Brent Luvaas

Brent Luvaas is Professor of Global Studies and Modern Languages at Drexel University, affiliated with the Center for Science, Technology and Society. Holding a PhD in Anthropology from UCLA (2009) and a BA from UC Santa Cruz (1998), his research examines digital technology's impact on visual culture, urban environments, and creative practices. He teaches courses in global media, popular culture, and digital ethnography.

Research interests span visual anthropology, autoethnography, digital culture, Southeast Asian urbanism, fashion studies, and photography. His work critically engages with technology-mediated human experience, particularly in Indonesian contexts, blending ethnographic methods with visual practice.

Publication trends reveal sustained focus on: ethnographic photography methodologies, Indonesian cultural production, fashion blogging, autoethnographic reflexivity, sensory urbanism, and pandemic-era domesticity. Recent works analyze visual mediation in social distancing and light perception in urban spaces.

Scientific Awards:

• John Collier Jr. Award for Still Photography (2019) for Street Style: An Ethnography of Fashion Blogging

As faculty in Drexel's Communication, Culture, and Media PhD program, Luvaas mentors graduate researchers but no specific advisees are listed. No grant information is documented.