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Professor Marie Gillespie

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Professor
  • Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
  • School of Social Sciences & Global Studies
  • Sociology
  • marie.gillespie

Professional biography

Marie joined The Open University 2001 as Senior Lecturer in Sociology. Since 2007 she has been Professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to that, from 1995-2001 she was Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology, University of Wales Swansea, from 1993-95, Lecturer, Centre for Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Wales Cardiff, and from 1992-93 Lecturer, Department of Human Sciences, Brunel University 

She undertook PhD research at Brunel University, Department of Human Sciences (1988-92). PhD: Television Talk in a London Punjabi Peer Culture. From 1986-87 at the University of London Institute of Education, she studied for a Master of Arts in:Film and Television for Education (Distinction). Dissertation: Audiovisual Culture among South Asian Families in Britain. From 1981-82 she studies at the University of London, St. Mary’s College, Twickenham, for a PGCE (Distinction). Her first degree BSc (Hons) Sociology and Anthropology (IIi) (1971-74) was obtained at that University of Southampton, 

 

Research interests

Marie is Professor of Sociology at the Open University. An anthropologist and ethnographer by training, the focus of her research and teaching has been on migrant cultures and communication, with a particular focus on South Asian and Middle Eastern diasporas. Recent research includes projects on forced migration and digital exclusion among Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees. Since 2015 she has conducted fieldwork in refugee camps on the island of Lesvos in Greece, and at Za’atari and Azraq camps in Jordan. She has worked with Syrian refugee women on several projects on digital inclusion and civic engagement in concert with UN Women in Jordan. 

She has also led several projects on culture and diplomacy, in particular on citizenship in Egypt and Ukraine. She has worked on and with diverse international organisations including the British Council and Goethe Insitut, BBC World Service, France Medias Monde and Deutsche Welle. The central aim of these projects has been to bring reliable ethnographic research to bear on intercultural dialogue and peace-building initiatives in conflict zones. 

One of her recent research projects has been on an AHRC-funded project entitled 'Reframing Russia for the global media sphere: from Cold War to Information War?' (www.reframingrussia.com.) This project explores the chaging conjoined geopolitical and media landscapes, Russia's foreign policy including its involvement in Syria, the discourse of information war, conspiracy theories and how and why some audiences use RT as a reference point to understand 'what and how Russia today thinks'.

She has a keen interest in designing interdisciplinary collaborative methodologies. For example, with colleagues at the OU, she designed the Cultural Value Framework which is a theoretically- informed methodology which has been adopted and used as a tool of learning, monitoring and assessment by numerous international organisations. She has also been experimenting with social scientific and computational methods in projects on Arabic, Dari, English, French, Dari and Pashto media.

Most recently, she has been experimenting with an arts-based, collaborative digital ethnography (ABCDE) for a project with asylum seekers and refugees on Covid-19 (www.cov19chronicles.com).  Originally set up to document the first lockdown, two years later, the project has transmuted from its intensely local origins to attarct contirbutors globally.

Marie has been leading the OU's University of Sanctuary initiative and it is hoped that early in 2022, OU will be awarded recognition as a University of Sanctuary, offering a culture of welcome and support to forced migrants - as well as scholarships. More details at the website.

Marie has published in a range of interdisciplinary journals (see publications tab above) on migrant transnationalism, refugees and digital communications, international news and political communication, mediatization, religion and securitization. Publications include several books: Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change; Drama for Development: Cultural Translation and Social Change; Diasporas and Diplomacy: Cosmopolitan Contact Zones at the BBC World Service 1932-2012; Social Media and Religious Change.

Teaching interests

2020-              DD318 Dissertation Module Chair           

2018-19          D218  Understanding Digital Societies

2012-17           Openings, D131 

2012-17           D845 Visual Culture 

2008-13            D844 Ethnography 

2002-08           Deputy Chair DA204 Understanding Media

2006                 Media Audiences, Sole editor. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

2006                 Analysing Media Texts. Co-edited with Jason Toynbee. Maidenhead:

                         Open University Press.

