Meet our New Psychology Professor, Dr. Shepard!

As most of you may already know, we have a new psychology professor that will start Fall 2018! We are so excited to have him join our UMO family and community on campus! Here is a brief interview with him about his interests and background:

1) Where are you from? What is your education background?

"I was born in St. Petersburg, FL and raised in Mobile, AL. After graduating high school, I entered the workforce, working mainly in retail. After almost five years in retail, I decided to give college a chance. I enrolled in the local university, the University of South Alabama. It was there I fell in love with learning. I double majored in philosophy and psychology. After graduating from South Alabama, I attended Georgia State University where I earned an MA in philosophy. One of the most interesting aspects of my time at Georgia State was that I was a neurophilosophy fellow, which meant that I was a philosophy MA student who received funding from the Neuroscience Institute. This fellowship allowed me to continue to explore my interdisciplinary interests in philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology. After completing my MA in philosophy at Georgia State, I decided to switch psychology. I attended Emory University where I earned my PhD in Cognitive Psychology."

2) What experiences do you have?

"As a graduate student, I taught several courses including methods, statistics, cognitive psychology, and a pair of interdisciplinary, team-taught freshman and senior seminars. During my last year as a graduate student, I was a visiting lecturer at Agnes Scott College. After teaching at Agnes Scott College for a year, I became a visiting lecturer at Georgia State University. I have also taught neuroscience as part of the Duke TIP Program and neuroscience and cognitive psychology as part of Emory's pre-college program. I have also been highly involved in research. As of March 2018, I have published 13 peer-reviewed articles in some of my field's top journals. Most of my published research has been on people's beliefs and theories about agency-related concepts, primarily free will, intentional action, and causation."

3) Why did you decide to teach at Mount Olive?

"The University of Mount Olive was a very attractive place for me. I was looking for somewhere where there was a strong sense of community, good students, friendly colleagues, and support for me to continue to do research. Mount Olive fit all these criteria."

4) What are your favorite classes to teach?

"I love teaching Cognitive Psychology. Methods is also a favorite of mine. In Spring of 2018, I had an opportunity to teach an interdisciplinary course on Neuroethics. I would love to be able to teach Neuroethics (or a similar course) again."

5) What do you research? What plans do you have for your research cohort?

"My primary area of research is on people's beliefs and theories about agency-related concepts, primarily free will, intentional action, and causation. Another area of research I am currently engaged in is the different ways in which people think about the future. I would love to continue my research in these areas. I am also welcome guiding student-led research in areas that are not directly related to my current research areas. I am looking forward to involving our students in new and exciting projects. My goal on any project is to do high-quality research that has the potential to be published. At minimum, I hope all my students get a chance to present their work at conferences."

6) What are you most excited about coming to UMO?

"I am most excited about the students. I look forward to being an advisor and a mentor. I also look forward to learning from them."

7) Have you tried Mount Olive pickles yet?

"Yes."

8) What would you like to say to your future students?

"Always believe in yourself. Focus on the learning and try not to worry about grades so much. Most importantly, enjoy your time at Mount Olive."

"If interested in learning more about me, visit my website at http://jasonshepard.net/index.html "

Please give a warm welcome to our new psychology professor, Dr. Shepard! We are so excited to have him join our psychology department!