Professor of Psychology and Philosophy
Education
B.A. in Psychology, Carthage College, 1971
M.A. in the Social Sciences, University of Chicago,
1978
Ph.D. in the Behavioral Sciences, University of
Chicago,
1985
Areas of specialization include human development and social cognition.
In
addition, he has had about seven years of experience as a counselor
working
with persons who suffered from physical, mental, and emotional
disturbances.
Experience
Lewis began his work at Bethel College in the fall
of
1988. His research interests include studies of mind in persons with
schizophrenia,
the psychology of religion, and studies of behavioral interpretation in
everyday
life. Part of his current research work in schizophrenia has its basis
in
collaborative projects with both the Institute of Psychiatry
(University
of London, United Kingdom) and IPSER (the Department of Psychiatry and
Neuropsychology,
University of Limburg (now the University of Maastricht), Maastricht,
Netherlands), projects begun during his 95/96
sabbatical
year. In the late 90's data collection focused on an
American sample of
persons
with schizophrenia at Prairie View, a mental health agency based in
Newton,
Kansas, and at BreakThrough Club, ComCare, and other agencies based in
Wichita, KS. An additional sabbatical to the Netherlands in the
Spring of 2003, along with shorter Summer-based trips in both 2005 and
2008, served to keep viable his connection with the University of
Maastricht and several of its faculty. Most recently he and three
of his students were able to present this work on schizophrenia to the
Spring 2011 meetings of the International Congress on Schizophrenia
Research held in Colorado Springs, CO.
Lewis attempts to use both his experience as a
counselor
and his past and present research work as resources on which to draw in
his
practice of teaching. He also enjoys offering opportunities to students
to
become involved in faculty research studies that interest them and
assisting
students with their own independent research projects.
The discipline of philosophy has become of
increasing interest
for Lewis, starting with his dissertation work relating to the
structure and
function of behavioral interpretation, and continuing with the
development
of his teaching in the philosophical schools of mind and
consciousness.
These areas of inquiry are addressed primarily in the Topics (PHI 361)
courses
of "Mind, Self, and Society", focuing on social and political
philosophy, and "Explanation and Understanding", focuing on
epistemology. In addition, because of student interest, a course
in "Existentialism" was sometimes offered. Currently, in part
because of the needs of the College, along with his own interests, he
has started to offer another Topics course entitled, "Philosophy of
Religion". This area has become quite fascinating for him given
both the increasing prominence of religiously-based issues and
arguments in popular culture, and the significance of religion along
with spirituality in the conducting of psychological research and of
psychologically-based therapy interventions (please
see
Philosophy Home Page below).
Course pages
PSYCHOLOGY
General
Psychology
Home Page
Lifespan
Development
Home Page
Abnormal
Psychology Home Page
Personality Home Page
PHILOSOPHY
Links to other Psychology Websites
American Psychological Association
Association for Psychological Science
Contact information
Office: Krehbiel Science Center 104
(316)-284-5292
plewis@bethelks.edu
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