Patrick Murphy, professor of media studies and production in the Klein College of Media and Communication, has been appointed to the Verizon Professorship and Chair in Global Broadband and Telecommunications (Verizon Chair).
Murphy is an established scholar in international media and has been a leader in the globalization of communication research and pedagogy for years. His research and scholarship take an environmental approach to global media studies, drawing from international communication, comparative media system studies and development communication.
Though native to Pennsylvania, his interest in global media began during his time living, studying and working in Mexico, where he earned the Fulbright-Garcia Robles Research Fellowship in 1993 to work on his doctoral research.
“My introduction to international thinking certainly came out of Latin America,” Murphy said. “I’ve since traveled quite a bit, and I’m always trying to deepen that, but I would say that my interest in global issues emerged in relation to the United States and Mexico, or more broadly, the U.S. and Latin America.”
He continues to be an active member of the Fulbright Foundation and cites his earning of the fellowship as a key catalyst in his career and research path.
“I probably would not be where I am today,” he said. “That’s the kind of thing where you get something young, and it fuels you like a slingshot.”
Murphy has worked diligently to advance the study of global media and to internationalize the study of communication. Naturally, his work has taken him around the globe. He recently returned from a fellowship in Qatar as the #IAS_NUQ Global Fellow at Northwestern University’s Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South. He also served a two-year term as Temple University Rome’s associate dean of academic affairs. He has even taught in a global classroom as a visiting professor for Semester at Sea.
“We all continue to learn through our lives, and one of the most exciting ways to do that is through the global lens,” he said.
The Verizon Chair position includes research support, one course release per year and the responsibility of organizing a symposium in the term’s second year. Murphy shared that his symposium could include topics where global communication dovetails with environmental research, especially regarding how communities around the world are using media to combat the climate crisis.
“My top priority is to use the platform of the Verizon Chair to continue to internationalize media education and scholarship,” he said. “More and more, scholarship is starting to follow the idea of internationalization, and the Verizon Chair has a special role to make sure that it has a high degree of visibility in Klein.”
Murphy’s scholarship has resulted in over 50 publications in global media studies, including books, book chapters, articles, journals, reviews and more. He is currently working on a book on the history of development communication and its links to the environment. Development communication, the field of using communication to further social change, has been a key area of interest for Murphy, which he plans to advance during his time as Verizon Chair while writing his new book. Murphy helped champion the genesis of a master of science in communication for development and social change, a degree offered only by Temple and one other university in the country. This academic program is just one of many he helped create.
Murphy’s authored works are decorated. Among many nominations and awards, he won the Best Book Award from the International Communication Association in 2018.
“Patrick is an excellent choice for Verizon Chair because of his work in media and the environment,” said Deborah Cai, acting dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication. “He has literally written the book on environment and media: The Media Commons: Globalization and Environmental Discourses, which addresses how institutions across the globe have created a mediated public culture related to environmental events. The Verizon Chair is designed to support an outstanding researcher whose work addresses global media and media policy and practice. Patrick’s research and extensive international engagement align perfectly with this purpose.”
About the Verizon Professorship and Chair in Global Broadband and Telecommunications
The professorship was established in 1987 as The Bell of Pennsylvania Chair in Telecommunications. James Armstrong, an influential former AT&T executive and futurist in the field of telecommunications, was the first educator to hold the position. The position was later changed to the Verizon Chair and held by many influential figures, most recently Bryan Monroe, a beloved journalist and educator who passed away in 2021.