John Scherpereel is Professor of Political Science. Dr. Scherpereel has been a faculty member at James Madison University since 2005 and currently coordinates JMU's Modern European Studies minor. He received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2003), an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1998), and a B.A. in Government and International Studies and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame (1997).  From 2009 to 2019, he directed the department's M.A. program in political science and the university's Semester in Florence program. From 2020 to 2023, he served as the assistant chair of the Department of Political Science. In 2024, he became the coordinator of the American & Global Perspectives component of JMU's General Education program. 

Dr. Scherpereel’s research focuses on European politics, the relationship between politics and administration, the politics of representation, and the dynamics of territorial governance. He is the author of Governing the Czech Republic and Slovakia: Between State Socialism and the European Union (FirstForum 2008). His recent work--much of it reflecting collaboration with JMU faculty colleagues, students, and alumni--has been published in European Journal of International Relations, European Politics and Society, Governance, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Integration, Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of Women, Politics, and Policy, Policy & Internet, West European Politics, and elsewhere.

Dr. Scherpereel regularly teaches courses on European Union politics, the politics of Central and Eastern Europe, comparative politics, and the politics of representation.