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, the thesis hopes to illustrate that this example of renaissance story-telling may exhibit a broader shift in the notion of the individual surpassing those typically associated with modernity and postmodernity.

• 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:

• '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)

• '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,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