2006                 Narrative Analysis. Analysing Media Texts. Chapter author. Maidenhead:

                         Open University Press

 2006                 Audience Ethnography. Media Audiences. Chapter author. Maidenhead:Open University Press

Research groups

NameTypeParent Unit
Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC)CentreFaculty of Social Sciences

Publications

A Migrant Archive: Chronicling Religious and Spiritual Experiences during the Pandemic 2020–23* (2024-09)
Gillespie, Marie
Journal of Religious History, 48(3) (pp. 333-342)

Understanding RT’s Audiences: Exposure Not Endorsement for Twitter Followers of Russian State-Sponsored Media (2022)
Crilley, Rhys; Gillespie, Marie; Vidgen, Bertie and Willis, Alistair
The International Journal of Press/Politics, 27(1) (pp. 220-242)

Shakespeare Lives on Twitter: cultural diplomacy in the digital age (2022)
Aslan Ozgul, Billur; Nieto McAvoy, Eva; Gillespie, Marie and O'Loughlin, Ben
International Journal of Cultural Policy, 28(2) (pp. 204-220)

Differentiated visibilities: RT Arabic’s narration of Russia’s role in the Syrian war (2021-12-01)
Dajani, Deena; Gillespie, Marie and Crilley, Rhys
Media, War & Conflict, 14(4) (pp. 437-458)

‘Russia isn’t a country of Putins!’: How RT bridged the credibility gap in Russian public diplomacy during the 2018 FIFA World Cup (2021)
Crilley, Rhys; Gillespie, Marie; Kazakov, Vitaly and Willis, Alistair
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 24(1) (pp. 136-152)

Tweeting the Russian revolution: RT’s #1917LIVE and social media re-enactments as public diplomacy (2020-06-01)
Crilley, Rhys; Gillespie, Marie and Willis, Alistair
European Journal of Cultural Studies, 23(3) (pp. 354-373)

The cultural politics of commemoration: Media and remembrance of the Russian revolutions of 1917 (2020-06-01)
Chatterje-Doody, Precious N and Gillespie, Marie
European Journal of Cultural Studies, 23(3) (pp. 305-314)

What to do about social media? Politics, populism and journalism (2018-12-19)
Crilley, Rhys and Gillespie, Marie
Journalism, 20(1) (pp. 173-176)

Syrian Refugees and the Digital Passage to Europe: Smartphone Infrastructures and Affordances (2018-01-01)
Gillespie, Marie; Osseiran, Souad and Cheesman, Margie
Social Media + Society, 4(1) (pp. 1-12)

Terrorism discourse on French international broadcasting: France 24 and the case of Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris (2016-10-01)
Połońska-Kimunguyi, Eva and Gillespie, Marie
European Journal of Communication, 31(5) (pp. 568-583)

European international broadcasting and Islamist terrorism in Africa: The case of Boko Haram on France 24 and Deutsche Welle (2016-08-03)
Połońska-Kimunguyi, Eva and Gillespie, Marie
International Communication Gazette, 79(3) (pp. 245-275)

Soft power and its audiences: Tweeting the Olympics from London 2012 to Sochi 2014 (2015-05)
Burchell, Kenzie; O’ Loughlin, Ben; Gillespie, Marie and Nieto McAvoy, Eva
Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 12(1) (pp. 413-437)

BBC Arabic, social media and citizen production: an experiment in digital democracy before the Arab Spring (2013-07)
Gillespie, Marie
Theory, Culture & Society, 30(4) (pp. 92-130)

Dissenting citizenship? Young people and political participation in the media-security nexus (2012)
O'Loughlin, Ben and Gillespie, Marie
Parliamentary Affairs, 65(1) (pp. 115-137)

Editorial, special issue on religion, media and social change (2011-12)
Herbert, David and Gillespie, Marie
European Journal of Cultural Studies, 14(6) (pp. 601-609)

Special issue editorial: Designs & devices: towards a genealogy of audience research methods at the BBC World Service, 1932-2011 (2011-05)
Gillespie, Marie; Mackay, Hugh and Webb, Alban
Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 8(1)

Designs & devices: towards a genealogy of audience research methods at the BBC World Service, 1932-2011 (2011-05)
Gillespie, Marie; Mackay, Hugh and Webb, Alban
Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 8(1) (pp. 1-20)

