Joye Swan: A Sherlock Holmes of Human Behavior
Asked to characterize the work of a psychology professor and researcher into human sexuality, Dr. Joye Swan reaches outside the academic world to identify the job that correlates most closely with how she spends her professional life.
鈥淚 see being a psychologist as more akin to being a detective than anything else,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been a curious person and a questioner. Psychological research should be about a search for 鈥榯he truth鈥� rather than an attempt to confirm one鈥檚 hypotheses.鈥�
As department chair, professor of psychology and director of Woodbury鈥檚 Special Academic Programs, Dr. Swan has special expertise in the study of sexual risk-taking, intimate relationships and political influence.
Her most recent book, Bisexuality: Theories, Research, and Recommendations for the Invisible Sexuality (Springer, 2018), caps four years of research and provides a window into the way she relates to students. Her co-editor, Shani Habibi, Ph.D., is a former student of Dr. Swan鈥檚 who now teaches at Mt. St. Mary鈥檚 University. It鈥檚 a collaboration of which she鈥檚 especially proud. 鈥淚 think our work truly demonstrates how deep and personal the relationships forged at Woodbury are,鈥� she says.
Dr. Swan鈥檚 other recent research has explored perceptions of bisexuality (published in the “Psychology of Sexualities Review”) and sexual versus emotional exclusivity and the implications for sexual health risk (Journal of Sex Research). She also received a 2016 summer academy fellowship from the International Society of Political Psychology. As a topper, Dr. Swan writes the monthly 鈥淯p Close and Personal鈥� column in “Psychology Today.”
With a special interest in sexual stigma and marginalized groups, Dr. Swan relishes taking on big-picture topics. 鈥淚鈥檓 still trying to answer the question of why human attitudes toward sexuality are what they are,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat is, why are there so many opinions about sex and all its manifestations as opposed to, say, which vegetables someone likes or doesn鈥檛 like?鈥�
In the classroom, Dr. Swan helps students see 鈥渢he value of psychology in its application. Psychology isn鈥檛 abstract — it surrounds us every day.鈥� Before Woodbury, she taught at the Claremont Colleges and she earned her doctorate at Claremont Graduate University. 鈥淲hen I came to Woodbury, I vowed to not change my curriculum or my expectations of students. Instead, I made it my responsibility to teach in such a way that I could raise my students up to the level of those expectations. You won鈥檛 see an emphasis on rote memorization or multiple choice exams in my classes,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 want my students to be able to apply what they learn and engage their knowledge with the world around them.鈥�
Sometimes that means pushing back in order to help students develop and strengthen their arguments.
鈥淎s many of my students can attest, I like to play the devil鈥檚 advocate in my classes, arguing against whatever it is my students argue for,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭he ability to not just have an opinion but to be able to backup that opinion is what sets a Woodbury graduate apart.鈥