Assistant Professor
Department of Department of Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology College of Arts, Culture, and Scientific Inquiry

678-839-0620
jchead@westga.edu

Melson Hall - Room 219
Office Hours
By appointment

James Christopher Head, Ph.D.

James Christopher Head is an interdisciplinary scholar whose interests include the history of psychology, the philosophy of science, qualitative research, narrative analysis, and liberatory pedagogy. His recent research bridges the fields of psychology, sociology, and education and has been published in Critical Studies in Education (2019) and Journal of Education Policy (2019). His dissertation, The Narration of Conflicting Accountabilities in the Era of High-Stakes Teacher Evaluation, was awarded the designation of best qualitative dissertation of the year (2019) by Division 5 of the American Psychological Association. This work introduces a multi-contextual approach to narrative analysis, and in so doing, reflects his appreciation of what C. Wright Mills referred to as the connection between “public issues” and “private troubles.” His teaching practices facilitate students’ multi-contextual engagement and invite budding scholars to explore their interests – from the personal to the public – as they negotiate course content, instructional parameters, and professional aspirations. He is a member of the Executive Committee of Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology (SQIP).

  • B.A., History, Georgia State University, 2001
  • M.A.T., Secondary Education, Georgia College & State University, 2004
  • M.A., Psychology, University of West Georgia, 2012
  • M. Phil., Psychology, CUNY Graduate Center, 2017
  • Ph.D., Psychology, CUNY Graduate Center, 2018

Spring 2021 Sections

  • PSYC-2220 (Qualitative Research Methods) Section: E01
  • PSYC-4085F (Life Stories) Section: E01
  • PSYC-7810B (Narrative Psychology) Section: E01

Fall 2020 Sections

  • PSYC-4030 (History&PhilosophyofPsychology) Section: E01
  • PSYC-6021 (Psychology as Human Science) Section: E01
  • PSYC-8581 (Narratives of the Dying) Section: E03

Spring 2020 Sections

Fall 2019 Sections

Spring 2019 Sections

Fall 2018 Sections

  • PSYC-4030 (Hist & Philosoph of Psychology) Section: 01
  • PSYC-5085 (Psychology as Human Science) Section: 03
  • PSYC-7810 (Humanizing Psych Research) Section: 01

Head, J.C. (2019). “From the bottom-up: New York City teacher evaluation and the narration of mediated institutional assault.” Critical Studies in Education, 60 (1), 37-54.

Head, J.C., Pryiomka, K. (2019). Accounting for mediatization in the era of individualized consequential accountability. Journal of Education Policy.

Head, J.C., Quigua, F. & Clegg, J.W. (2019). The radical potentials of human experience: Maslow, Leary and the pre-history of qualitative inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 6 (1), 116-132.