Eric Fretz

Eric Fretz is a Professor of Criminology, Sociology and Justice Studies at Regis University, where he focuses on the connections between literature, history and social movements. His academic work spans community organizing, climate change, American literature and civic engagement. He edited and contributed to Climate Change Across the Curriculum (Lexington Books, 2015). He is a two-time Fulbright Program Scholar, with awards in 2016 and 2026 that brought him to Timișoara, Romania, where he taught and collaborated with the West University of Timișoara. That work ultimately led to his documentary, The Vinyl Revolution: Rock and Roll and the End of the Communist Era in Timișoara (2026), which explores how rock and roll helped shape cultural resistance at the end of the Cold War. In addition to his academic and documentary work, Fretz published Groundswell (2024), a surf-themed murder mystery set in a small coastal town in New Zealand. He earned his Ph.D. in English and American Studies from Michigan State University.