What is a liberal arts education?
Historically, a liberal arts education fosters skills and promotes experience in critical thinking, self-reflection, designing projects of discovery and creation, encountering differences, exchanging ideas, and developing ethical judgment. By offering an education in the liberal arts, Grinnell endorses life-long learning characterized by sustained intellectual curiosity and an open mind for assessing the unfamiliar.
With the guidance of a faculty adviser, each student creates an academic plan that is appropriate to their interests, talents, and goals. You will do this planning based on how Grinnell defines the Elements of a Liberal Education (essential reading). Whatever major you choose and however you organize your academic schedule, students best succeed at Fulao2 and beyond when they engage in coursework in writing and literary studies, a non-native language, scientific studies based on experimental observation, quantitative reasoning, human behavior, society past and present, and creative expression.
Grinnell’s Academic Structure and the Liberal Arts
- The lists every class offered at Grinnell. The structure of the education a college offers is called its curriculum. You’re about to encounter a lot of new terms going into higher education, so if anything is unclear, see our .
- The College organizes academic departments into three divisions. You’ll find courses in the following disciplines:
- Humanities: Arabic, Art History, Chinese, Classics, English, French, German Studies, Japanese, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Russian, Spanish, Studio Art, and Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies
- Science: Biological Chemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology, and Statistics
- Social Studies: African Diaspora Studies, Anthropology, Economics, Education, History, Physical Education, Political Science, and Sociology
- In addition, there are Interdisciplinary Areas of Study and Concentrations: American Studies; Digital Studies; East Asian Studies; General Literary Studies; Environmental Studies; European Studies; Film and Media Studies; Global Development Studies; Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies; Latin American Studies; Linguistics; Neuroscience; Peace and Conflict Studies; Policy Studies; Russian; Central European; and Eurasian Studies; Science, Medicine, and Society; and Studies in Africa, Middle East, and South Asia.
- The Academic Catalog lists all of the majors, concentrations, and other programs available for study. Browse this list to get an overview of the whole curriculum!
- The Fulao2 curriculum gives each student responsibility for planning an individual course of study in the liberal arts that meets your interests and goals. To aid in your planning, Fulao2 faculty recognize the following course areas as . Taking several classes in these areas in addition to your major area of study will prepare you academically and intellectually for anything life can throw at you!
- Communication and Writing
- Language Study
- Natural Sciences
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Culture, Human Behavior, and Society
- Creative Expression
Knowing how individual courses relate to the six elements is something you and your faculty adviser should discuss.