I am a psychologist, editor, writer, and independent researcher based in Toronto. My work draws on theoretical psychology, philosophy, literature, and psychoanalysis, with a particular interest in human relationships and agency. I also organize reading groups and share lectures, essays, interviews, and conversations with a wider audience.
I completed my PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Toronto in 2015, supported by an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). In 2014, I was a visiting researcher at the University of Vienna. From 2015 to 2016, I held an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship at Leiden University.
In 2016, I received a Veni grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), which I declined in order to accept an assistant professorship in the Department of Psychology at the University of Macau. From 2016 to 2021, I taught cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, the history of psychology, and related subjects.
After returning to Canada in 2021, I began working outside academia, first in research and market analysis and later in editorial strategy and education. I currently serve as Director of Editorial at Our Kids Media while continuing my independent research and writing.
My book, Experimental Psychology and Human Agency, was published by Springer in 2019. It grew out of my dissatisfaction with some of the dominant assumptions and habits of experimental psychology and asks how psychological research might better account for agency, action, and the standpoint of the participant. In 2022, I co-edited Experimental Psychology: Ambitions & Possibilities with Jaan Valsiner. The volume extends these questions through contributions from scholars working across psychology, philosophy, and the human sciences.
More recently, I have been writing about theoretical and philosophical psychology, psychoanalysis, intellectual life, media, and the place of psychology among neighbouring disciplines. The essay “Psychology as Counter-Discipline” offers one possible introduction to this direction.
For a complete list of my academic publications, see my publications page. For video lectures, interviews, and conversations, visit my YouTube channel. I also publish essays and reflections on Substack.
Great Ideas in Psychology
Great Ideas in Psychology is a series of lectures I recorded during the winter of 2022. Each episode offers a self-contained introduction to a foundational topic, influential thinker, or enduring debate in psychology.
The series includes:
- Great Ideas in Psychology: What They Are & Why They Matter
- The Psychology Lab: The Uses and Misuses of Experimentation
- The Placebo Effect
- The Freudian Unconscious
- Memory & the Brain
- Learning
- IQ Tests & Intelligence
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Stage Models of Development
- Lev Vygotsky & the Zone of Proximal Development
- Attachment
- Displaced Aggression
- Personality Traits
- The Self
- Conformity to Group Norms
- Obedience to Authority
- Feminist Psychology
- Multicultural Psychology
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Social Constructionism
Guest Appearances
I have also appeared in a number of podcasts, interviews, and public conversations:
- Gregory Sadler’s Ideas That Matter Conversation Series: A discussion of reading, dialogue, and intellectual life.
- Gregory Sadler’s Ideas That Matter Reversed: A discussion about Dr. Sadler’s philosophical and educational projects, social media, workspaces, and related topics.
- Cadell Last’s Philosophy Portal: A discussion of my book Experimental Psychology and Human Agency and related topics.
- O.G. Rose Conversations with Daniel Garner: A conversation about the concept of interest.
- Rahul Sam’s Podcast: A conversation about reading Byung-Chul Han and related topics.
- Andrew Taggart’s Second Axial Age: A discussion of awakening, wisdom, love, and other unusual topics.
- Javier Rivera’s Drunk Interviews Series: A casual conversation about engagement with social media and philosophy.
- Adam Ahmed’s Epistik Podcast: A discussion of books, decision-making, and emotion.
- Lisa Pfau’s Breathe In, Write Out Podcast: A discussion of writing and play.
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.