Simon Ličen is an associate professor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications who primarily studies sports journalism and sports broadcasting in national and international contexts.
Ličen’s journal articles have been published in Communication & Sport, European Journal of Communication, Mass Communication and Society, African Journalism Studies, and International Review for the Sociology of Sport, among others. He has been interviewed by or quoted in media outlets in the United States, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Italy, Serbia, Estonia and Ukraine.
Prior to joining Penn State, Ličen worked in the sport management program at Washington State University, including directing the unit between 2018 and 2023, and at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). Between 2015 and 2019, he was a visiting lecturer at Beijing Sport University (China) where he taught a course in sports journalism. He was a member of the UNESCO Slovenian National Commission between 2010-2014, and in 2022, he was named senior research fellow of the Center for International Sport Communication and Diplomacy Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University in China.
Ličen’s scholarly work is informed by his professional experiences in media and sport industries. He worked in Slovenian and Italian-language television, local radio and spent five years as a correspondent for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). He was director of communications for a WTA Tour (women’s professional tennis) event, and held various other roles in basketball, disability sport, running and track and field. He maintains contact with reporters, editors and media and sport professionals in several countries, and attended the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
