J Lynn Nelson

Dr. Nelson, (“Doc”), is a retired U.S. Navy officer with experience working with many cultures and approaches to learning and living. They teach two courses at NewSchool: General Psychology (having developed the current curriculum for NewSchool); and, Research & Communications. We have been privileged to have Doc on our Integrated Studies teaching staff since 2018.

When not teaching for NewSchool, they teach the Psychology of Design course online for Maryville University St Louis after developing the course for Maryville in 2022. Beyond teaching, Doc wears many hats including web and graphic designer; master puppeteer; mascot performer; nature therapy guide and laughter therapy practitioner.

Two of Doc’s passions are learning and laughing and they were combined for doctoral research studying laughter-therapy for people suffering emotional duress. The research demonstrated, scientifically, that laughter is medicine. Doc is also a published author of a book about using laughter to take life less seriously and Doc will tell you the only thing they take seriously is laughter.

Doc’s philosophy on teaching is that learning is a team sport; no one learns in a vacuum. Teachers and students are team members each learning from, and teaching, the other. The decision to join the faculty at NewSchool was obvious. For Doc, a tour of the campus and introduction to what we do made NewSchool feel like the perfect home for Doc. For NewSchool, Doc’s passion for how psychology is affected by the design world and design is influenced by human psychology makes it a perfect fit.