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Staff Profile

Dr Clifton Evers

Senior Lecturer in Media & Cultural Studies

  • Address: Media, Culture, Heritage
    Room 2.77
    2nd floor Armstrong Building,
    Newcastle University,
    Newcastle upon Tyne,
    Tyne and Wear, UK.
    NE1 7RU
Background

Research Interests and Practice

Men and masculinities, action/lifestyle sports and leisure, pollution and environment, blue spaces, just transitions, arts-based methods, ethnography


Education

BA Cultural Studies, Philosophy (1st class Honours) Griffith University, Australia.

PhD Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney, Australia

Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. Fellow of Advance HE


Biography

In 2015, I became a part of Newcastle University's Media, Culture, Heritage unit. I am the Postgraduate Research Director in the School of Arts and Cultures and have previously been the Director of the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion committee for the same school. Currently, I am involved in the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Athena Swan silver accreditation efforts. Additionally, I oversee the Media Culture Heritage unit PARTNERS program, which is an assisted entry program aimed at increasing participation of disadvantaged young people in higher education.


I am on the editorial and editorial advisory boards for academic journals such as:

Leisure Studies,

Journal of Bodies, Sexualities, and Masculinities

Journal for Sport & Social Issues

International Journal of Cultural Studies

Altitude: an e-journal for emerging humanities research.


My research has been widely published in reputable journals including Leisure Sciences, Cultural Studies Review, Environment and Planning E, Social & Cultural Geography, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, and Leisure Studies, among others. Furthermore, my expertise has been sought out by many prestigious publications, as I have reviewed articles for numerous journals such as Men and Masculinities, Gender Place and Culture, Communication and Sport, Human Relations, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, and History of Sport.


I curate research exhibitions, create award-winning arts-based research method outputs (e.g., textile, film, sound, performance art), and appear in documentaries.


My current and recent research projects are a testament to my commitment to studying topics that have significant implications for society.


I am currently part of several projects, including "The First Fossil free Welfare State? Swedish Petro-Dreams, Resistances, and Coastal Transformations," which examines the challenges and opportunities of transitioning to a sustainable, fossil-free society. I am also part of "Age of Extinction: Anglophone narratives of personal and planetary degradation (2000-2020)," which explores how literature and media mingle with our perceptions of environmental degradation and climate change. Another project, "Polluted Leisure," delves into the entanglement of pollution and leisure/recreation activities and how we can promote learn from people’s everyday experience of this to work toward better future(s). Additionally, I am proud to be part of the SSHRED project which is looking at the mix of skating, sustainability, health and well-being, and environmental development. I am also involved in the "Northeast coastal community resilience: a just transition from industrial heritage to a low carbon future" project, which aims to help coastal communities transition to a low-carbon future in a way that is equitable and just. I recently completed the project "Temperature life histories: Experiencing a changing climate through stories, poetry and data," funded by the prestigious Brigstow Institute, that brought together collaborators from University of Bristol, Newcastle University, Bristol Museums, and Windmill Hill City Farms to explore the personal and collective experiences of climate change through a range of artistic and scientific perspectives. I was part of the international advisory committee of the project 'Crushed But Okay', which concluded in 2022 and was funded by the Alannah & Madeline Foundation's eSafety Online Safety Grants Program and supported by the Australian Government's 'Improve Your Play' initiative. The resource was released in April 2022 on Instagram's IGTV and won the Swinburne University Vice Chancellor impact award.


Currently, I am a member of several influential networks, including HEAL (Health, Environment, Arts and Literature) led by Oviedo University and the Newcastle University Climate and Resilience NuCore network; and SolasArts - an Arts Education Platform which is ecologically centred. Additionally, I am proud to be part of The Shadow Places Network, an international collaboration of artists, academics, and activists committed to creating connections for justice in an era of climate change. As a member of the Surf & Nature Alliance, I can contribute to the conservation of the marine environment and the development of ocean science and literacy.


I am passionate about making research meaningful and valuable to society, and I achieve this through active civic engagement. My extensive experience includes contributions to esteemed news outlets like Le Monde, Arte, BBC, Sydney Morning Herald, and The Conversation demonstrate my commitment to bringing important ideas to a wider audience.


