Office Hours: James Grimshaw

Author: Carroll University

Published Date: 1/14/2020

Categories: F1RST Magazine F1RST Spring 2020 Faculty and Staff Religious Studies


Enterprise House 102

James Grimshaw

Associate professor of religious studies

His office looks like it belongs to a religious studies professor—the one long wall lined with bookshelves, stacked with books on theology, philosophy and comparative religion, competing for space with manila folders overstuffed with 15 years’ worth of students’ papers.  

It doesn’t much look the office of a mechanical engineer, which was Grimshaw’s first career (he toiled at a GM plant in Ohio), until another, higher calling came along and he enrolled in seminary school, eying a second career as a Presbyterian minister. He served a year as a minister in Indiana but still had a feeling he wasn’t yet in the right place. He went back to school, to Vanderbilt University, where he obtained a Ph.D. and then here to Carroll, to teach. This is his 16th year. “It’s a good fit for me,” he said. He has found his calling.

religious stole on a filing cabinet Stole

This scarf, a long strip of fabric used as an ecclesiastical vestment, is from Grimshaw’s time in the pulpit.

Gumby action figure Gumby

A seminary supervisor gave Grimshaw the nickname Gumby due to a perceived similarity to the toy’s posture.

Arabic writing Arabic Writing

Grimshaw’s name written in Arabic, collected during a cultural event on campus some years ago.

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Panoramic View of campus