Psychgeist of Pop Culture: A new series from ETC Press

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We are excited to announce the launch of the Psychgeist of Pop Culture series from ETC Press.

Over the last few decades, interest in pop psychology has grown faster than most of our Netflix backlogs. With the continued growth of interest in pop psychology, combined with the sheer volume of media content, the discussion of their intersection is becoming more pertinent both within and outside of academia. For example, casual conversations about the psychology of Stranger Things are happening on TikTok as well as in therapy rooms, where pop culture has become a cornerstone of establishing rapport with clients. However, there remains a lack of consolidated resources that provide overviews of the state of the research when it comes to which psychological mechanisms are at play and how those can be understood to better understand ourselves.  This new series will fill this gap in other areas of media studies interest.

This edited book series was developed to highlight the iconic pop culture content from television, film, literature, and video games through an examination of the psychological mechanisms that endear us to these stories for a lifetime. This is a science-led, rather than editorial or opinion collection, with the focus on the psychological underpinnings of character development, relationships, and environment of these stories. As an edited collection, emphasis will also be placed on presenting a diversity of perspectives.

This book series will be edited by Rachel Kowert.

If you would like to propose an idea for a future volume in the series, contact the series editor, Rachel Kowert (rkowert [at] gmail [dot] com) using the subject line “Psychgeist of Pop Culture Proposal”. Your email should include a completed proposal for the title (PDF) outlining the scope of the book, potential chapter titles/topics and authors, timeline, and a short bio of the editor. The full resume/CV of the editor should also be attached. If you will be sending out an open call for contributors, that should also be attached to the proposal.

If you would like to be notified when a new call for chapters opens for the series, you can sign up for The Psychgeist newsletter here.

There are currently open calls for the following volumes:

Volumes currently in production:

  • The Witcher (Edited by Rachel Kowert)
  • The Madalorian (Edited by Jessica E. Tompkins)