James Richard Brett

B.A. in History, University of Virginia
M.A. in History, Cal State U, Long Beach
Ph.D. in Russian History, U.C.L.A.
Lecturer in Russian History, U.C.L.A., University of Southern California, California State University, Northridge, California State University, Long Beach
Director, Office of University Research, California State University, Long Beach

My interest in Russia began at age ten or so, when I discovered that some of my ancestors had come from part of the Russian Empire. In college I concentrated on Russian History and when I wrote a dissertation for the doctoral degree it was on the life and thought of Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov (1829-1905), the "Father of Russian Physiology," author of the important work Reflexes of the Brain. Sechenov was really more interested in epistemology than medicine or physiology, and he ended up laying the ground and framework for modern Psychology in Russia—a form of Behaviorism.

American politics is endlessly interesting and annoying. I have run for public office only once. The experience defies description. Needless to say, I believe that I can best contribute to the public discourse by writing here and other opinion websites like Op-Ed-News and The American Liberalism Project, which I co-founded and managed for about five years.

It is important for me to keep my perspective on the dramas of our day and to portray them with as much candor as I can muster and with several points of view clearly in mind. I am a classical American Liberal which means that I believe in the Rule of Law, Individual Freedom, Progress, Ethics, and Humane Activity. These five pillars are often in contest with one another, a dynamic which I believe is wholesome and vital to the functioning of a democracy.

JB