Dr Alice Watson

Lecturer in Human Geography

Contact

Email alice.watson@sjc.ox.ac.uk

Biography

I am a cultural and political geographer with interests in media and popular culture, critical and popular geopolitics, radio and sonic geographies, and migration, displacement, and borders. I am currently a Lecturer in Human Geography at St John’s College and a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Geography and the Environment (SoGE).

Prior to joining St John’s, I was a Lecturer in Human Geography at St Peter’s College and an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow in SoGE. I completed my DPhil in Geography at the University of Oxford and also hold an MA in Geography from the University of St Andrews and an MSc in Migration Studies from the University of Oxford.

Teaching

I teach undergraduate students core courses across the Human Geography degree. This includes Prelims Human Geography, Geographical Controversies, and Geographical Techniques for first year students, and FHS Space, Place and Society, Environmental Geography, and Geographical Thought for second year students. I also supervise third year dissertations in Human Geography.

Research Interests

My research is situated at the intersection of cultural and political geography and critically explores the role of media and popular culture in shaping geographical imaginations around the urgent stories of our times. I study the power of media to frame people and places, communicate geopolitical events and ideas, and influence how audiences imagine, understand, and participate in the world.

To date, I have focused on contemporary BBC radio broadcasting as an understudied space of knowledge production with the power to shape geopolitical imaginations around migration and displacement. I have analysed Radio 4’s journalistic storytelling on forced migration to, and refugee settlement in, Europe across its news, current affairs, and cultural programming and reflected on the structures of production and journalistic practices at the BBC which shape the discourses, imaginaries, and soundscapes broadcast on air. My work advances previous research on written and visual representations of migration by attending to sounds and voices of displacement, and revealing how radio regulates fields of perceptibility, recognition, and relatability between listeners and refugees. Engaging with audiences has enabled me to illuminate how radio broadcasts are differentially heard, interpreted, and imagined, and operate in affective and experiential, as well as discursive and imaginative, registers. Most recently, I have considered podcasts as popular sites of cultural and political commentary and debate, and reflected on the utility of mobile methods to capture everyday geographies of listening.

I am passionate about public engagement and committed to undertaking innovative and impactful research. I am currently working with the BBC on a public engagement project exploring cultural geographies of Call the Midwife fandom. In line with recent disciplinary interest in practices, the onward circulation of media, and geographies of creativity, we are investigating how fans engage with, and express their passion for, Call the Midwife beyond simply watching the drama - taking part in creative activities which expand the traditional site of audience reception and intersect with important social, cultural, and political themes. We will be co-producing a BBC video series delving deeper into the significance of, and motivations behind, these creative activities and capturing the meaningful and inspirational directions in which fans ultimately take the programme.

This builds on our previous AHRC-funded project for the BBC centenary in 2022 in which we co-produced a 28-part podcast series illuminating the cultural impact of Call the Midwife, which dramatises Britain’s post-war medical and social history and excavates human experiences from the cradle to grave. By recording audience members from across the UK who remembered, had experienced, or been affected by Call the Midwife’s storylines - from adoption and alcoholism to Down’s syndrome and mental health - we documented the drama’s ‘place’ in people’s lives, its ability to speak to contemporary lived experiences, and amplify marginalised voices and stories. You can listen to our podcast here: Tales from Call the Midwife - Canvas

Awards and Distinctions

ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Geography from the University of Oxford (2022-2023)
AHRC Public Engagement Grant for the BBC Centenary (2022)
ESRC +3 Studentship for DPhil in Geography from the Grand Union DTP (2018-2021)
450th Anniversary Scholarship at St John’s College, Oxford (2018-2021)
Examiners’ Prize for the Best Performance in the MSc in Migration Studies at the University of Oxford (2017-2018)
Miller Prize - Awarded to the most outstanding graduating student in the Faculty of Arts at the University of St Andrews (2016-2017)
The Royal Scottish Geographical Society Medal for the best Honours degree in Geography (2016-2017)
The Principal’s Scholarship for Academic Excellence - Awarded to the top fifty final year students from across the university whose grades were highest in their faculties (2016-2017)
The University Scholarship for Research and Leadership (2016-2017)
Laidlaw Undergraduate Internship in Leadership and Research (2016-2017)
The Faculty of Arts Ede & Ravenscroft Prize for Academic Excellence over 240 credits (2015-2016)
MacIver Class Medal - Awarded annually to the student who gained Distinction in Geography (2013-2017)
Deans’ Award for achieving First Class Honours in all modules undertaken (2013-2017)