Roger J. Kreuz

Roger Kreuz is the W. Harry Feinstone Interdisciplinary Research Professor​ at the University of Memphis. He currently serves as an Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. He earned his graduate degrees in experimental psychology at Princeton University.

Dr. Kreuz conducts research on discourse, pragmatics, and nonliteral language. In addition to his research publications, he has authored or coauthored seven books for the general public:

       ❖ "Strikingly Similar" (2026, Cambridge University Press) explores the historical and psychological aspects of plagiarism and appropriation. It has received positive reviews in a variety of venues, including "The New Yorker" and "Publishers Weekly."

       ❖ "Linguistic Fingerprints" (2023, Prometheus Books) is an overview of stylometric research as it is used in author attribution and forensic linguistics.

       ❖ "Failure to Communicate" (2023, Prometheus Books) provides a psychological and linguistic framework for why miscommunication occurs.

       ❖ "Irony and Sarcasm" (2020, MIT Press) is a biography of two troublesome words.

       ❖ "Changing Minds" (2019, MIT Press), with Richard Roberts, reviews how our language abilities change across the adult lifespan.

       ❖ "Getting Through" (2017, MIT Press), with Richard Roberts, explains difficulties in cross-cultural communication from a psychological perspective.

       ❖ "Becoming Fluent" (2015, MIT Press), with Richard Roberts, explores second language learning in adulthood.

He also blogs about language and communication for "Psychology Today."

Dr. Kreuz's research has been featured in venues such as "The Washington Post" and "The Wall Street Journal." His national and international presentations include speaking at The Smithsonian in Washington DC. His books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Turkish, and Spanish.