Caroline Leicht

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton. My research is at the intersection of gender, media and politics. I am particularly interested in gendered representations of political actors in the media, both during campaigns and in normal times. In my PhD project, I examine gendered representations of US presidential candidates in political comedy as well as related audience effects.

I currently serve as the Communications Officer of the Political Studies Association Early Career Network, and am a PhD Affiliate of the Centre for Data, Culture and Society at the University of Edinburgh.

Prior to joining the University of Southampton, I received my MA in International Relations and Security from the University of Liverpool and my BA in North American Studies from the Free University of Berlin, Germany. During my undergraduate studies, I was a visiting student at New York University and at the University of California, Los Angeles.

My research has been published in Political Studies Review and I am a frequent contributor to academic blogs. Outside of academia, I have worked as an editor and reporter in print, online and television journalism. Most recently, I covered elections in the US (2020), in the UK (2019) and in Germany (2017 and 2021).