Dr. Jennifer L. Holberg
Biography
Jennifer Holberg grew up as a "military brat," moving nine times before her high school graduation. Calvin's first woman 鈥淧rofessor of the Year," she is passionate about teaching, both in her classroom and in her scholarship as the founding co-editor of the Duke University Press journal, , which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020. Holberg has served on numerous departmental, campus, and disciplinary committees, including serving as Associate Director of the Honors Program, Head Teaching Fellow, faculty leader of the Faculty Senate for six years, and as the long-serving chair of the all-university Educational Policy Committee. An enthusiastic advocate of public scholarship, she teaches CALL (Calvin Academy of Lifelong Learning) each semester and frequently speaks to churches and other community groups. Best of all: she takes students to Florence every other year for interim!
With Professor Jane Zwart, Professor Holberg co-directs the , the home of not just the biennial Festival of Faith and Writing but a host of other initiatives. Her deep interest in the intersections of faith and literature shows up in her biweekly contributions to (since 2012), which examines contemporary issues through a Reformed Christian lens. Her book publications also explore this territory: her first book, , published by Eerdmans in 2006, received a coveted starred review from .
Her new book, , is being published by InterVarsity Press on July 25, 2023.
Favorite Books
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- Persuasion by Jane Austen
- Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
- The short stories and essays of Flannery O鈥機onnor
- The work of Marilynne Robinson
- 顿补苍迟别鈥檚 Divine Comedy
- The poetry of Christian Wiman, Jane Kenyon, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Tennyson
Additional Information:
- Watch Professor Holberg鈥檚 2011 Calvin College commencement address, 鈥淥ne Thing Needful鈥 ()
- , Spark, Lynn Rosendale
- , Perspectives, Jennifer Holberg
- , Perspectives, Jennifer Holberg
- , Perspectives, Jennifer Holberg
- , Perspectives, Jennifer Holberg
- , Calvin News
Education
Professor Holberg was granted a BA in English and history from New Mexico State University in 1990; she graduated with the highest honors as the university's valedictorian. She went from there to the University of Washington, where she completed her MA and PhD in English in 1991 and 1997, respectively. She joined the English department faculty at Calvin in 1998.
Academic Interests
- the power of story to shape faith/the intersections of faith and literature
- 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century British literature
- the scholarship of teaching
- the "middlebrow" woman novelist (currently working on a book-length study of the writer E.M. Delafield)
Awards
- Professor Holberg was the recipient of the Professor of the Year award in 2002
- Professor Holberg is the founding co-editor of . Published by Duke University Press, the journal was selected as Best New Journal by the Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ) in 2001
Publications
