Rate My Professor Darren Walhof

Darren Walhof serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Grand Valley State University. Specializing in political theory, religion and politics, and constitutional law, he has built a distinguished career in academia. Walhof holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, an M.B.A. from Grand Valley State University, and a B.A. from Calvin College. His professional journey at GVSU commenced in 2003 as an Assistant Professor, progressing to Associate Professor in 2007 and Professor in 2014. Prior to this, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor in Political Science at Gustavus Adolphus College from 2001 to 2003. Additional appointments include Visiting Professor at the Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto in 2010, and Senior Fellow at the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Religion and Politics at Calvin College from 2016 to 2017.

Walhof's scholarly work centers on democratic theory, philosophical hermeneutics—particularly the ideas of Hans-Georg Gadamer—and the role of religion in public life. Notable publications include his monograph The Democratic Theory of Hans-Georg Gadamer (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); contributions to The Cambridge Companion to Gadamer, second edition (Cambridge University Press, 2021), and The Gadamerian Mind (Routledge, 2021); as well as articles such as “Gadamer's Conception of Phronesis and the Crisis of Democracy” in Hans-Georg Gadamer: Cuestiones abiertas | Open Questions (2025), “Exposure and Disclosure: The Risk of Hermeneutical Truth in Democratic Politics” in Truth Matters: Knowledge, Politics, Ethics, Religion (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2014), and “Habermas, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Problem of Religion in Public Life” in Philosophy & Social Criticism (2013). His articles have also appeared in journals like Political Theory and History of Political Thought. In recognition of his teaching excellence, Walhof has been awarded the University Outstanding Teacher Award and Pew Teaching Excellence Award from GVSU, the Student Award for Faculty Excellence from the Grand Valley Student Senate, and the American Political Science Association's Outstanding Teaching in Political Science award with Pi Sigma Alpha. He teaches courses including PLS 206 American Constitutional Foundations, PLS 232 Modern Political Thought, PLS 333 Contemporary Political Thought, and PLS 337 American Political Thought.