Shifting securities: news cultures, multicultural society and legitimacy (2010-06)
Gillespie, Marie; Gow, James; Hoskins, Andrew; O' Loughlin, Ben and žveržhanovski, Ivan
Ethnopolitics, 9(2) (pp. 239-253)

Shifting securities: theory, practice and methodology: a response to powers, croft and noble (2010-06)
Gillespie, Marie; Gow, James; Hoskins, Andrew; O'Loughlin, Ben and Žveržhanovsk, Ivan
Ethnopolitics, 9(2) (pp. 269-274)

Mapping digital diasporas @ BBC World Service: users and uses of the Persian and Arabic websites (2010-04)
Andersson, Matilda; Gillespie, Marie and Mackay, Hugh
Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, 3(2) (pp. 256-278)

Editorial The BBC World Service and the Middle East: comparisons, contrasts, conflicts (2010-04)
Sreberny, Annabelle; Gillespie, Marie and Baumann, Gerd
Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, 3(2) (pp. 129-136)

The Mumbai attacks and diasporic nationalism: BBC World Service online forums as conflict, contact and comfort zones (2010-03)
Gillespie, Marie; Herbert, David and Andersson, Matilda
South Asian Diaspora, 2(1) (pp. 109-129)

South Asian diaspora and the BBC World Service: contacts, conflicts and contestations (2010-03)
Gillespie, Marie; Pinkerton, Alasdair; Baumann, Gerd and Thiranagama, Sharika
South Asian Diaspora, 2(1) (pp. 3-25)

News media, threats and insecurities: an ethnographic approach (2009-12)
Gillespie, Marie and O'Loughlin, Ben
Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 22(4) (pp. 667-687)

'Anytime, anyplace, anywhere’: digital diasporas and the BBC World Service (2009-06)
Gillespie, Marie
Journalism, 10(3) (pp. 322-325)

Broadcasting britishness, strategic challenges and the ecology of overseas broadcasting by the BBC (2008-10)
Gillespie, Marie; Webb, Alban and Baumann, Gerd
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 28(4) (pp. 453-458)

Media, security and multicultural citizenship: a collaborative ethnography (2007-02)
Gillespie, Marie
European Journal of Cultural Studies, 10(3) (pp. 275-294)

Security, media, legitimacy: multi-ethnic media publics and the Iraq War 2003 (2006-12)
Gillespie, Marie
International Relations, 20(4) (pp. 467-486)

Transnational Television Audiences after September 11 (2006-08)
Gillespie, Marie
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32(6) (pp. 903-921)

Talking diasporas: diaspora dialogue (2002)
Cheesman, Tom and Gillespie, Marie
Index on Censorship, 31(3) (pp. 4-7)

The BBC’s Corporate Cosmopolitanism: The Diasporic Voice Between Empire and Cold War (2018-08-13)
Gillespie, Marie and Nieto McAvoy, Eva
In: Gusejnova, Dina ed. Cosmopolitanism in Conflict: Imperial Encounters from the Seven Years' War to the Cold War (pp. 179-209)
ISBN : 978-1-349-95274-8 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan

Globalization and the Mediatization of Religion: From Scandinavia to the World (2018-07)
Clark, Lynn Schofield and Gillespie, Marie
In: Lundby, Knut ed. Contesting Religion: The Media Dynamics of Cultural Conflicts in Scandinavia (pp. 315-332)
Publisher : De Gruyter | Published : Berlin

Refugee Waste: Death, Survival and Solidarity in Lesvos (2018-03-05)
Gillespie, Marie
In: Dodsworth,, Francis and Walford, Antonia eds. A World Laid Waste? Responding to the Social, Cultural and Political Consequences of Globalisation. Culture, Economy and the Social (CRESC) (pp. 147-170)
ISBN : 9781315276489 | Publisher : Routledge

Social media and political participation: BBC World Service and the Arabic Spring (2017-01-18)
Gillespie, Marie; Abdel Sattar, Nesrine and Lami, Mina
In: Manning, Nathan ed. Political (Dis)Engagement: The Changing Nature of the 'Political' (pp. 77-104)
ISBN : 978-1447317029 | Publisher : Policy Press | Published : Bristol

