Reading the ‘Father of American Psychology’
MONMOUTH, Ill. – A Monmouth College professor recently notched two impressive achievements in his work on American philosopher William James.
Titled Reconstructing the Personal Library of William James: Markings and Marginalia from the Harvard Library Collection, Algaier’s book was published as part of the American Philosophy Series by Lexington Books.
In November, Algaier served as the 2019 William James scholar-in-residence at the James Center at Universität Potsdam in Germany. He was the eighth scholar to receive the honor.
“I gave one talk on my book, and there were two workshops,” he said. “One of the workshops was on an essay I recently published in an edited volume on James and morality. The other is a paper I’ve been working on that addresses the issue of marginalization from the standpoint of James’s conception of religion.”
Algaier was impressed by his reception, as well as by the university’s setting.
Algaier said that Universität Potsdam was the summer palace of Francis the Great, King of Prussia, who ruled in the 18th century.
“It is staggeringly beautiful,” he said. “Overall, it was an incredible experience. It is such an honor to follow a group of amazing scholars-in-residence who have produced a significant impact in the field of Jamesian studies.”
Earlier this year, Algaier was named general editor of William James Studies, an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing scholarly articles related to the life, work and influence of James.
Algaier earned his bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Youngstown (Ohio) State University, his master’s degree in philosophy from Brock (Ontario) University and a doctorate in religious studies from Temple University. He came to Monmouth in 2017 from Harvard Divinity School, where he was a postdoctoral fellow.