Mission
The Center for Prairie Studies promotes understanding of and connection to our place and its people.
History of the Center
The Center for Prairie Studies was created in 1999 through the college's "Fund for Excellence." The underlying premise is to better utilize the college's location as a teaching and learning resource. The name "prairie studies" was selected to acknowledge our inescapable connection to the land and also because of its resonance with such varied subjects as prairie style architecture, prairie populism, and the prairie-plains indigenous culture area. From its inception, the Center for Prairie Studies has been strongly committed to bringing together scientific and humanistic perspectives on the natural and cultural aspects of our region, past and present. Encompassing all of these particulars are concerns about place and the necessity of living sustainably in place. The Center enjoys special relationships with the college's Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), a biological preserve located ten miles from campus, and the Faulconer Gallery, with which the Center frequently collaborates on exhibitions and special projects.
Center for Prairie Studies • Grinnell College • 1205 Park Street •
Grinnell, IA 50112 Phone: 641-269-4384 Fax: 641-269-4718
