Alex Bevan

Dr. Alex Bevan is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Communication and Arts within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Queensland. Originally from the United States, Dr. Bevan has been lecturing at UQ since 2017. They also hold affiliate positions at both the Centre for Digital Cultures & Societies and the Research Centre in Creative Arts and Human Flourishing.

Dr. Bevan teaches Multimedia and Digital Project courses in the Bachelor of Communications program, with a focus on embedding critical perspectives on media into creative and collaborative design and production processes. Their academic journey includes a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, a Master's degree from Northwestern University, and a PhD from Northwestern University.

Research Interests

Dr. Bevan's research spans multiple interconnected areas at the intersection of media, gender, and technology. Their work critically examines how media representations shape societal understandings of safety, gender, and violence. Key research areas include:

• Television studies with a focus on nostalgia, production design, and gender representation
• Surveillance culture and its manifestations in architecture, media, and everyday life
• Gender studies with particular attention to women's bodies, safety technologies, and media narratives
• Digital media studies focusing on affective labor, safety apps, and online connection during crises
• Creative production processes across media industries and historical periods

Dr. Bevan's influential book "The Aesthetics of TV Nostalgia" (Bloomsbury, 2019) examines the people designing sets and costumes for nostalgic US television programs. Their research demonstrates how media representations of violence against women create problematic binaries between domestic and stranger violence, which hinder public attention, intervention, and policy development. They argue that media narratives repeatedly construct ideas about what spaces are safe, how women's movements should be trackable with technology, and who is at fault or responsible.

Scientific Contributions

Dr. Bevan's work has been published in leading journals including Convergence, Celebrity Studies, Feminist Media Studies, Body and Society, and Surveillance & Society. Recent publications focus on safety app discourse, affective labor, anti-rape technologies, and the representation of gender-based violence in media. Their research shows a clear trajectory from historical media analysis toward contemporary digital safety technologies and their societal implications.

Supervision and Collaboration

While currently not available for new supervision, Dr. Bevan has served as an Associate Advisor for PhD and Master's students. Current supervision includes research on augmented reality and Le Corbusier's design media. A recent PhD completion (2024) examined "Diffusion of New Media and Public Service Broadcasting" in Bangladesh.

Dr. Bevan welcomes collaborations with industry, non-profit organizations, and government bodies that prioritize safety in their work, particularly those addressing gender-based violence and media representation.