Dr Louise Pears
- Position: Lecturer in Global Security Challenges
- Areas of expertise: Security Studies; Critical Terrorism Studies; Feminist Security Studies. Research Methods; Focus Groups; Popular Culture
- Email: L.K.Pears@leeds.ac.uk
- Location: 14.25 Social Sciences Building
- Website: Twitter
Profile
I took up the post of Lecturer in Global Security Challenges in 2021 after previous worked on the School strategy and as a Teaching Fellow in Security Studies. Prior to this I worked as a Research Assistant in the Media and Culture department, on the Democratic Reflections project, an extension of a three-year project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, exploring how citizens responded to and evaluated televised election debates. I have also held the positions of research assistant on the Swedish Research Council funded project Militarization 2.0, alongside Nick Robinson here in POLIS, and Research Fellow for the Security and Justice Research Group. Outside of academia, I have worked at Google, Oxfam and Friends of the Earth.
Research interests
My research interests are in Feminist Security Studies, Popular Culture and World Politics, Race and Postcolonial International Relations, Critical Terrorism Studies and Research Methods. What underlies all these areas is an interest in ‘the margins, silences and bottom rungs’ (Enloe, 1996) of International Relations. I am interested in how security operates at the level of the everyday and the research methods that we can use to better understand this. In particular, I have experience working with focus groups as a tool to study the vernacular of security
<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>Qualifications
- 2015: PhD, Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, University of Leeds
- 2012: MA Gender Research, University of Leeds, distinction, excellence prize
- 2010: MSc Gender and International Relations, University of Bristol, distinction
- 2007: BA Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge
- University of Leeds Teaching Award
Professional memberships
- British International Studies Association
Student education
I currently teach International Politics (PIED 1511) and Theories of International Relations (PIED2501)) and supervise both Undergraduate and Masters dissertations.
I am on a Teaching and Scholarship contract. Teaching and working with students is at the heart of what I do. I am interested in digital teaching, open education methods and critical pedagogies. It is important to me as a feminist researcher that my teaching practice is inclusive, potentially emancipatory, and student-centred.