Position: Professor and Deputy Head of School

Email: l.huskinson@bangor.ac.uk

Phone: +44 (0)1248 382768

Location: T24, Main Arts

I am an elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and Visiting Professor of Instituto de Filosofía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. My research interests are principally in theories philosophy and psychoanalysis and their application to cultural phenomena, especially to the built environment and architecture, and to the psychological motivations for religious belief and experience.

I have recently published a monograph Architecture and the Mimetic Self: a psychoanalytic study of how buildings make and break our lives (Routledge: London and NY) - which was shortlisted for an international award and has been translated into Portuguese (Editoria Perspectiva: São Paulo, Brazil).  I'm currently undertaking research for a monograph on Nietzsche and architecture.

My monograph Nietzsche and Jung: The whole self in the Union of Opposites (Routedge: London and NY) has been translated into three languages. 

I am a member of the International and Home/EU Peer Review Colleges of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).  

Between 2010-2019 I was Editor-In-Chief of the International Journal of Jungian Studies. I am a qualified counsellor (psychodynamic; BACP and WPF accredited).

Research Expertise

• Nietzsche
• Analytical psychology / psychoanalysis
• C.G. Jung
• Freud
• Aesthetics 
• Philosophy of Architecture
• Philosophy of Place
• Mental health and its relationship to existentialism and religion

When I’m not working I’m usually watching NFL football (I’m a life-long fan and obsessive of the Cincinnati Bengals, and support Bangor University’s own team, the MudDogs). I'm also an avid follower of Aussie Rules Football (AFL) and F1 motor racing.

I read philosophy for my first degree, shortly followed by an MA in psychoanalytic studies, and doctoral research on Nietzschean philosophy and its influence on the analytical psychology of C.G. Jung. After completing my PhD I became a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex, UK; and later, a research fellow at the Universities of Monash and La Trobe, Victoria, Australia. I was appointed to the Bangor faculty in 2007.

I am happy to consider research proposals for PhD study in the following areas:  Nietzsche; Aesthetics; C.G. Jung; Freud; Psychoanalytic Studies; Philosophy and Architecture; Philosophy and Place; Psychoanalysis and Film; Psychoanalysis and Religious Experience.   

PHD SUPERVISION

I am currently sole supervisor for the following PhD research projects.

1. Nietzsche, Christianity, and the Will to Power as a Spiritual Approach to Life (Mark Z. Wright)
2. Intersubjective Persecution in the Transformational 'Grace Models' of Jung and Kierkegaard (Jay Drawbridge)
3. Nietzsche's Descent: A Jungian Analysis of Characters in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Ieuan Edwards)
4. Architecture and Nationalism: How buildings were used to construct national identity in the long eighteenth century (Theo Seddon)
5.  Jungian Psychology and Vajrasattva practice (Kane Alexander:  jointly supervised with Dr. Joshua Andrews)
6.  Artistic process and practice from a Jungian perspective (Matilde Gliubich Tomat)

I supervise postdoctoral research and I am an external supervisor to doctoral student in the Faculty of Philosophy at Pontificia Universidad Católica De Chile.  

I have supervised (as sole supervisor) the following successful doctoral PhD theses. The majority have since been published by the student as monographs.

1. Bollingen: A Biography of C.G. Jung's Tower (Martin Gledhill)
2. A Philosophical Investigation of Religious Language: A Study of The Identity, Meaning, And Semantic of Religious Utterances.(Dave Ellis) (co-supervised)
3. Believing in Russia: Religious Policy after Communism (Geraldine Fagan)
4. Ressentiment: Towards a Christology without enemies: The case of Friedrich Nietzsche versus René Girard (Nikolai Blaskow)
5. The Natural Science and Nietzsche's Will to Power. (Capt. Paul Curtis) (co-supervised)
6. Self, Infinity, Rebirth: A Jungian Critique of The Walking Dead (College of Arts and Humanities Scholarship) (Emma Buchanan)
7. The Archetypal Shadow: The instinct of selfishness in the work of Robert Moore and Jacob Boehme (Eric Scott Krasny)
8. The Death of God Motif in the Philosophical Anthropologies of Nietzsche and St. Paul (Joshua Duff)
9. C.G. Jung's Reception of Picasso and Abstract Art (Lucie Hill)
10. The Unitive Self in Mental Health, Society, and Politics (Russell Razzaque)
11. An Analysis of the Potential Relationships Between Buddist Thought and Kierkegaardian Philosophy (Joshua Andrews)
12. A Kindred Spirit in the Shadows: C.G. Jung’s unfounded rejection of Søren Kierkegaard (Amy Cook)
13. Transcendent Experience, Process, and Praxis within the ‘Transcendence Movement’ (Keith Beasley)
14. The Christian Platonism of George Grant: following Simone Weil from the cave to the cross(Brad Jersak)
15. A revised epistemology for an understanding of spirit release therapy, according to the conceptual framework of F.W.H. Myers (Terence Palmer)
16. The Trinity and the Vindication of Christian Paradox (Brant Bosserman) (co-supervised)
17. Grace Beyond the Grave: A biblical, theological, and practical evaluation of post-mortem evangelisation (Jonathan Stephen) (co-supervised).

UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING

I teach the following undergraduate taught modules.

• Exorcism (VPR2209/VPR3309)
• Existentialism (HPS-1005)
• Death of God (HPS-1004)
• Paradoxes of Self (HPS-2011/ HPS-3011)
• Serial Killers (HPS-2015 / HPS-3015)
• Independent Study (VPR2207)
• Dissertation (HPS-3006)

Administrative Roles

• Deputy Head of School of History, Philosophy, and Social Science
• Academic Integrity Officer, School of History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences
• University Sexual Violence and Harassment Support Disclosure Response Team
• (Former University Senate Committee, 2010-2021)
• (Former Senate Nominations Committee)
• (Former Senate Board of Discipline, 2010-2021)
• (Former University Ethics Board)
• (Former University Widening Access Strategy Group)
• (Former University Student Mental Health Strategy Group)
• (Former Chair and panel member of University Academic Integrity Committees)
• (Former Head of School of Philosophy and Religion)
• (Former Honorary Counsellor working in the University student counselling services)

Editorial Positions

• 2010-2019 Editor-In-Chief, International Journal of Jungian Studies (ISSN 1940-9052/1940-9060; peer-reviewed). (2007-2010, I was Associate Editor of the journal)
• Since 2014, Editorial Board, Behavioral Science (ISSN 2076-328X); peer reviewed, open access.
• Guest Editor of Behavioral Sciences special issue: Theory and Practice of Analytical Psychology, 2013-2014; open access: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/behavsci/special_issues/analytical-psychology.
• Since 2013, Editorial Board, Quandrant (ISSN 0033-‐5010).
• Since 2012, Editorial Board, Spring, Journal of Archetype and Culture, (ISSN 1934-2039/1934-2047

Grant Awards and Recognition

• 2022:  Elected Fellow, Learned Society of Wales.
• 2022:  Bangor University Student Led Teaching Award: Thesis/Supervisor of the Year.
• 2022:  £85,000, Corporate Grant Award. All Saints Educational Trust.
• 2021:  Bangor University Student Led Teaching Award: Thesis/Supervisor of the Year.
• 2021:  Elected Visiting Professor, Instituto de Filosofía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. 
• 2019:  Bangor University Student Led Teaching Award: Teacher of the Year.
• 2018:  £75,000 Corporate Grant, All Saints Educational Trust. PI.
• 2018:  Bangor University Student Led Teaching Award: Thesis/Supervisor of the Year.
• 2017:  Bangor University Student Led Teaching Award: Outstanding Pastoral Support
• 2016:  Bangor University Student Led Teaching Award: Wildcard Award
• 2014:  Bangor University Teaching Fellowship Award/ £1000 
• 2013:  $4500  Mythos Grant/ Visiting Scholarship, Opus Archives and Research Center USA.
• 2013:  Bangor University Student Led Teaching Award: Teacher of the Year
• 2012:  £2000 Artellus Small Grant. PI
• 2013-2022: Shortlisted for various other Bangor University Student Led Teaching Awards, in various categrories.

Current Projects

I am currently working on three projects.

1. 'Centre for Religion, Ethics, Values: from GCSE to PGCE':  A research and outreach programme (funded by All Saints Educational Trust) to establish a pedagogical Centre to support the teaching and learning of RE across the UK. This builds on my completed project 'RE-Connect' a network for the teaching of Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Ethics in Schools across North Wales and the West of England.  

2. Nietzsche and Architecture : Research into the influence of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche on architectural design and practice. 

3. Architectural history of the former asylum/hospital at Denbigh