The Media-Security Nexus: Researching Ritualised Cycles of Insecurity (2016-11-10)
O'Loughlin, Ben and Gillespie, Marie
In: Robinson, Peirs; Sieb, Philip and Frohlich, Romy eds. Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security (pp. 51-67)
ISBN : 9780415712910 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : New York and Abingdon

Digital networks and Transformations in the International News Ecology: A Critique of Agent-centred Approaches to Soft Power (2016-11-03)
Gillespie, Marie and Nieto McAvoy, Eva
In: Chitty, Naren; Ji, Li; Rawnsley,, Gary D. and Hayden, Craig eds. The Routledge Handbook of Soft Power (pp. 203-219)
ISBN : 9781138945814 | Publisher : Routledge

Corporate cosmopolitanism: diasporas and diplomacy at the BBC World Service, 1932-2012 (2012-12-10)
Gillespie, Marie and Webb, Alban
In: Gillespie, Marie and Webb, Alban eds. Diasporas and Diplomacy: Cosmopolitanism Contact Zones at the BBC World Service (1932-2012). CRESC (pp. 1-20)
ISBN : 978-0-415-50880-3 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

Broadcasting ‘the State’: Tribe, Citizenship and the Politics of Radio Drama Production in Afghanistan (2011-04)
Skuse, Andrew and Gillespie, Marie
In: Skuse, Andrew; Gillespie, Marie and Power, Gerry eds. Drama for Development: Cultural Translation and Social Change
ISBN : 9788132105916 | Publisher : Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd | Published : Thousand Oaks, CA, U.S.

Gossiping for Change: Dramatising ‘Blood Debt’ in Afghanistan (2011-04)
Skuse, Andrew and Gillespie, Marie
In: Skuse, Andrew; Gillespie, Marie and Power, Gerry eds. Drama for Development: Cultural Translation and Social Change
ISBN : 9788132105916 | Publisher : Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd | Published : Thousand Oaks, CA, U.S.

Our ground zeros: diaspora, media, memory (2011)
Gillespie, Marie
In: Zelizer, Barbie and Allan, Stuart eds. Journalism After September 11 (2nd ed). Communications and Society (pp. 2252-271)
ISBN : 978-0-415-46015-6 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

Diasporic creativity: refugee intellectuals, exiled poets and corporate cosmpolitanism at the BBC World Service (2010)
Gillespie, Marie
In: Knott, K. and McLoughlin, S. eds. Diasporas: Concepts, Intersections, Identities (pp. 236-243)
Publisher : Zed Books | Published : London

Precarious citizenship: multiculturalism, media and social insecurity (2009-06-25)
Gillespie, Marie and O'Loughlin, Ben
In: Noxolo, Pat and Huysmans, Jef eds. Community, Citizenship and the War on Terror: Security and Insecurity (pp. 89-112)
ISBN : 9780230201217 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan

“L’umorismo reconquistato”: la comedia televisiva anglo-asiatica (2006)
Gillespie, Marie
In: Bodo, Simona and Cifarelli, Maria eds. Quando la Cultura fa la Differenza: Patrimonia, Arti e Media nella Sociata Multiculturale (pp. 156-175)
ISBN : 978-88-8353-486-7 | Publisher : Meltemi | Published : Rome

Consuming Crime and Avoiding Punishment: Media Influence in the Shaping of Public Perceptions of Crime and Sentencing (2005)
Gillespie, Marie and McLaughlin, Eugene
In: Emsley, Clive ed. The Persistent Prison: Problems, Images and Alternatives (pp. 113-143)
ISBN : 190342724X | Publisher : Francis Bootle Publications | Published : London, UK

From Comic Asians to Asian Comics: 'Goodness Gracious Me', British Television Comedy and representations of Ethnicity (2003-03)
Gillespie, Marie
In: Scriven, Michael and Roberts, Emily eds. Group Identities on French and British Television (pp. 93-107)
ISBN : 1 57181-793-X | Publisher : Berghahn Books | Published : Oxford, UK