I bring a wealth of international experience to my academic career. As a former lecturer in media and cultural studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, and Deputy Director of the Institute for Creative and Digital Cultures, I gained a deep understanding of the global academic landscape and developed a nuanced perspective on issues related to media and cultural studies. Additionally, my time as a postdoctoral fellow at the prestigious Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of New South Wales and Research Fellow at University of Sydney in Australia allowed me to further hone my research and teaching skills while also expanding my professional network.



Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

MCH1026 Introduction to Social & Cultural Studies

MCH2075 Representations: Identity, Culture & Society

MCH2069 Research Methods

MCH3074 Critical Approaches to Media, Communication and Culture

MCH3073 Research Dissertation

MCH2069 Research Methods

MCH3072 Research Dissertation


Postgraduate Taught

MCH8199 Research Dissertation


Postgraduate Research Supervision

I welcome postgraduate researchers who want to work in any of the areas relating to my research:

  • Gender, particularly men and masculinities
  • Sport, leisure, recreation (particularly action / lifestyle / extreme sports)
  • Culture and pollution 
  • Cultural studies
  • Mobile media
  • Arts-based methods
  • Blue spaces
Research

Current Research Projects

  • The First Fossil free Welfare State? Swedish Petro-Dreams, Resistances, and Coastal Transformations.
  • Age of Extinction: Anglophone narratives of personal and planetary degradation (2000-2020) 
  • Polluted Leisure
  • SSHRED: skating, sustainability, health, and environmental development.
  • Northeast coastal community resilience: a just transition from industrial heritage to a low carbon future

Previous

  • Temperature life histories: Experiencing a changing climate through stories, poetry and data. Funded by the Brigstow Institute. Collaborators from University of Bristol, Newcastle University, Bristol Museums, and Windmill Hill City Farms
  • Shadow Places Network (a collaboration between Deakin University, Linkoping University, Macquarie University)
  • Social Cohesion through Football. 
  • Peer-Based Mentoring in Sport: Strategies for Best Practice. 
  • Safer Sex Beliefs and Practices in Multi-Partner Heterosexuals. 
  • Using New Media Cultures to Provide Sexual Health Information for Young Australians.
  • Respectful Relationships in the National Rugby League. 
  • Towards a Level Playing Field: Research and Evaluation of the Portrayal of Female Athletes and Women in Sport by the Media. 
  • Strategies for Building and Sustaining Respect in New South Wales Public High Schools. 
  • Sportswomen: Get Out in Front. 


Publications

  • Artefacts

    • Evers C. Switch. Lysekil Sweden: Folkets Hus, 2023.
    • Evers C. Raff (Grit/Gritty). Lysekil Sweden: Folkets Hus, 2023.
    • Evers C, Devlin R. Matsmältning (gastric mill). Lysekil Sweden: Folkets Hus, 2023.
    • Evers C. I färg (In Colour). Lysekil Sweden: Folkets Hus, 2023.
    • Evers C, Hogberg H, Cairns P. En dans för henne (A Dance for Her). Lysekil Sweden: Folkets Hus, 2023.
    • Evers C. A banner for Wallsend. Tynemouth, North Tyneside: Bridge Gallery, 2023.
    • Evers C. A banner for Lysekil. Lysekil Sweden: Folkets Hus, 2023.
    • Evers C. A Banner for Luleå. Lysekil Sweden: Folkets Hus, 2023.
    • Evers C, Davoll J. Listening to Hope. Headway Arts and the RePUBlic Gallery, Blyth: Shadow Places Network, 2021.
    • Evers C. Infographic. Headway Arts and the RePUBlic Gallery, Blyth: Shadow Places Network, 2021.

  • Articles

  • Authored Book

    • Evers C. Notes For a Young Surfer. Melbourne Australia: Melbourne University Press, 2010.

