It’s been about 6 months since we last caught up with Christopher Johnson, Executive Editor for Psychology. Here, we learn more about what has been unfolding for the UC Press’ newest discipline—Psychology.
It’s been an exciting few months. How have your projects been developing for the Psychology list?
I’ve been at the Press for about 18 months and it’s great to have projects at various stages of development.
- My first book at UC Press is publishing this September—Seeing: How Light Tells Us About the World by noted cognitive psychologist Tom Cornsweet (Emeritus Professor at UC Irvine).
- My newest textbook signing is a wonderful treatment of creativity by Robert Weisberg (Temple University). This book joins two other innovative textbook signings from earlier this year—one for the psychology of adjustment course by Robert Innes and a second for the testing and measurement course by Lisa Hollis-Sawyer.
- I’m particularly excited to be working with pioneering psychologist Ravenna Helson (Professor Emerita UC Berkeley) and coauthor Valory Mitchell on a book that traces the evolution of Helson’s groundbreaking Mills Longitudinal Study.
- New proposals have been keeping me busy. From a new textbook for the psychology of religion course, to a thoughtful and innovative look at the evolution of the self in the digital age, to a much needed new text for the psychology of the self course. I really want to hear from authors interested in reaching audiences in undergraduate and graduate psychology courses.
Are you specializing in a particular area of psychology?
Absolutely! The UC Press has traditionally championed books that examine social issues: race, class, gender, conflict, poverty, social justice, the environment, etc. The topics are well represented in our world-class sociology, criminology, history, anthropology, and other catalogs. Psychological science sheds an indispensable light here and I’m eager to work with authors who want their research to influence the national dialog. To that end, I welcome proposals for related textbooks, scholarly works and trade books.
Join Us—And Meet Christopher at SPSSI!
Interested in publishing your work with Christopher and UC Press? Contact Christopher at cjohnson@ucpress.edu. And set up a time to meet with him at the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) conference in Albuquerque, NM this June 23-25.
And learn more about the Higher Education Program.