Diasporas and Diplomacy: Cosmopolitan Contact Zones at the BBC World Service (1932-2012) (2012-12-10)
Gillespie, Marie and Webb, Alban eds.
Culture, Economy and the Social
ISBN : 978-0-415-50880-3 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

Tales From Bush House (2012-07-13)
Ismailov, Hamid; Gillespie, Marie and Aslanyan, Anna eds.
ISBN : 978-0-9557549-7-5 | Publisher : Hertfordshire Press | Published : London

Drama for Development: Cultural Translation and Social Change (2011-05)
Skuse, Andrew; Gillespie, Marie and Power, Gerry eds.
ISBN : 9788132105916 | Publisher : Sage

Analysing Media Texts (2006)
Gillespie, Marie and Toynbee, Jason eds.
Understanding Media
ISBN : 335218865 | Publisher : Open University Press | Published : Maidenhead

Examining transitions to distance and online higher education with students from refugee backgrounds (2023-09)
Charitonos, K.; Gillespie, M.; Dancu, L.; O'Malley, O.; Al-Rashid, A.; Martin, S.; Wilding, C.; Graffin, N.; Mutwarasibo, F. and Babjak, M.
In : BERA 2023 Conference (12-14 Sep 2023, Birmingham, UK)

Rethinking Models of Evaluation: Sustainability as the Goal of International Cultural Organisations (2016-06-15)
Bell, Simon; Gillespie, Marie and Wilding, Colin
In : International Sustainable Development Research Conference (13-15 Jul 2016, Lisbon, Portugal)

Researching transitions to distance higher education with students from refugee backgrounds: A case from the Sanctuary programme at the Open University (2023-11)
Charitonos, Koula; Gillespie, Marie; Graffin, Neil; Wilding, Colin; O'Malley, Olwyn; Al-Rashid, Ahmad; Martin, Shannon; Mutwarasibo, Fidèle; Babjak, Mahlea and Dancu, Lidia
The Open University

Understanding the Changing Cultural Value of the BBC World Service and the British Council (2014-07)
Gillespie, Marie; Bell, Simon; Wilding, Colin; Webb, Alban; Fisher, Ali; Voss, Alex; Smith, Andrew W. M.; Macfarlane, Jess; Martin, Nat; Foster, Tot and Lvov, Ilia
Arts and Humanities Research Council, Swindon.

Social Media and BBC Arabic: A case study of ‘Nuqtat Hewar’ (2012-06)
Abdel Sattar, Nesrine; Gillespie, Marie; Lami, Mina; Sayed, Nermeen and Wissam, Maryam
The Open University, Milton Keynes.

BBC World Service Audience Research, 1932-2011 (2011-05)
Webb, Alban; Gillespie, Marie and Mackay, Hugh
Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies

Transcultural journalism and the politics of translation: Interrogating the BBC World Service (2011-02)
Baumann, Gerd; Gillespie, Marie and Sreberny, Annabelle
Sage

Career trajectories at the BBC World Service: managing diversity. Confidential report for the BBC World Service (2010-05)
Denselow, Jadzia; Taussig, Andrew and Gillespie, Marie
The Open University & BBC World Service

The BBC and the Middle East (SPECIAL ISSUE of the Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication) (2010)
Sreberny, Annabelle; Gillespie, Marie and Baumann, Gerd eds
Brill, Leiden.

Pakistan connection: diasporas at the BBC World Service (2009)
Gillespie, Marie; Rizvi, Sadaf; Andersson, Matilda; Michael, Lucy and West, Sophie
Open University & BBC World Service Confidential Report

The BBC World Service, 1932-2007: Cultural Exchange and Public Diplomacy (SPECIAL ISSUE of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television) (2008)
Gillespie, Marie; Webb, Alban and Baumann, Gerd eds
Taylor & Francis, Abingdon.

Tuning in: researching diasporas at the BBC World Service (2008)
Gillespie, Marie and Webb, Alban
The Open University

Media Cultures in India and the South Asian Diaspora (2002)
Gillespie, Marie and Cheesman, Tom
Routledge, London, U.K..