Students interact with the science, language, literature, and principles of psychology.
Majors > Psychology
Program Description
4-Year Plan
Hear from professors and students about how JBU's psychology program prepares them for graduate school or careers.
JBU has developed a specific curriculum track in which students earn a B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in Counseling in five years.
JBU’s psychology professors actively challenge students to consider the relationship between biblical truth and psychological truth through rigorous coursework and research projects.
Psychology students can submit their capstone empirical research project or publication in the Psychology department's online journal of undergraduate research: Initial Forays in Psychological Science.
Students gain field experience through placements in a variety of off-campus organizations and ministries where they observe professionals in their field.
Every year, JBU psychology students present papers at national academic conferences like The Great Plains Honors Conference and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
Choose an emphasis of study such as Child and Adolescent Development, Social Justice, Wilderness Counseling, or Intercultural Studies to learn more about your interests.
A believer in good coffee and good people, Michelle Satterlee has become a fan of JBU and Siloam Springs. Dr. Satterlee is a Licensed Psychologist. She joined the JBU community after years abroad and in the Northwest, and while she may miss the coast and international train travel, she does not miss commuter traffic. Dr. Satterlee is constantly impressed by her students and clients, and she has a passion to see their God-given potential thrive. When Dr. Satterlee is not in a classroom, a coffee shop, or with clients, you may find her at the local hardware store, planning the next (probably-more-than) weekend project.
Department Head of PsychologyProfessor of Psychology
Prior to arriving at JBU—his alma mater— Dr. Kevin Simpson taught for 12 years in Portland, Oregon and briefly, in the wilds of rural Utah immediately after completing his PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Denver.
In 2019, Dr. Simpson was a Fulbright Scholar to the Slovak Republic where he taught graduate courses in sport psychology and psychology of the Holocaust at Comenius University in Bratislava. Simpson has been a research fellow three times at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (2009, 2010, 2019) and a fellow in the 2011 Summer Institute on the Holocaust and Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University (Illinois). His academic work has taken him to many concentration camps and Holocaust memorial sites in Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, Austria, and the former Czechoslovakia. He has also been a visiting professor in two study abroad programs in London and Vienna and for the latter appointment, Simpson taught on the genocidal legacy of National Socialism in Austria.
Dr. Simpson considers it a privilege to teach students across a wide range of courses, including: Social and Abnormal Psychology; Sport and Exercise Psychology; Counseling Theory; the Psychology and History of the Holocaust; and the Integration of Faith and Psychology. His most recent publications have been on teaching comparative genocide through study abroad in Guatemala; genius and creativity; and the use of classic and modern propaganda in the teaching of social psychology. He also writes for outdoor magazines on the application of visualization and imagery principles in sport psychology to hunting and shooting pursuits.
In 2016, Dr. Simpson finished his first book, an examination of soccer during the Holocaust, titled Soccer under the Swastika (Rowman & Littlefield). Relying on long-forgotten memoirs and testimonies, his book reveals the surprisingly powerful role soccer played in the lives of captives behind the walls and fences of the Nazi terror state. His book has been recently updated to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust and this revision includes new testimonies and photographs from the era. The book has also served as the basis for museum exhibitions in the United States and Slovakia.
But his true passions in life include his Texan wife, Stefanie, their two children Grace and Eli, playing soccer, skiing and mountain biking, upland bird hunting, and reveling in the ongoing successes of Manchester United football club.
Professor of PsychologyDepartment Head, Online Undergraduate Psychology
Dr. Rick Froman graduated with his B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento. He continued at CSU to gain a master's degree in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Wyoming. Dr. Froman specializes in the areas of experimental psychology, the psychology of humor, and the use of technology in teaching including online teaching. His current interests include encouraging undergraduate research through publishing an online student research journal. He is also known for his use of technology in the classroom, which is a continuation of his work as a former Teagle Fellow in Technology in Teaching.
Dr. Froman's courses include Research Seminar, Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Theories of Learning, Psychological Testing, Cognitive Psychology, and Research Methods. Among his favorite classes to teach are Research Methods, Research Seminar, and Statistics, taught both in a computer lab and online so that students can use the computers interactively to learn statistical concepts.
Dr. Froman enjoys mentoring students by working with them to develop research projects that are presented at undergraduate conferences. Each year, he accompanies JBU psychology students to conferences where they give oral presentations of their research projects.
“I can see God’s calling in my life to help people in their brokenness. I hope to help the hurting through therapeutic intervention and recovery.” Baca currently works as a Mental Health Specialist for Counseling Associates Inc.
Many students choose to advance in a particular area of interest by attending graduate school. Advanced degrees are required for many careers in psychology.
These individuals work with both for profit and nonprofit organizations, daycare providers, half-way homes, youth/adult/senior citizen's programs, or group homes.
This type of work can be done for community centers, hospitals, adoption agencies, rehabilitation centers, or camp programs. Psychology majors research data and write extensively, which is exactly what these positions require.
Many DHS departments look for graduates who have a background in psychology to work with children and families.
Majoring in a liberal arts field like psychology combines well with a degree in law, as students learn to read extensively while maintaining knowledge of overall ideas, creating cohesive arguments, and finding research to back their arguments.
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