James Penning,
Director of the Center for Social Research, Professor, Political Science
(616) 526-6232
penn@calvin.edu
Office: DeVos Center 261K
Weekly Schedule
(Knightvision login required)
Sabbatical fall 2009 and interim 2010
Educational/Professional Background
Professor Penning received his bachelor's degree in political science from Calvin College in 1971. Soon thereafter he began graduate studies at the University of Kentucky where he received a master's degree in political science in 1974 and a Ph.D. in political science in 1975. His dissertation topic was "Neighborhood Associations and Urban Planning."
Professor Penning joined Calvin College's political science faculty in 1975 and in addition to teaching full-time here, he has taught courses at Hope College, Cornerstone University and Western Michigan University.
Academic Interests
American Politics, Public Administration, Public Policy, Religion and Politics, State/Local Politics, Urban Politics
Recent Activities
Professor Penning has co-written five books, including one published November 2008, Pews, Prayers, and Participation: Religion and Civic Responsibility (with Corwin Smidt, Stephen Monsma, Douglas Koopman, and Kevin Den Dulk). In 2007, he contributed a chapter, "The Religion of Bill Clinton," to a 2007 volume called Religion and the American Presidency (Mark J. Rozell and Gleaves Whitney, eds.).
In addition to serving on the boards of Calvin's Comenius Scholars program and the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics, Professor Penning was recently appointed the director of Calvin's Center for Social Research.
Hobbies
Fishing, reading, photography
Additional Information
Read about Professor Penning becoming the director of the Center for Social Research.
Curriculum vitae (145 KB 
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