Religious Studies

On campus, in your local community, and in all corners of the world, people conduct themselves based on their sense of what gives meaning to their lives. Understanding the cultural and historical roots of religious ideas and practices is essential to your ability to navigate the complexities of our global, multicultural society. As an interdisciplinary field of study, religious studies offers you an intensely international experience as well as research and global learning opportunities that open an array of potential career paths. Most importantly, you will be empowered to engage personally, intellectually, and practically with complex and difficult issues that face our local, national, and international communities.

First-Year Tutorial

Mindfulness: The Art of Living

With Professor Dixuan Yujing Chen, students will learn skills to 1) analyze scholarly works and evaluate the credibility of website resources, 2) define modern transformation of mindfulness in America, and 3) incorporate mindful practices into their academic performance and everyday life.
First-Year Tutorial

Our Habits, Ourselves

Caleb Elfenbein, associate professor of history and religious studies, offers a fall 2021 tutorial that will be a space of academic and personal discovery, with practical goals in mind as students begin a new moment in life.
Equipping Students to Find their Own Path in the World

"We prize and value the individual, but we prize and value the individual in community."

Professor of Religious Studies Henry Rietz describes the Grinnell College community, including students and alumni.

Watch the Video