Psychology - Faculty & Staff

I began teaching at Wabash in 2000, and served as the chair of the Psychology department from 2007-2013. I am currently chair of the Social Sciences division. My area of specialty is cognitive psychology, which employs controlled experimentation to study how people process information about the world around them – how they identify and use objects, navigate their environments, remember their histories, make decisions, solve problems, and make judgments about other people. This area of psychology is closely allied with neuroscience, an area of strength for our department. In addition to my general courses on cognitive psychology, I enjoy teaching about how the science of cognitive psychology can improve the administration of criminal justice – for example, through an understanding of eyewitness memory and jury decision-making.

Outside the classroom, I've served the College in a number of capacities -- as a charter member of our Retention Programming Committee, and more recently as a leader of the College's partnership with the JED Foundation, which promotes best practices in mental health for college students. I also started the College's first permanent Office of Institutional Research in 2014.

Beyond Wabash I dedicate lots of time to sports and fitness, and students find that sports texts and analogies frequently find their way into my teaching. I am also a bit of an automotive buff, occasionally teaching a freshman tutorial course on the history of the automobile in the United States. And a good portion of my down time finds me immersed in the ongoing "golden age" of television drama and television criticism. Shows that I would recommend to a serious fan of television range from the obvious (The Americans, Better Call Saul, Mad Men, The Good Place) to the less so (Station Eleven; GLOW, Bojack Horseman; Terriers). Going back just a few years, the modern canon includes The Wire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the first four seasons of The 正规赌钱软件appst Wing.

Finally, I devote time to my wife, Biology professor Anne Bost, my daughter Emily -- now attending Denison University -- and our lovable dog Wilbur. Several times a year, we return to our roots in the Deep South, where we have family in Alabama and the Carolinas.