Simon Licen speaking at the Mentor of the Year award ceremony, 2009
Simon Ličen (pron. LEE-chen) is a researcher, lecturer and author in the fields of media, communication and sports.
His work spans across fields and continents and specializes in journalism and broadcasting (in sport and beyond), as well as sport management. His research includes critical media and discourse analysis, the negotiation of identity through the media, and sport and media in international contexts. He has additional research experience in sociology, kinesiology, and policy studies.
After graduating in journalism at the Faculty (School) of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana in 2005, Simon pursued a graduate degree. He defended his doctoral dissertation titled Telecasting Sports: Sports Broadcasts on Slovenian Public Television at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana in 2011.
Simon’s full-time academic appointments include stints as early-stage researcher and lecturer in sports and media at the Faculty of Sport in Ljubljana (2005-2010), and a current appointment as assistant professor in sport management at Washington State University. In Summer 2015, we was invited visiting lecturer in sport journalism at Beijing Sport University in Beijing, China.
Additional professional experience includes managing and eventually directing media and communication activities of Banka Koper Slovenia Open, a WTA Tour professional tennis event, between 2005 and 2010. Sport policy and governance experience derives from serving as Director of Sport Programs at the municipal Office of Sport in Medvode in Slovenia. Simon was also involved in various positions of responsibility with a number of sports events and organizations including the U-20 European Basketball Championship for men in Slovenia and Italy in 2007, and multiple editions of the Ljubljana Marathon. For over a decade, he also refereed basketball at the youth, professional, and wheelchair levels; his officiating legacy involves several manuals and other educational materials.
Direct professional knowledge of the media industry derives from a number of collaborations including 24ur, a national TV news show in Slovenia, FIBA.com, a specialized international website, and Radio Tartini, a local radio station.
Simon held over 80 lectures, seminars, and workshops for a variety of professional institutions and organizations including TV Slovenija, Slovenian Olympic Committee, Basketball Federation of Slovenia, Institute for Fair Play and Tolerance in Sport, Slovenian PR Society, I Came to Play, City Office for Sport in Ljubljana, and many others. He is fluent in Slovenian, Italian, English, Croat, and Serbian, and was quoted by media in the English, Estonian, Italian, Serbian, Slovenian, and Ukrainian languages.
He sits on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Communication and Sport and on the editorial boards of the Sociology of Sport Journal and of the Journal of ALESDE. Between 2010 and 2013, he was member of the UNESCO Slovenian National Commission.
In his free time, Simon likes to read, listen to music, engage in sports (especially running, basketball, and cycling), travel, and become acquainted with new cultures.
A full Faculty CV (updated in March 2022) can be downloaded here.