Valentina Cardo

Valentina Cardo serves as Associate Professor of Politics and Identity at the University of Southampton, holding multiple leadership positions including Faculty and Arts and Humanities Equality, Diversity and Inclusion co-lead, Winchester School of Art Director of Internationalisation, and Co-Director of the Centre for Democratic Futures (CDF). Her academic profile reflects a strong commitment to interdisciplinary research at the intersection of political science, gender studies, and media analysis.

Dr. Cardo's research expertise spans three interconnected strands: questions of power, identity and difference; the changing relationship between media and modes of political and civic agency; and the impact of digital technologies on traditional communication strategies. Her work consistently applies intersectional frameworks to analyze political representation, citizenship, and democratic processes, with recent publications focusing on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected political representation through gendered and intersectional lenses.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a clear trajectory toward increasingly interdisciplinary work that bridges political science with public health, medical research, and digital technology studies. Her scholarship demonstrates how intersectional methodologies can be productively applied across diverse fields, from analyzing social media's impact on political representation to examining gender bias in skeletal health research.

Dr. Cardo actively supervises PhD students across multiple departments including Engineering & Environment, Design, and Fine Art, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her work. She is affiliated with several research groups including the Institute for Life Sciences, The India Centre for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development, and the Centre for Democratic Futures.

Her research portfolio includes significant projects such as 'Gendering Bone: Changing Policy through Public Engagement,' 'Pandemics: Covid, Obesity and Poverty in Public Health and Government Communications,' 'Belonging and Research Culture,' 'Understanding the Impact of Cultural Diversity and Internationalisation at the University of Southampton,' 'Centre for Democratic Futures (CDF): Communication Internship,' 'Irvine -Jazz as Social Machine,' and 'Intersectional Research Methodologies: Towards a Sustainable Post COVID 19 Future.'