Adrian Chapman

Adrian Chapman is a writer and academic based in London. Specialising in mental health, literature, and 1960s and 1970s history, he has lectured in London, Glasgow, Paris, Vienna, Madrid and elsewhere.

Adrian, who has held fellowships at University College London (UCL) and The University of Glasgow, now teaches English Literature for Florida State University at its London Centre. His work has been supported by the Wellcome Trust and he has contributed to Wellcome Collection events and written for the Wellcome Collection website. He has published widely in academic journals and composed shorter pieces for blogs (e.g. a piece on rock music, the youth underground and psychiatry) and magazines (e.g. a film review in Asylum: The Magazine for Democratic Psychiatry).

Currently, he is working on a book that brings to life 1960s and 1970s psychiatry and counter-culture (e.g. experimental lifestyles, music and film). The work is centred on the figure of R. D. Laing, a controversial psychiatrist adopted by the youth underground and featured in Life and Esquire. The book argues that this enigmatic, celebrity psychiatrist—the 'Mick Jagger of psychiatry', as the Chicago Tribune called him—can not only help us re-think the 60s and 70s but also help us better understand the present-day mental health crisis and the widespread desire to live more meaningful lives.

Education

• Post Graduate Certificate in Learning & Teaching in Higher Education University of Surrey (2002 — 2003)
• Master of Arts (M.A.) Queen Mary, U. of London (1994 — 1996)
• Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Goldsmiths, University of London (1990 — 1993)

Companies

• Adjunct Professor Florida State University (2020)
• Adjunct Professor Florida State University (2015)
• Adjunct Professor University of Notre Dame (2017 — 2019)
• Adjunct Lecturer St. Mary's University of Minnesota (2012 — 2016)
• Adjunct Professor Richmond The American International University in London (2015 — 2015)
• Adjunct Professor (English Literature) Fordham University (2015 — 2015)
• Visiting Lecturer University of Roehampton (2012 — 2015)
• Lecturer / Workshop Leader in Academic English Universidade do Porto (2014 — 2014)
• Adjunct Lecturer Foundation for International Education (2014 — 2014)