Personal statement

Matthew is a Teaching Fellow in Criminology at Bath Spa University. His research interests and expertise cover several areas relevant to criminology, sociology and social policy.

Matthew recently completed an ESRC-funded PhD at the University Surrey. His doctoral thesis, ‘Simulating the Dynamics of Hate Crime: Bridging an empirical gap between hate groups and violence with agent-based modelling’, used agent-based modelling (ABM) to simulate the emergence of far-right extremist groups, as well as explore the dynamics between extremist groups and hate crime.

Prior to completing his thesis, Matthew worked on several projects with the Alan Turing Institute, creating machine learning classifiers for detecting hate speech and prejudice on social media sites.

Matthew’s current work explores contemporary masculinities, including a British Academy/Leverhulme-funded project that explores how heterosexual men navigate masculinity when dancing with other men in UK Swing dances. He has recently also led an ESRC IAA impact project fostering intergenerational exchange within LGBTQ communities and previously worked as a Research Fellow for the multi-partner NORFACE/ESRC funded project, ‘Comparing Intersectional Life Course Inequalities amongst LGBTQI+ Citizens’.

Matthew is currently the Employability Champion for Sociology and Criminology.

Academic qualifications

  • PhD in Sociology at the University of Surrey
  • Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching (GCLT) at the University of Surrey
  • MSc in Criminology, Criminal Justice and Social Research at the University of Surrey
  • BSc (Hons) in Sociology, Cultural Studies and Media at the University of Surrey.

Professional memberships

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Member of the International Hate Studies Network
  • Member of the British Society of Criminology.

Research specialisms

  • Hate crime
  • Far right extremism
  • LGBTQ life course inequalities
  • Queer generations
  • Masculinity Studies.

Current projects

  • ‘Navigating Masculinity Among Heterosexual Men Who Dance with Men (MDM)’. Funded by British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants.

Recent projects

  • ‘Queering Intergenerational Exchanges’ with Andrew King (University of Surrey) and Helen Kingstone (Royal Holloway University). Funded by the ESCR IAA.
  • 'Simulating Hate: Bridging an Empirical Gap with Agent-based Modelling’. Funded by the ESRC South East DTC Studentship.