Meenakshi Gigi Durham

Meenakshi Gigi Durham is an Indian American professor of feminist media studies and a writer. Durham was born in Mangalore, India but moved to the United States and then Canada at a young age. She is a full professor and CLAS Collegiate Scholar at the University of Iowa, with an appointment in School of Journalism and Mass Communication; she also holds appointments in the Department of Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies and the Department of English. She was previously a Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development. She was also the Associate Faculty Director of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, an Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Faculty Ombudsperson for the university.

Durham sits on the editorial boards of the Feminist Media Studies, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Communication, Culture & Critique and Sexualization, Media, and Society. From 2007-2016, she was executive editor of the Journal of Communication Inquiry.

She is widely recognized for her scholarship, and in addition to her numerous publications and awards, her work has been featured in the documentaries Miss Representation and Pretty Baby. She has also published short stories and essays.