Corwin Smidt to Speak at Geneva College - Geneva College
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Corwin Smidt to Speak at Geneva College

Picture of Corwin Smidt to Speak at Geneva College

Distinguished Political Science Scholar to Deliver Two Lectures

Corwin Smidt(BEAVER FALLS, Pa.) – Geneva College will host two lectures by Corwin Smidt on Thursday, September 15, at 7 p.m. and on Friday, September 16, at 10:10 a.m. Both lectures will be presented on the Beaver Falls campus in Skye Lounge.

Smidt is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and a Research Fellow of the Henry Institute at Calvin College. He currently serves as President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, an interdisciplinary, international scholarly association that promotes social scientific research about religious institutions and behavior, and has been elected several times as well to serve on the governing council of the Society.

After receiving his B.A. from Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, Smidt taught at Calvin College from 1977 to 2012, where he served as the Director of the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics from 1997 to 2012. He was the recipient of the Fulbright-Dow Distinguished Research Chair award of the Roosevelt Study Center in the Netherlands for Fall 2011.

He has been quoted in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, as well as many other major newspapers, and has been interviewed on a variety of public and commercial radio and television station programs. Since his retirement from active teaching in August 2012, he has been invited to give a series of guest lectures at universities in Germany, Switzerland, and China.

He is the author, editor, or co-author/co-editor of over fifteen books and has published in a variety of sociology and political science journals. His most recently completed volumes are: Pastors & Public Life; The Changing Face of American Protestant Clergy (Oxford Univ. Press, 2016); American Evangelicals Today (Rowman & Littlefield 2013), The Disappearing God Gap? Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election (Oxford University Press, 2010), The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics (Oxford University Press, 2009), and Pews, Prayers, and Participation: The Role of Religion in Fostering Civic Responsibility (Georgetown University Press, 2008).

Smidt is a founding member of the Religion and Politics section of the American Political Science Association, serving several terms on the section’s executive council and once as its Executive Director. In 2014, he was recognized by the Religion and Politics sections for his service to the section and for his critical contributions to its field of study. He was also a founding member of Christians in Political Science and served as its President from 1996-1998.

Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 40 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and classroom options, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Ten Best Value with one of the Top 90 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God’s Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today’s world.

Sep 13, 2016