Dr Matt Howard

Matt joined Kent Law School in spring 2022, having previously been at University of Westminster and The Open University. He completed both his PhD in 2017, funded by KLS, and his LLB at Kent. Matt also has an LLM in Law and Political Justice from Birkbeck, University of London.

Matt’s work primarily focuses on examining the relationship between memory, time, and legal identity. His work addresses how memory functions to validate and challenge senses of belonging; shape civic & legal consciousness; and contribute to legal socialisation. This interest formed the subject matter of Matt’s doctoral thesis, which explored the exclusionary nature of the Anzac commemorative narrative and examined the function of memory as a resource of legal meaning-making.

• Socio-legal studies
• Memory
• Time 
• Belonging

Matt is interested in resources people draw upon in their comprehension of fairness and legitimacy in a variety of contexts. He is currently Co-I on a BA/Leverhulme funded project which explores how search and rescue volunteers in the Mediterranean make sense of their role in relation to challenging legal and bureaucratic environments.

•  Introduction to Property
•  Land Law.

Matt is happy to supervise PhD students interested in subject matter related to his research interests.

Matt is a member of the executive committee of the Socio-Legal Studies Association.