Rate My Professor Neil Ewen

Neil Ewen is an Associate Professor of Media, Communications and Culture in the Department of Communications, Drama and Film at the University of Exeter, part of the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. He serves as Subject Lead for Communications and Deputy Head of the Department. Ewen has extensive teaching experience across UK higher education institutions, having previously held positions at the University of Winchester, where he was Senior Lecturer from 2017 to 2021, as well as at the universities of Portsmouth, Southampton, and East Anglia. He leads modules on the MA Media and Communications programme and supervises PhD students on topics including digital migration, identity formation, digital leisure in the Global South, and political satire in Britain.

Ewen's research interests lie in the politics of contemporary media and culture, including celebrity studies, sport, political cultures and communication, and pre-internet media nostalgia. His key publications include the edited volume Capitalism, Crime and Media in the 21st Century (2021), and the co-edited book First Comes Love: Power Couples, Celebrity Chemistry and the Media. Peer-reviewed articles feature 'Talk to Each Other Like It's 1995': Mapping Nostalgia for the 1990s in Contemporary Media Culture (Television & New Media, 2020), 'National populists: Right-wing celebrity politicians in contemporary Europe' (Celebrity Studies, 2020), 'Cultural report: black lives matter and celebrity' (Celebrity Studies, 2022), 'Chinese celebrity and the pandemic: introduction' (Celebrity Studies, 2024), and 'Chinese celebrity and Wanghong economy: diversification, motivation and capitalisation' (Celebrity Studies, 2025). In October 2023, he received a national award from MeCCSA recognising his expertise in consumer behaviour and communications. Ewen is the Cultural Report section editor for Celebrity Studies journal and has served as an academic assessor for degree validations at the University of Winchester.