Each year, dozens of undergraduate and graduate students arrive at Emory University to think about the big questions as they study under faculty members in the Department of Religious Studies. By looking at topics ranging from Greek and Roman philosophy, to ancient Hinduism and contemporary Islam, professors aim not only to equip students with the right credits for a degree and skills for the workplace, but also to help them ask and think about the cosmic questions any emerging adult encounters. What is a life well-lived? What is purpose? How do you define success, joy and happiness?

With regularly offered courses like Death and Dying; Religion and Sexuality; and Religion and Healing, among more traditional topics, the department tries to help students better understand themselves and their outlook on life, says department chairman Gary Laderman.

That quest follows a trend at American universities. Many have increasingly attempted, as New York Times columnist David Brooks recently noted , to stem the careerist tide and to widen the systems narrow definition of achievement and cultivate the whole student: the emotional, spiritual and moral sides and not just the intellectual. At Amherst College, that has included a campus dialogue called Ask Big Questions , while at Brown University, it has meant a relatively new concentration in Contemplative Studies and a campus series on Ethical Inquiry . Since 2009, the National Endowment for the Humanities has distributed $3.2 million in grants to fund college and university courses that tackle the enduring questions .

In an interview with HuffPost, Laderman, who has spent his 23-year career at Emory studying the ways humans create meaning, shared how he and his colleagues are helping students explore their life journeys. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.