Benefit Open Enrollment 2010

Frequently Asked Questions about Open Enrollment; benefits changes and benefits fairs.

Dyer Observatory plays supporting role in discovery of ‘Goldilocks’ planet

The TSU robotic telescope that took some of the observations was mounted on Dyer Observatory at the time. “We put in hundreds of hours developing and building the enclosure for the telescope, so it is wonderful to see that it contributed to such an important discovery,” said Dyer Director Rocky Alvey.

Former ‘Dore David Price on cover of Sports Illustrated

Price, who was recently named the American League Pitcher of the Month for September, is scheduled to start Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Thursday.

Public meetings scheduled to discuss Nashville’s long-term flood recovery

These public meetings are for everyone in Davidson County who cares about the future of our neighborhoods, our economy and our quality of life. Join us whether or not you were directly impacted by the flood. Your ideas for our long term-recovery over the next 5 to 15 years are important.

A&S announces teaching, advising awards

The College of Arts and Science recognized members of the faculty with teaching and advising awards at its first faculty meeting of the semester in September.

Mark McKinnon offers insider’s perspective on national political campaigns

An award-winning national media producer and communications strategist whose clients have included President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain discussed key elements of successful campaigns with students in a political science class taught by John Geer and Roy Neel.

Rhythm & Roots show is Oct. 23

Vanderbilt’s Rhythm & Roots Performance Company celebrates its 15th anniversary by blending some of the most memorable and powerful past production numbers to create a high-energy, eclectic show titled 15 in Retrospect.

Author to speak on vampire folklore Oct. 7 followed by film

In his presentation, “Don’t Wake the Dead,” Michael Sims shares amazing (and hilarious) stories about why so many people once believed in the undead returning from their graves to prey upon the living, and about how such peasant folklore inspired stories, novels, plays and finally movies.

Vanderbilt students create online directory to help Nashville immigrants

Designed for use by agencies who serve the immigrant and refugee population, the website was developed by fellows from the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions at Vanderbilt.

Hillsboro High School students gain an international perspective from the Hubert H. Humphrey fellows

On Sept. 30, students and teachers at Hillsboro High School mingled with educational leaders from around the world during a visit from Vanderbilt University’s Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows.

more info and top stories »

  This Week

Oct. 7: Michael Groden Lecture

Oct. 8: ”Civility in a Fractured Society.” Jim Leach

Oct. 12: Movie Screening – “Black Candle”

 Mark Your Calendars

Oct. 15: The Nashville Jazz Orchestra – Latin Night!

Oct. 18: David Abraham – “Immigration and Social Solidarity in a Time of Crisis”

more events »

Sign Up for a Clinical Trial

Physicians Needed for a Research Study on Hearing Loss

Announcements

Vandy Moms Lunch and Learn Oct. 14: School options in Davidson County

Healthy heart seminar Oct. 19

Portion of Predators game Oct. 21 benefits childhood cancer program

Travel information session Oct. 22

Habitat for Humanity Commodore Trot (5K) Oct. 27

VU departments can get discount at Pizza Perfect Catering

Faculty, graduate students invited to participate in community studies conference

more announcements »

Featured Media

more media »

Tune in to VUCast, for audio and video of events happening around campus. You can also find VU podcasts on iTunes and VU videos on YouTube.

From ‘Vanderbilt  View’: Song and Dance Man: Jim Lovensheimer makes serious study of the American musical

Where is it written that something fun must be frivolous?

Jim Lovensheimer, assistant professor of musicology, has loved American musicals since his childhood babysitter introduced him to “Some Enchanted Evening” and the rest of the South Pacific soundtrack.

But he sees much more in the classic musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more than snappy numbers combined with love stories. He thinks we can learn a lot about ourselves as Americans by looking closely at the entertainment we choose.

“These are our myths,” Lovensheimer said. “This is us telling our own myths to ourselves, and we’re telling those myths in increasingly different and interesting ways.”

Lovensheimer’s new book South Pacific: Paradise Rewritten tackles the oft-performed show, recently revived on Broadway for the first time since 1955, to see what it tells us about ourselves, in particular issues of race. His research for the book included a page-by-page review of the uncataloged Rodgers and Hammerstein archives at the Library of Congress. He carefully followed the documentation of the duo’s creative process and established that South Pacific was intended as a serious artistic statement as well as entertainment.

“Oscar Hammerstein was the president of the NAACP for a long time,” Lovensheimer noted. “Rodgers and Hammerstein were attracted by the story in Michener’s book about two romances threatened by racial intolerance,” he said of James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning source material Tales of the South Pacific.

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