Gillian Bolsover

Biography

Gillian Bolsover is a Lecturer in Politics and Media in the School of Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds in the UK. She researches the effects of commercialisation, globalization, and new media and communication technologies on politics and civil society, with a particular emphasis on the USA and China (both individually and in comparison). I specialize in mixed-methods and innovative research designs, from cutting-edge big data and computational social science techniques (such as network analysis, natural language processing and data visualization) to discourse analysis and photographic ethnography.

Before joining the University of Leeds, I was based at the University of Oxford's, Oxford Internet Institute – first as a DPhil (PhD) student, then as a researcher and later research associate. As a postdoctoral researcher on the project on computational propaganda, research I was involved in was crucial in raising awareness about the effects of bots, algorithms, misinformation and other forms of automated online political opinion manipulation in recent political events in the USA, France and China. This research won the members of the project the W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award by the United States National Democratic Institute in November 2017. As part of this position, I spoke to high-profile policymaking audiences at the NATO-Georgia Public Diplomacy Forum, a workshop for Ministry of Defence and other state employees in Singapore, and to members of the Australian High Commission during their European tour.