  • Book Chapters

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Evers C. Using arts-based research methods to explore low-carbon industrial transitions in Sweden. In: Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference. 2023, Imperial College, London.
    • Evers C. Sink or swim: A wet ethnography of men and polluted leisure in post-industrial blue spaces. In: Surviving The Anthropocene: Towards Elemental Literacy And Inter-Disciplinary Partnerships. 2023, University of Iceland, Iceland.
    • Evers C. Sex, New Media and Young Men”, SexoGoteborg: 19th World Congress for Sexual Health. In: SexoGoteborg: 19th World Congress for Sexual Health. 2023, Gothenburg University, Sweden.
    • Evers C. Polluted Leisure, Memory, and Resigned Activism. In: Communities and Change: Seventh Annual Meeting of the Memory Studies Association (MSA). 2023, Newcastle University.
    • Doering A, Evers C. Fukushima’s “contaminated” seas: Life, leisure and tourism in the wake disaster. In: ASA18 Sociality, matter, and the imagination, Association of Social Anthropologists. 2023, Oxford University.
    • Evers C. Being-In-The-Zone, Mediated Surfing Bodies and the GoPro Camera. In: Sport and Being in the Zone. 2023, University of Brighton.
    • Evers C. Love, Polluted Leisure, and Shadow Places. In: Leisure Studies Association Annual Conference. 2022.
    • Evers C. Polluted Leisure in the AnthropOcean. In: Leisure Studies Annual Conference. 2019, Abertay University, Scotland.
    • Evers C. Polluted Leisure. In: Congresso da Associação Portuguesa de Antropologia. 2019, Lisboa University, Portugal.
    • Evers C. Strike Mission! Assemblages of Mobile Media, Masculinity, Weather, Emotional Labour, and Surfing. 2018, Prague.
    • Evers C. Caring the the Seas. In: Sustaining the Seas. 2017, University of Sydney.
    • Evers C. Assemblages of media technologies and leisure. In: Leisure Studies Annual Conference. 2017, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds.
    • Evers C. Hegemonic Australian masculinity and mobile media in Shanghai, China: Listening and learning from mobility and feeling ethnic. In: Feeling ethnic. 2014, Hong Kong Baptist University.
    • Evers C. Becoming-Tricycle: Informal urban street markets, ambiances and assemblages in Shanghai, China. In: 10th Crossroad in Cultural Studies Conference. 2014, Tampere University, Finland.
    • Evers C. A methodology of ‘becoming-tricycle’ and psychogeography when studying urban space in Shanghai, China. In: Wandering Scholars. 2014, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
    • Evers C. The National Rugby League and an Ethical Sexual Education. In: Onscenity. 2012, Brunel University, London, United Kingdom.
    • Evers C. Mobile Phones, Men and Migration. In: Association of Cultural Studies Crossroads Conference. 2012, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris, France.
    • Evers C. Creativity, Social Media, Mobile Technologies and Sexual Health. In: New Media and Cultural Transformation: Film, TV, Game, and Digital Communication. 2012, Shanghai University, China.
    • Evers C. The Ethics of Informed Consent: Lessons and Challenges in Working with Young Refugees in Sydney. In: Refugee Conference. 2011, Centre for Refugee Research, University of New South Wales, Australia.
    • Evers C. Football United: Research with Young Refugees in High Schools and Intensive English Centres: Doing Qualitative Research in Difficult Contexts. In: Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine. 2011, University of Sydney, Australia.
    • Evers C. The Point: Surfing, Geography and a Sensual Life of Young Men and Masculinity on the Gold Coast, Australia. In: Emotional Geographies. 2010, University of South Australia, Australia.
    • Evers C. Promoting Social Cohesion Through Sport. In: International Conference on Sport and Society. 2010, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
    • Evers C. Intimacy, Sport and Young Refugee Men in Sydney, Australia. In: Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference. 2010, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
    • Evers C. Indolicious: Surfing, Place and Methodology in Bali. In: Food For Thought. 2010, Australian Studies Centre, University of Barcelona.
    • Evers C. Employing Working Class Men as Allies to Prevent Violence Against Women: The Case of the National Rugby League. In: Conference for the Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Program. 2010, University of New South Wales.
    • Evers C. Refugee Men and Mobile Phone Use in Australia. In: Gender, Media and Public Space. 2009, Coimbra University, Portugal.
    • Evers C. Sex Wax: Surfing, Boys, Young men: Sexual Ethics and Sex Education. In: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Conference. 2007, Shanghai University, China.
    • Evers C. Football United and the Style of Inclusion and Cohesion. In: Cultural Studies Association of Cultural Studies Annual Conference. 2007, University of South Australia, Australia.
    • Evers C. Locals Only!. In: Everyday Multiculturalism. 2006, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
    • Evers C. Care, Tsunami, and Masculinity. In: Cultural Studies of Australasia Annual Conference. 2005, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
    • Evers C. Affects, Research and The Boys. In: Everyday Transformations, Cultural Studies of Australasia Annual Conference. 2004, Murdoch University, Australia.
    • Evers C. Ethnography and Surfing. In: Cultural Studies of Australasia Annual Conference. 2003, Canterbury University, New Zealand.
    • Evers C. Surfing and Masculinity. In: On the Beach, Cultural Studies Association of Australasia Annual Conference. 2000, University of Queensland, Australia.

