School of Law

LLB (University of Warwick); LLM (University of Western Australia); PhD (Keele); Barrister.

Professor Sharpe joined Keele in 2004. Prior to her appointment at Keele she taught and researched at Macquarie University, the University of Sydney, the University of Western Australia, the University of East London and the LSE. She has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Sydney, McGill University, Montreal and Lund University, Sweden.

Professor Sharpe’s primary research interests lie in the areas of Social and Legal Theory, Legal History, and Gender, Sexuality and the Law. She is the author of  Foucault’s Monsters and the Challenge of Law (London: Routledge, 2010) and Transgender Jurisprudence: Dysphoric Bodies of Law (London: Cavendish, 2002).

Her study of transgender and the law is the first book-length critical treatment of the subject area. In her most recent book, Foucault’s Monsters, she develops her interest in law’s production of outsiders by providing a theoretical and historical analysis of the legal category monster.

Alex is happy to supervise postgraduate research students in the areas of Social and Legal Theory and Gender, Sexuality and the Law. She would especially like to supervise PhD students keen to explore medico-legal issues surrounding transgender/Intersex. A variety of PhD funding possibilities are available at Keele. 

Undergraduate:

Crime 1 (Compulsory Module)
Crime 2 (Compulsory Module)
Crime 3 (Elective Module - Module Leader)
Gender, Sexuality & Law (Elective Module - Module Leader)

Postgraduate:

LLM Gender, Sexuality and Law
MA Human Rights, Globalisation and Justice
MA Medical Ethics and Law
MRes Social Science Research Methods in Law
MA Safeguarding Adults: Law, Policy & Practice
MA Child Care Law and Practice
LLM Law and Society

Academic referee for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Member of the International Legal Committee of WPATH (World Professional Association of Transgender Health).

Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Transgenderism.

Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Sexualities, Gender and Justice.

Member of the Centre for Law, Gender & Sexuality.

Associate Member of the Research Centre for Somatechnics. 

Member of the Socio-Legal Studies Association.

Consultant to government bodies, NGOs and law firms concerning transgender legal issues.