Tobias Raun

Tobias Raun is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Arts at Roskilde University, Denmark, specializing in media studies and social categorization with a focus on gender, sexuality, and intersectionality. He coordinates the Master's profile in Change Communication and actively participates in international research networks including Masculinity, Sex and Popular Culture and Audiences and Mediated Life.

His research examines the mediatization of everyday life through self-representation on platforms like YouTube and Instagram, analyzing how identity is constructed visually and narratively. Current work investigates plastic masculinity in digital culture, exploring how men negotiate gender norms through biomedicalization phenomena like testosterone boosters and beard-growth products. This intersects with critical studies of micro-celebrity economies and neoliberal labor structures in influencer culture.

Recent publications (2023-2025) reveal a concentrated focus on masculinity's transformation in digital-biomedical contexts, combining visual analysis with intersectional theory. Key trends include examining cultural imaginaries in marketing, cis-normative boundaries in trans discourse, and feminist activism in online body politics.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Kraka-prisen (2013)

Raun has secured major funding including the Sapere Aude-funded New Media New Intimacies project (2015-2018) exploring grief in mediatized societies. He currently advises on the Novo Nordisk-funded Metamorphosing Masculinities project and serves on VIVE's research advisory board. His teaching portfolio spans Digital Media Theory, Body/Gender/Sexuality in Digital Culture, and Change Communication strategy.

He co-founded the international Death Online Research Network and contributes to Affekt Studies through the Peculiar researcher blog, while maintaining active roles in Masculinity Studies networks and editorial boards for journals including NORMA and Men and Masculinities.