Dr. David Peña

Senior Lecturer

Office: Clayton Hall T-126
Social Sciences
College of Arts & Sciences
DavidPena@clayton.edu
Phone: (678) 466-4604

Biography

David Peña is a Lecturer in Political Science in the Department of Social Sciences.

Education

Ph D, American and Comparative Politics, Texas Tech University, 2023

MA, Political Science, Texas Tech University, 2010

MA, Political Science, St. Mary's University, 2007

BA, Political Science, St. Mary's University, 2006

Intellectual Contributions

Dominic D. Wells, Joshua Meddaugh, David Pena, What Does This Meme to You? A Test of a Critical Thinking Exercise for the American Government Classroom, Questions in Politics – November 2020

Lisa D. Holland-Davis, Jason L. Davis, David Pena, Exploring Low Birth Weight in the Metro-Atlanta Area Using the Urban Institute's Social Mobility Dashboard Spring 2026

Presentations

Dominic D. Wells, Joshua Meddaugh, David Pena, What Does This Meme to You? A New Approach to Critical Thinking in Introduction to American Government, Annual Meeting of the Georgia Political Science Association, Georgia Political Science Association – November 2019

David Pena, Lisa D. Holland-Davis, Leah Pieper, Jason L. Davis, County political leaning and health-related predictors of social mobility in Georgia, Annual Meeting of the Georgia Political Science Association, Clayton State University - Morrow, GA – November 7 2025

Service to the University & University System of Georgia

College, CAS Gene Hatfield Service of the Year, Committee Chair – August 8 2018 to August 1 2019

Department, Communications Committee, Committee Member – August 8 2018 to August 1 2019

University, William Woods Lecture Series, Committee Member – Fall 2022 to Present

Teaching Interest

Teaching interests include Comparative and American political science courses such as Intro to American Government, Intro to Political Science, Voting and Elections, Voting Behavior, Public Policy, Policy Analysis, Life Sciences and Politics, and Research Methods.

Research Interest

Research interests are varied but focus on political behavior, with a particular interest in political psychology and the intersection of biology and politics. Current research has been focused on social mobility.