Dr Lieve Gies

Licentiate in Communication (Political and Social Sciences), Université Catholique de Louvain, 1995
Candidate in Law (graduate conversion), Vrije Universiteit Brussels, 1996
MSocSc in Cultural Studies (by research), Birmingham University, 1998
PhD in Law, Keele University, 2002
Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (SEDA/ILT), Keele University, 2003

Senior Lecturer 

MA Media and Public Relations Programme Director

Tel: 0116 252 3869
E-mail: lg149@le.ac.uk 

Career Experience:

I joined the Department of Media and Communication in February 2011 as a Senior Lecturer. Prior to joining Leicester, I was a Senior Lecturer in Law at Keele University where I was employed from 2002 to 2011. I previously also held a Lectureship at Brunel University (2001-02), a Graduate Teaching Assistantship at Keele University (1998-01) and a Graduate Research Assistantship at Warwick University (1997-98).

Research Interests:

My research is situated at the intersections of law, media and popular culture, covering topics as diverse as online legal advice, the deviant celebrity, rule making in reality TV shows and the communication strategies of courts. A central argument in my research is that tensions between law and the media are inevitable because of a fundamental conflict in the way in which ‘reality’ is imagined and represented in the legal sphere and in the media. The ethical challenges posed by new media have been the focus of my recent research on media discourse in the area of human rights law. Two developments take centre stage in my current research: the Human Rights Act 1998, an important piece of legislation aimed at enhancing protection for human rights in a UK context, and the War on Terror which has generated much media and legal debate on the potential for conflict between security and human rights.

Publications:

Teaching and Supervision:

• Course Director MA in Public Relations (to be launched in 2011-12)
• MA Dissertations Supervisor

Professional Activities:

• Member of the Socio-Legal Studies Association
• Peer reviewer for the Economic and Social Research Council and the Israel Science Foundation
• Member of the outer editorial board of Celebrity Studies, a new Routledge journal launched in 2010
• Reviewer of manuscripts for the following journals: Celebrity Studies; Gender, Work and Organization; In-spire Journal of Law, Politics and Societies; Law and Humanities; Social Semiotics
• Reviewer of book manuscripts for Oxford University Press, Palgrave and Pearson Education, and book proposals for Ashgate, Oxford University Press and Routledge
• Co-ordinator of the Law and Culture research cluster at the AHRC Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality (2005-2009)
• Guest-editor of the following special issues:
  o (With Dr. Rob C. Mawby) Communicating Criminal Justice: Public Confidence, Agency Strategies and Media Narratives, Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Special issue, 2009, vol 48 (5).
  o Governing Celebrity: Multiculturalism, Offensive Television Content and Celebrity Big Brother 2007, Entertainment and Sports Law Special Issue, 2009, vol. 7 (1).
• Organiser of workshops and conferences, including: ‘Justice, Media and Public: Comparative and Historical Perspectives’ (28-29 February 2008), Keele University; ‘Justice, Media and Public: Improving Public Confidence in the New Media Landscape’ (25-26 March 2010), Keele University