James Dillon, Ph.D.

James Dillon, Ph.D.

Professor

Contact info

Curriculum Vitae [PDF]

Professor

Biography

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. His educational background is in Cognitive Development, Education, Philosophy, Literature, and Aesthetics. His principal interest lies in the examination and development of human symbolic capacities, specifically, those processes by which we endow experience with meaning, value, and purpose. He is particularly interested in how young children make meaning in their lives and the relationship between these early symbolic capacities and adult development. He does research on children's drawing and artwork, adult symbolism under special conditions, and the effectiveness of various teaching techniques including seminar discussions for children and adults.

  • Courses Taught
  • Course Sections and Syllabi

    Fall 2019 Sections

    • PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E05
    • PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01
    • PSYC-9999 (Dissertation) Section: E01

    Summer 2019 Sections

    • PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E01
    • PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01

    Spring 2019 Sections

    • PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01
    • PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E02

    Fall 2018 Sections

    • XIDS-2002 (WDYKA Making Decisions) Section: 08
    • PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E02
    • PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E01
    • PSYC-6899 (Yogic Pedagogy) Section: 01
    • PSYC-7810D (Jungian Journal Writing) Section: 02
    • PSYC-9999 (Dissertation) Section: E01

    Summer 2018 Sections

    • PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E01
    • PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01
    • PSYC-5270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: E01

    Spring 2018 Sections

    • PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E01 Download Syllabus [PDF]
    • PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E01 Download Syllabus [PDF]
    • PSYC-6785 (Archetypes & Alchemy) Section: 03 Download Syllabus [PDF]
    • PSYC-6881 (Re-Discovery of the Sacred) Section: 08
    • PSYC-6899 (Thesis Rediscovering the Sacre) Section: 03
    • PSYC-6899 (Thesis) Section: 04
    • PSYC-6899 (Spirituality & Education) Section: 06
    • PSYC-8584 (Archetypes & Alchemy) Section: 03 Download Syllabus [PDF]

    Fall 2017 Sections

    • PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: E01
    • PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E01
    • PSYC-3010 (Human Growth and Development) Section: E02
    • PSYC-6899 (A Rediscovery of the Sacred) Section: 01

    Summer 2017 Sections

    • PSYC-4070 (Psychology of Myth and Symbol) Section: 01
    • PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: 01
    • PSYC-5070 (Psychology of Myth and Symbol) Section: 01
    • PSYC-5270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: 01

    Spring 2017 Sections

    • PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: 01
    • PSYC-4887 (Practicum:Exper in Human Servc) Section: 01
    • PSYC-6785 (ADVANCED HORIZON SEMINAR Jung) Section: 01

    Fall 2016 Sections

    • PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: 01
    • PSYC-4085 (Horiz Sem-SOCRATES & Psyc) Section: 01
    • PSYC-4884 (Integrative Seminar) Section: 01

    Summer 2016 Sections

    • PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: 01
    • PSYC-5270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: 01

    Spring 2016 Sections

    • PSYC-4085 (Erich Fromm) Section: 03
    • PSYC-4884 (Integrative Seminar) Section: 01
    • PSYC-4887 (Practicum:Exper in Human Servc) Section: 01
    • PSYC-5085 (Erich Fromm) Section: 03

    Fall 2015 Sections

    • PSYC-4884 (Integrative Seminar) Section: 02
    • PSYC-4887 (Practicum:Exper in Human Servc) Section: 02
    • PSYC-6010 (Human Growth and Potential) Section: 01

    Summer 2015 Sections

    • PSYC-4070 (Psychology of Myth and Symbol) Section: 01
    • PSYC-4270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: 01
    • PSYC-5070 (Psychology of Myth and Symbol) Section: 01
    • PSYC-5270 (Psychology of Childhood) Section: 01

    Spring 2015 Sections

    • PSYC-2010 (Psychology as a Human Science) Section: 01
    • PSYC-4884 (Integrative Seminar) Section: 02
    • PSYC-4887 (Practicum:Exper in Human Servc) Section: 01
  • Publication List

    Dillon, J. (2019). Inside today's elementary schools: A psychologist's perspective. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.

    Dillon, J. (2019). Humanistic psychology and the good: A forgotten link. The Humanistic Psychologist.

    Dillon, J. (2019). Reassembling the real person: A Jungian and mythical-dramatistic approach tohuman development. The Journal of Humanistic Psychology

    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]

    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.

    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. (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.

    Dillon, J. (2006). The tears of Priam: Reflections on Troy and teaching of ancienttexts. Humanitas, 19(1&2): 126-131.

  • Other Information

    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)