Research

My doctoral thesis is supervised by Professor Mathew ThomsonLink opens in a new window and Dr Claudia SteinLink opens in a new window, and is funded by the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (M4C)Link opens in a new window. Currently titled, "The Making of a 'Psychedelic Renaissance' in Britain", my thesis explores the twenty-first century 'renaissance' of neuroscientific, psychotherapeutic and cultural interests in psychedelic drugs, with a focus on Britain. It explores how the eclectic community that makes up the psychedelic movement is caught up in a maelstrom of macro-structural and historical forces surrounding the growing influence of neuroscience and neoliberalism.

By using the present-day 'psychedelic renaissance' as an optic which sheds light onto broader notions of the individual, my thesis meditates more broadly on the importance of history to our understanding of 'the present'. It is the conviction of my thesis that history is fundamental to 'the present' and that this inherent value of history as a discipline and practice along these lines is increasingly under threat in contemporary society.

• History of psychoactive substances and psychoactive experience.
• History of self-experimentation.
• Historiography.
• History of epistemology.

• Modern conceptualisations of human nature and selfhood.

Teaching

•  Methods and Theories in their Historical Context, 1750-c.1990 (HI2E1), 2023

Publications

Dissertations:

• MA, History, University of Warwick, 2021 - Dissertation: 'The Kaleidoscopic Self: The British Psychedelic Counterculture and its Underground Literature'. Supervised by Dr. Claudia Stein.
• BA, History, University of Warwick, 2020 - Dissertation: 'The Rise and Fall of Foucault in the American Historical Profession'. Supervised by Dr. Charles Walton. 

Blog Posts:

• 'BSHS Postgraduate Conference 2024'Link opens in a new window, Global History and Culture Centre Blog, 11 June 2024.
• 'UK Harm Reduction: The Origins of Release'Link opens in a new window, TalkingDrugs, 9 January 2024.
• 'Review: ‘How to Regulate Psychedelics: A Practical Guide’'Link opens in a new window, TalkingDrugs, 14 November 2023.
• 'Breaking Convention 2023: Has the 'Psychedelic Renaissance' Exhaled?'Link opens in a new window, TalkingDrugs, 30 June 2023.
• 'Lessons on Psychedelic Evangelism from the UK Counterculture of the 60s'Link opens in a new window, TalkingDrugs, 2 February 2023.

Academic Profile

• 2022-2025, PhD in History, University of Warwick
• 2020-2021, MA in History of Medicine, University of Warwick (with Distinction)
• 2017-2020, BA in History (First-Class)

• 'How to Change Your Mind: Revising Psychedelic History from Within', Warwick Psychedelic Research Society, 30th October 2024
• 'British Psychedelic Neuroscience and Selfhood in the 21st Century', Thinking with Drugs: Interventions in the SocialLink opens in a new window, 22nd July 2024
• 'British Psychedelic Neuroscience and Selfhood in the 21st Century', University of Warwick History PG Conference 2024Link opens in a new window, 23rd May 2024
• 'Brainbloodvolume: Trepanation and the British "Psychedelic Renaissance"', Cambridge Cultural History Workshop, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge, 14^th February 2024
• 'The "Psychedelic Renaissance" and the Individual', History PG Work in Progress SeriesLink opens in a new window, History Department, University of Warwick, 20^th November 2023

Responsibilities

• Reviews Editor, History of Pharmacy and PharmaceuticalsLink opens in a new window, 2024 -
• Co-Convener, History PG Work in ProgressLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2023-2024

Funding/Awards

• M4C Research Development Fund to attend 'Introduction to Oral History' at the British Library, 2023.
• Travel Grant for 2023 Breaking Convention Conference, Source Research Foundation, 2023.

• AHRC Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, University of Warwick, 2022–2026.

• Master's Studentships in Humanities and Social Science, Wellcome Trust, 2020-2021.

Conference Organisation

• Co-Organiser, Being Human: Individualism and the Self from the Renaissance to the 21st CenturyLink opens in a new window conference with Mia EdwardsLink opens in a new window and Anna PravdicaLink opens in a new window for the HRC Doctoral Fellowship CompetitionLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, February 2025

• Co-Organiser,British Society for the History of Science Postgraduate ConferenceLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 19-20 April 2024

Memberships

• Centre for the History of Medicine, University of Warwick
• Oral History NetworkLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick
• The Alcohol and Drugs History Society
• The Society for the Social History of Medicine