NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Attorney Bethany Jackson has been hired as assistant director of the Center for the Americas at Vanderbilt University, an interdisciplinary research center devoted to improving life in the Americas.
Jackson brings a unique skill set to the Center for the Americas. She is a former partner with the Baltimore firm of Goodell, DeVries where she litigated mass tort and complex products liability cases. She has a humanities background in Spanish and Spanish American literature and has traveled extensively in Central and South America.
“Bethany is interested in how the humanities can connect with others parts of the university, notably the professional schools, which hooks right into what the center is doing,” said Vera Kutzinski, director of the Center for the Americas. “We‘re lucky to get someone with her cultural sensibilities and her accomplishments.”
Jackson said she was attracted by the center‘s goal of addressing cultural, economic and political tensions in the Americas through interdisciplinary collaboration.
“That‘s the way the real world works,” she said. “Understanding the broader context of any issue is essential to the development of truly innovative ideas.”
Jackson starts work on Aug. 15.
Vanderbilt‘s Center for the Americas supports several collaborative research groups, in various stages of development, on topics such as the social impact of environmental management practices, inter-cultural relations among individuals detained on immigration charges, forms of transnational literacy, and ethical standards for research on indigenous populations.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu