James Dillon, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
678-839-0607
jdillon@wes tga.edu
Melson Hall - Room 116
Office Hours
By appointment
Jim received his B.A. in Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross, his M.A. and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Clark University. He is also a certified public elementary school teacher in Georgia. His educational background is in Philosophy, Cognitive Development, Education, Decision-Making, and Guidance Counseling. He does research on self-realization, human growth, parenting, spiritual discernment, and decision-making. He has conducted hundreds of interviews with children, adults, counselors, and teachers on what helps people to learn and grow. He has written several books on human flourishing including Partnerships in Research, Clinical, and Educational Settings (Praeger Press, 2000); Teaching Psychology and the Socratic Method (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2016); Inside Today’s Elementary Schools (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2019), the forthcoming Joy of Duty: Ethical Obligation and Human Happiness (Ethics International), as well as many professional research articles in journals such as Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice; Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology; Journal of Humanistic Counseling Education and Development; The Journal of Humanistic Psychology; and The Humanistic Psychologist.
- PSYC-1030 (Personal Relationships)
- PSYC-1101 (Intro to General Psychology)
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science)
- PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development)
- PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood)
- PSYC-4670 (Values, Meaning & Spirituality)
- PSYC-4884 (Integrative Seminar)
- PSYC-4887 (Practicum:Exper in Human Servc)
- PSYC-6899 (Exploring Nature Based Healing)
- PSYC-7810 (Archetypal Psychology)
- PSYC-8581 (Models of Self and Love)
- PSYC-8887 (Advanced Practicum in Psychol)
- PSYC-9087 (Teaching Practicum)
- PSYC-9999 (Dissertation)
Spring 2025 Sections
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2024 Sections
- PSYC-1030 (Personal Relationships) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E03 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4884 (Integrative Seminar) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Summer 2024 Sections
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Spring 2024 Sections
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2023 Sections
- PSYC-1030 (Personal Relationships) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4884 (Integrative Seminar) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Summer 2023 Sections
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Spring 2023 Sections
- PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4887 (Practicum:Exper in Human Servc) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-9999 (Dissertation) Section: E02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2022 Sections
- PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4884 (Integrative Seminar) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-6899 (Thesis) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-8887 (Advanced Practicum in Psychol) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-9999 (Dissertation) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Summer 2022 Sections
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Spring 2022 Sections
- PSYC-1101 (Intro to General Psychology) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4670 (Values, Meaning & Spirituality) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-6899 (Exploring Nature Based Healing) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-9087 (Teaching Practicum) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-9999 (Dissertation) Section: E02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2021 Sections
- PSYC-1101 (Intro to General Psychology) Section: 19 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-7810 (Archetypal Psychology) Section: 02 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-9999 (Dissertation) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Summer 2021 Sections
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Spring 2021 Sections
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E03 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-9999 (Dissertation) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Fall 2020 Sections
- PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: 01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-8581 (Models of Self and Love) Section: E06 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
- PSYC-9999 (Dissertation) Section: E01 external Syllabus via Concourse External Resource
Dillon, J. (2022). The joy of duty: Human happiness and ethical obligation. Ethics International.
Swogger, B., & Dillon, J. (2022). Historical foundations of affectivity and learning research: C.G. Jung’s word-association experiments. In P. Fossa & C. Cortés-Rivera (Eds.), Affectivity and learning: Bridging the gap between neurosciences, cultural an
Dillon, J. (2021). Occluding the obligational realm: How psychology misconstrues happiness. The Catholic Social Science Review, 26, 235-245.
Dillon, J. (2021). Reassembling the real person: A Jungian and mythical-dramatistic approach to human development. The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 61(5), 786-805. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167819853072
Dillon, J. (2020). Humanistic psychology and the good: A forgotten link. The Humanistic Psychologist, 48(3), 244-256.
Dillon, J. (2019). Inside today's elementary schools: A psychologist's perspective. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Dillon, J. (2018). A letter to a new faculty member: How to stay sane in the academy. TheHumanistic Psychologist, 46(2), 147-158.
Dillon, J. (2016). Teaching psychology and the Socratic Method: Real knowledge in a virtualage. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. [View Publication External Resource]
Dillon, J. (2013). Using Socrates to teach psychology: A humanistic approach to Psychology101. The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 53(3), 362-385.
Dillon, J. (2011). Psychology and spiritual life writing. The Humanistic Psychologist, 39(2):137-153.
Dillon, J. (2010). Primal vision: The psychological effects of creation myth. The Journal ofHumanistic Psychology, 50(4), 495-513.
Dillon, J. (2009). Benjamin Franklin's wonder-based approach to learning and education:Lessons for today. Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice. [View Publication (PDF)]
Dillon, J. (2008). Reclaiming humanistic psychology from modernity: Problems and solutions. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 48(2), 221-242.
Dillon, J., Sagarin, J., & Bibace, R. (2008). Change in reasoning about the bodyThrough psychological distancing activities. Journal of AppliedDevelopmental Psychology, 29(4), 254-258.
Dillon, J. (2006). Irving Babbitt's New Humanism and Its Potential Value to Humanistic Psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist, 34(1), 59-73.
Dillon, J. (2006). The tears of Priam: Reflections on Troy and teaching of ancienttexts. Humanitas, 19(1&2): 126-131. [View Publication (PDF)]
Dillon, J. (2003). Bringing counseling to the classroom and the residence hall: The university learning community. Journal of Humanistic Counseling Education and Development, 42, 194-208.
Dillon, J. (2002). The role of the child in adult development. The Journal of Adult Development, 9(4), 267-275.
Influential Works
Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Sigmund Freud); Book of Psalms (King David); Jesus: A New Vision (Marcus Borg); Magister Ludi (Hermann Hesse); The Doors of Perception (Aldous Huxley); The Culture of Narcissism (Christopher Lasch); The Earthsea Trilogy (Ursula K. LeGuin); Toward a Psychology of Being (Abraham H. Maslow); The Equilibration of Cognitive Structures (Jean Piaget); Oration on the Dignity of Man (Pico della Mirandola); Lost in the Cosmos (Walker Percy); Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle); Republic (Plato); The Denial of Death (Ernest Becker); I and Thou (Martin Buber); An Essay on Man (Ernst Cassirer); The Interpretation of Dreams (Sigmund Freud); The Way of a Pilgrim (Anonymous); Timaeus (Plato); Symbol Formation (Heinz Werner & Bernard Kaplan)