Manuel Menke

Manuel Menke is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Section of Media Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He joined the university as an Assistant Professor (tenure track) in October 2020 and was promoted to Associate Professor in April 2024. Prior to this, he worked as a PostDoc at Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) in Munich, Germany (2018-2020) and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Augsburg, Germany.

Dr. Menke's educational background includes a Dr. phil. in Media and Communication from Augsburg University (awarded October 24, 2017) and a Magister Artium (M.A.) in Media and Communication & Political Science from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (awarded February 25, 2011). His dissertation focused on "Mediennostalgie in digitalen Öffentlichkeiten. Zum kollektiven Umgang mit Medien- und Gesellschaftswandel" (Media nostalgia in digital public spheres. On collective coping with media and social change).

As a media and communication scholar, Menke investigates how media and mediated communication shape cultures, societies, and citizens' everyday lives. His research focuses on digital public spheres, memory cultures, and media-related practices, examining how citizens, journalists, and politicians engage in digital communication. He explores how societal actors' actions affect public discourses and media content in digital cultures, with particular attention to contextualizing digital media within societal structures and histories.

Menke's current research projects include "PastForward: The Political Uses of the Past in Digital Discourses about Nordic Futures" (2023-2026), which analyzes how Nordic political parties use historical references in their social media communication, and "EXPOSING: The Public Value of Socio-Mediated Scandals in the Digital Age" (2024-2028), which examines how citizen-driven scandals develop in digital publics. His methodological approach combines qualitative and quantitative methods to address research questions from multiple empirical angles.

• Ph.D.-Student Travel Award (2015)
• Herbert von Halem Young Scholar Dissertation Project Award (2016)

Menke is actively involved in academic service, serving as an editor for journals including Nordic Journal of Media Studies (2026) and International Journal of Communication (2023). He is also the Chair and Co-Founder of the ECREA Temporary Working Group Affect, Emotion & Media. His teaching covers a broad range of media and communication topics, including theory, research methods, and practical applications, with emphasis on digital communication, social media, memory culture, politics, and journalism.