Religious Studies Faculty

Chair
Timothy Dobe
Professor
Professor Dobe teaches courses on Hinduism, Bollywood and religion, Gandhi, Global Christianity and Sufism. His research focuses on comparing religions, traditions of sainthood and asceticism, and the history of western imperialism, religious pluralism and modernization. His book about Hindu and...
Dixuan Yujing Chen
Assistant Professor
Dixuan Yujing Chen (religious name: Dixuan Shi), Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions at Grinnell College, is an ordained Buddhist nun of the Mahayana tradition. She received her Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies and East Asian Religions from the University of Florida. Her research explores a range...
Profile Picture
Instructor
Growing up in China, traveling extensively across Southeast Asia, while pursuing her academic career in the US, Beiyin Deng considers herself a boundary-crosser who aims to bridge these different worlds through her research. Her dissertation investigates contemporary Buddhist craftsmanship in the...
Caleb head shot—smiling
Professor

Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

I am a Professor of History and Religious Studies at Grinnell College, where I am also Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I graduated from Vassar College with a degree in political science, an education that still informs my work and my life. I have a...
Ed Gilday
Associate Professor Emeritus
We are deeply saddened to share the news of Professor Ed Gilday’s passing on May 17, 2022. An obituary and tribute wall, where condolences may be shared are available online through the Smith Funeral Home site. Associate Professor of Religious Studies, has a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin...
Darrius Hills
Associate Professor
Darrius D. Hills is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Grinnell College. He received his M.Div. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and his M.A. and Ph.D in Religion (concentration in African American Religion) from Rice University. His research interests privilege African...
Harold Kasimow
Professor Emeritus

George A. Drake Professor of Religious Studies, Emeritus

Articles on Kasimow and his Works Judaism Open to the Religions of the Nations: A Polish Catholic Theologian reads an American Jewish Pluralist A review of Professor Harold Kasimow's The Search Will Make You Free: A Jewish Dialogue with World Religions To Be a Mensch Professor Harold Kasimow's...
Henry Reitz
Professor

George A. Drake Professor of Religious Studies

Henry W. Morisada Rietz is a Professor of Religious Studies at Grinnell College and an alumnus of the College. He received his M.Div. and his Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary and is the associate editor of the Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project. His...
Elias
Assistant Professor
Elias G. Saba received his PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. He was awarded the British Association of Islamic Studies – De Gruyter Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World 2018 for his dissertation. His first monograph, Harmonizing...

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