As we work to provide content that will engage our primary audiences of prospective students and their families, video has become an expectation. Here are some sample videos of faculty and students talking about various aspects of the Grinnell experience. We will continue to develop this series and populate our website and social media channels with this content.
Advising
“I really believe in an individually advised curriculum, and the idea that you don’t have a checklist or a one-size-fits-all for students, but I think that that has to be managed through a close, one-on-one relationship with someone who knows them well and who knows the curriculum well.”
Karla Erickson, professor of Sociology, describes the unique relationship between students and their advisers as they navigate Grinnell’s individually advised curriculum.
Teaching
“These students keep me on my toes. They’re incredibly inquisitive, they’re curious, they don’t settle, they are uniquely invested in what it is that interests them, but they’re also looking for ways in which to impact society once they leave here.
“These are the students that teach me how to be a better teacher.”
Stephanie Jones, assistant professor of Education, describes her teaching philosophy, how faculty craft engaging courses, and how Grinnell students challenge her to be her best.
Students
“It’s important to think about who devises or builds the technology that’s changing the world. If we’re building technology that affects everyone, we really need to make sure that everyone’s building that technology.”
Samuel A. Rebelsky, professor of Computer Science, talks about the importance of diversity in computing, why he teaches at Grinnell, and why he loves Grinnell students.
Digital Humanities
“Here, the undergraduate’s experience is at the center. We want undergraduates to be asking their own questions, learning how to answer them in the community, how to synthesize a lot of very complex information and bring that information to bear on a question that has made them passionate about the inquiry that they’re making.”
Professor Erik Simpson describes some of the opportunities that Grinnell College makes available to undergraduate students, including research in the digital humanities.
Community
“We prize and value the individual, but we prize and value the individual in community.”
Professor Henry Rietz describes the Grinnell College community, including students and alumni.
Art
“We have lots of opportunities for students to engage on social levels, on academic levels, and on very personal levels.”
Lesley Wright, director of the Faulconer Gallery, is a connector, bringing together people who may not realize they have similar interests, to think around an exhibition, and to develop ways to involve art in teaching.
“I think that Grinnell College has many strengths. One of them is the academic rigor of Grinnell College. I think we are good, very good, at helping students who are already excellent students who come to Grinnell, become even stronger thinkers, stronger in research, stronger speakers, global citizens.”
Professor of Spanish Valerie Benoist explains how Grinnell helps students become the best global citizens that they possibly can be in the areas that interest them the most.
“I’m still amazed by the amount of resources that are available to students … At the very time when they’re trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do, they have all these stimulating experiences that expose them to a much wider world, and they are in a better position to start making choices.”
Monessa Cummins, associate professor of classics, describes the many opportunities Grinnell College provides for hard-working students.
“Nearly one in every five students at Grinnell is coming from somewhere outside of the United States. You put all those opportunities with the fact that the students’ roommates, the person who’s their lab partner in their chemistry class, the person that they’re eating with in the dining hall is probably from another part of the world, and with the fact that their faculty are teaching courses that are about issues in the world using languages, world languages, and suddenly you’ve created in the middle of Iowa a very global campus and a global education.”
David Harrison, professor of French, describes the global learning opportunities available to Grinnell students both on-and off-campus.
Community and Culture
“Students are very intentional in choosing to come to Grinnell College — that adds to a very bright, a very vibrant and inclusive community.”
Current students try to define the community and campus culture at Grinnell.
Get Involved
“Students support each others’ interests because we all came here because we are passionate about something or we’re searching for those passions.”
Current students describe the many, many ways they are involved on campus and the opportunities to express their interests.
Individually Advised Curriculum
“This open space, this flexibility that Grinnell has in the curriculum, in the offerings to students, to ensure this broad, balanced variety of classes … I think that it really changed the trajectory of my academic experience — what I thought that would look like, and what it has come to be.”
Students describe Grinnell’s individually advised curriculum, the impact of their advisers, and the choices that enabled them to find their path forward.
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