Psychology Major
Students interact with the science, language, literature, and principles of psychology.
Hear from professors and students about what makes JBU's psychology program great.
Why Study Psychology at JBU?
1
Earn a Master's Degree
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.
2
Work with Accessible Professors
JBU’s psychology professors actively challenge students to consider the relationship between biblical truth and psychological truth through rigorous coursework and research projects.
3
Publish Your Research
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.
4
Get Field Experience
Students gain field experience through placements in a variety of off-campus organizations and ministries where they observe professionals in their field.
5
Present Your Position
Every year, JBU psychology students present papers at national academic conferences like The Great Plains Honors Conference and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
6
Tailor Your Degree
Choose an emphasis of study such as Child and Adolescent Development, Social Justice, Wilderness Counseling, or Intercultural Studies to learn more about your interests.
Meet Our Psychology Professors




Michelle Satterlee
A believer in good coffee and good people, Michelle Satterlee has become a fan of JBU and Siloam Springs. Dr. Satterlee 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 others on campus, you may find her at the local hardware store, planning the next (probably-more-than) weekend project.

Kevin Simpson
Department Head of Psychology
Professor of Psychology
Prior to arriving in Northwest Arkansas, Dr. Kevin Simpson taught for 12 years in Portland, Oregon and briefly, in the wilds of rural Utah immediately after completing graduate school in counseling psychology at the University of Denver. His background and training in psychotherapy also required a full year clinical internship at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He holds memberships in the American Psychological Association, the Psi Chi Honor Society in Psychology, and Division 2 of the APA, the Teaching of Psychology.
Dr. Simpson considers it a privilege to teach courses in Social, Personality, and Abnormal Psychology; Counseling Theory; the Psychology and History of the Holocaust; Sport and Exercise Psychology; and the Integration of Faith and Psychology. His most recent publications have been on the teaching the psychology of genocide, 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.
Dr. Simpson has been a research fellow twice at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (2009, 2010) and a fellow in the 2011 Summer Institute on the Holocaust and Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University (Illinois). His other professional interest areas include college student development, HIV/AIDS outreach, and international education. Dr. Simpson’s academic work has also taken him to Scotland, Germany, Mexico, Poland and Austria. For the Fall 2011 semester, he taught on the genocidal legacy of National Socialism as part of a study abroad program in Vienna, Austria.
Dr. Simpson has been recognized for his teaching by student groups, receiving ‘favorite faculty’ awards at his previous two universities. And for several summers, Dr Simpson served as a guest faculty in a summer college preparatory program at Yale University where he taught a seminar entitled “Beautiful Minds”: Psychology revealed through exceptional lives. This seminar was also offered as part of a faculty-in-residence experience in a study abroad program in London, England in 2007.
During the summer of 2012, he presented at the 8th International Conference on Holocaust Education at the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem Memorial and Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. His lecture, “Creating the Jewish Enemy: Psychology Explains Nazi Propaganda and Perpetration”, advanced a long-held desire for his students to recognize their own vulnerability to being passive, indifferent bystanders to discrimination and, in worst of times, genocide.
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 during World War II. From the earliest days of the Nazi dictatorship, captives played soccer behind the walls and fences of the Nazi terror state. To these prisoners, the ‘beautiful game’ was a glimmer of joy amid unrelenting hunger and torture, a show of resistance against the most heinous regime the world had ever seen.
But his true passions in life include his Texan wife, Stefanie, their two children Grace and Eli, playing soccer, upland bird hunting, and reveling in the ongoing successes of Manchester United football club.

Richard Froman
Professor of Psychology
Department 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.
Alumni Profile

Lilli-Anna Baca '14
“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.
Possible Careers for a Psychology Major
1
Grad School
Many students choose to advance in a particular area of interest by attending graduate school. Advanced degrees are required for many careers in psychology.
2
Case Management
These individuals work with both for profit and nonprofit organizations, daycare providers, half-way homes, youth/adult/senior citizen's programs, or group homes.
3
Organizational Research and Evaluation
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.
4
Department of Human Services
Many DHS departments look for graduates who have a background in psychology to work with children and families.
5
Law School
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.