Rate My Professor Whitt Kilburn

Whitt Kilburn serves as Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at Grand Valley State University. He specializes in American politics, public opinion, elections, and voting behavior. Kilburn holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2005), an M.P.A. from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin (1999), and a B.A. in Political Science from Grinnell College (1995). His teaching portfolio includes courses such as PLS 102: American Government and Politics, PLS 300: Political Analysis, PLS 350: Comparative Public Opinion, PLS 341: Elections and Voting Behavior, and PLS 495: Capstone Seminar on Politics. Located in 1103 Au Sable Hall on the Allendale campus, he is accessible to students via office hours and phone at (616) 331-8831.

Kilburn's scholarly contributions include the authorship of Introduction to Political Analysis in R, published by CRC Press in 2025, which provides a comprehensive guide to data science, statistics, and political analysis using R, covering basics, data manipulation, visualization, spatial analysis, text analysis, and modeling with real-world political examples and exercises. Other key publications are 'Can't Buy Me Love (with Foreign Aid)' in Foreign Policy Analysis (2023), 'American Religious Traditions, Orthodoxy, and Commitment in Public Opinion toward Torture' (with Brian J. Fogarty) in Politics and Religion, 'Personal Values and Public Opinion' (2009), and the chapter 'Survey Research' in 21st Century Political Science: A Reference Handbook. He designed and led the Data Inquiry Lab (DIL) at Grand Valley State University, launched in 2015 in partnership with University Libraries, the Department of Statistics, the School of Computing and Information Systems, and the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center, offering workshops, in-class demonstrations, and consultations for quantitative data management, visualization, and analysis. Kilburn employs innovative pedagogical tools like the Hypothesis social annotation platform to foster student engagement with syllabi and readings. He has also contributed as a reviewer for PS: Political Science & Politics.