies
• Comics studies
• Popular culture and ideology
• Superhero narratives
• Creative-critical research
• Cultural AI and media ideologies

Qualifications

• PGCert Higher Education Practice
• PhD Film Studies
• MA Film Studies
• BA (Hons) Film and Television Studies

Professional memberships

• Fellow, Higher Education Academy
• Member, Comics Studies Society
• Member, British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies
• Member, Society For Cinema and Media Studies
• Member, Gesellschaft für Comicforschung

Current postgraduate researchers

• Xiaojing Mo