I grew up in Santa Cruz. I was a re-entry student at Cabrillo. earned my BA at San Jose State, and my PhD at UCSC, so I’m about as local as a Cabrillo instructor can be.

I’ve witnessed the college transformed from a tree-covered campus with muddy parking lots into the concrete facility we have today. (I appreciate the greatly-improved access for people in wheelchairs.)

Before I got into this racket, I made (extremely) low-budget movies. This could be why my lectures include many brief videos (20 seconds to 2 minutes). I use them to illustrate concepts, show examples of research, and have fun.

My specialty is social psychology, the scientific study of the ways that each of us is influenced by other people.

I suffer from prolonged Beatlemania.