Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Matt's research focus interests include human-nature and human-animal relations, multispecies, posthumanities, animal studies, human and more-than-human worlds and animist worldviews - especially in the context of the climate crisis and the Anthropocene. His teaching focus overlaps with his research interests, and incorporates ecopsychology, ecotherapy, critical environmental psychology and mental health.
From October 2022 - May 2024 he is undertaking an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research, Development and Engagement Fellowship, titled 'Pavlov and the kingdom of dogs: Storying experimental animal histories through arts-based research'. His focus will be the development of creative, arts-based and visual methods to critically explore the experiences of animals in scientific research.
Supervisory Interests
Dr Adams supervises PhD students addressing a range of topics including mental health and distress, social and cultural identity, critical psychologies of climate change, climate activism, nature-connection, Anthropocene studies, nature-based interventions, human-animal relations and posthumanities. He is especially interested in supervising students adopting qualitative methodological and critical theoretical approaches. Interdisciplinary projects are especially welcome.
Approach to teaching
Dr Adams's specialist teaching areas are mental health and distress, human-animal relations, ecopsychology, environment and ennvironmentalism, climate crisis and the Anthropocene.
Scholarly biography
Dr Adams is the author of the books Anthropocene Psychology: Being Human in a More-Than-Human World (2020), Ecological Crisis, Sustainability & the Psychosocial Subject: Beyond Behaviour Change (2016) and Self & Social Change (2008). He has also written numerous academic articles, book chapters commentary pieces and reports, e.g.:
Adams, M. (2021). Critical psychologies and climate change. Current Opinion in Psychology, 42, 13-18.
Adams, M. (2020). The kingdom of dogs: Understanding Pavlov’s experiments as human–animal relationships. Theory & Psychology, 30(1), 121-141.
Adams, M. (2018). Towards a critical psychology of human–animal relations. Social and personality psychology compass, 12(4), e12375.
Adams, M. (2014). Approaching nature, ‘sustainability’ and ecological crises from a critical social psychological perspective. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(6), 251-262.
For a complete list of publications see full research profile.
Keywords
- BF Psychology
- Critical psychology
- Social psychology
- Cultural psychology
- Human-animal relations
- Climate change
- Anthropocene
- Animal Studies
- Post-humanities
- H Social Sciences (General)
- Psychosocial studies
- Climate change
- Anthropocene
- HM Sociology
- Psychosocial studies
- Climate change
- Ecology
- Anthropocene
- HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
- speciesism
- human-animal relations
- Climate change
- Anthropocene
- GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography
- Anthropogenic
- Anthropocene
- Climate change
- GN Anthropology
- human-animal relations
- Climate change
- Anthropocene
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Active
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Pavlov and the kingdom of dogs: Storying experimental animal histories through arts-based research
1/10/22 → 30/09/24
Project: Research Councils / Government Depts.
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Anthropocentrism, animism and the Anthropocene: Decentring the human in psychology
Adams, M., 11 Nov 2022, In: British Gestalt Journal. 31, 2, p. 32-40 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Communicating Vegan Utopias: The Counterfactual Construction of Human-animal Futures
Adams, M., 27 Aug 2021, In: Environmental Communication. 16, 1, p. 125-138 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Critical psychologies and climate change
Adams, M., 2 Feb 2021, In: Current Opinion in Psychology. 42, p. 13-18 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Notes from a field: a qualitative exploration of human–animal relations in a volunteer shepherding project
Adams, M., Ormrod, J. & Smith, S., 25 May 2021, In: Qualitative Research. p. 1-10 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Anthropocene Psychology: Being Human in a More-Than-Human World
Adams, M., 12 Feb 2020, Routledge. 194 p. (Concepts for critical psychology)Research output: Book/Report › Book - authored › peer-review
Activities
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system does not fully articulate the animal: Unruly animal behaviour in Pavlov’s labs
Matthew Adams (Presenter)
5 Jan 2024Activity: External talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Pavlov and the kingdom of dogs: Storying experimental animal histories through arts-based research
Matthew Adams (Presenter)
23 Nov 2023Activity: External talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Pavlov's Dogs
Matthew Adams (Presenter)
3 Nov 2023Activity: External talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Arts-based methods and animal history: the case of Pavlov’s dogs
Matthew Adams (Presenter)
11 Sept 2023Activity: External talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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Pavlov in St Petersburg: Human-Animal Relations in the Kingdom of Dogs
Matthew Adams (Presenter)
29 Jun 2023Activity: External talk or presentation › Oral presentation