John Perry Christensen was born, raised, and educated in Utah Valley—a place he calls home in every sense of the word. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy from Utah Valley University and a Master of Arts in History from the University of Utah. His dissertation, which he defended on January 2, 2026, to cap off completion of a PhD from the History Department at the University of Utah, investigated the history of science, medicine, and psychiatry in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. It looked at how psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers conceptualized the relationship between work, class, poverty, and mental health from Sigmund Freud’s visit to the Americas in 1909 to the establishment of the National Institute of Mental Health in 1949. In addition to teaching at UCAS, John teaches philosophy and history at UVU and history for the Salt Lake Community College Prison Education Program. Altogether, he has accumulated seventeen years of teaching experience in higher ed, seven years of experience in secondary ed, and four years of experience in prison ed.
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