  • Creative Writing

    • Evers C. Becoming pollution. Backwa.sh Magazine 2018. Backwa.sh Magazine.

  • Design

  • Digital or Visual Media

    • Evers CW, Davoll J. Pollution. Macquarie University, 2020.
    • Evers C, Davoll J. Far From Heaven. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice, 2018. Short film.
    • Evers C, Davoll J. A Toxic Love Affair. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice, 2018. Short Film.

  • Edited Book

  • Exhibitions

  • Online Publications

    • Evers C. Surfing and Sustaining the Sea. University of Sydney, Australia: Sydney Environment Institute, 2018. Available at: http://sydney.edu.au/environment-institute/blog/surfers-sustaining-seas/.
    • Evers C. Why adding surfing to the Olympic Games is bad news for surfers. Huck Magazine, 2016. Available at: https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/surf-olympics-bad-idea/.
    • Evers C. Local-engagement, Growth, and Surf Culture in China: The Hainan Open. Swellnet, 2014. Available at: https://www.swellnet.com/news/surfpolitik/2014/11/20/hainan-open-local-engagement-growth-and-surf-culture-china.
    • Evers C. The Society of the Spectacle: The Association of Surfing Professionals and Corporations. Kurungabaa: A journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea, 2013. Available at: https://kurungabaa.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/a-provocation-detonate-surfing-as-marketing/.
    • Evers C. At Jaileshuei. Kurungabaa: A journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea 4(2), 2013. Available at: https://kurungabaa.wordpress.com/.
    • Evers C. The Growth of Surfing in China: At what cost?. The Inertia, 2012. Available at: http://www.theinertia.com/business-media/growth-of-surfing-in-china-at-what-cost/.
    • Evers C. Grommets in Wonderland: To be Young and Free in Taiwan. Swellnet, 2011. Available at: http://www.swellnet.com.au/news/2433-grommets-in-wonderland-alternative-title-to-be-young-and-free-in-taiwan.
    • Evers C. Wigs Keep Out: On New Zealand, Sea Rights and Surfing. Kurungabaa: A journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea 2(2): Kurungabaa: A journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea 2(2), 2010.
    • Evers C. Queer waves. The Inertia, 2010. Available at: https://www.theinertia.com/business-media/queer-waves/.
    • Evers C. New Stories or Old Ones. The Inertia: The Inertia, 2010. Available at: http://www.theinertia.com/surf/new-stories-or-old-ones/.
    • Evers C. Masculinity, Masculinities, and/or ‘Masculinity as Style. Men and Feminism: Men and Feminism, 2010. Available at: http://mfeminism.com.
    • Evers C. Shark Island Pits and the Cronulla Race Riot. Kurungabaa: A journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea 2(1): Kurungabaa: A journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea 2(1), 2009.
    • Evers C. Trust or Fear?. Kurungabaa: A journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea 1(3): Kurungabaa: A journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea 1(3), 2008.
    • Evers C. False prophets of surfing bastardise our beaches. Sydney, Australia: Sydney Morning Herald, 2007. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/national/false-prophets-of-surfing-bastardise-our-beaches-20070313-gdpnse.html.
    • Evers C. Australia Day - kiss the flag. Australia: On Line Opinion, 2007. Available at: https://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5434.
    • Evers C. Where the other fears to tread. Sydney Australia: Sydney Morning Herald, 2005. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/national/where-the-other-fears-to-tread-20051213-gdmmdw.html.

  • Performance

  • Reports

  • Reviews