Month: November 2011

Sarah Barr, senior Child Studies major, Spanish minor On campus activities: AXO, Vice President of Vanderbilt Performing Arts Council, member of Green Dots committee, Reformed University Fellowship music team, VUcept Claim to fame: Singer/songwriter    … Read More

The long list of Republican presidential candidates continue to duke it out in the debates. Soon they will be heading to the earlier than usual primaries in January 2012.  Professor of Political Science Bruce Oppenheimer says things are still looking good for Mitt Romney. View 2012 election expertise information… Read More

What makes some members of Congress better than others at moving bills through the legislative process? Alan Wiseman, co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, has taken an in depth look at Congress’ last 35 years and tells us why women may have the upper hand. Read More

Pioneering efforts by the Black Panther Party to pursue equality in health care will be discussed Nov. 8 during a lecture at Vanderbilt University. Read More

A network of scientists who study how the brain acquires visual expertise has received a five-year renewal of support from the National Science Foundation. Read More

Dean Camilla P. Benbow camilla.benbow@vanderbilt.edu Editor Kurt Brobeck, Director of Communications
 kurt.brobeck@vanderbilt.edu Contributors Camilla P. Benbow, Melanie Moran , Jim Patterson, Courtney Taylor, Jennifer Wetzel Photography Mary Donaldson, Daniel Dubois, Steve Green, Wolf Hoffmann, Lauren Owens, John Russell, Adam Waterson Illustration… Read More

Matthew Springer Teacher salaries are largely set by schedules which are neither performance related nor market-driven and have significant consequences on school staffing and workforce quality, new research from the National Center on Performance Incentives at Peabody College finds. “We know the way in which we currently compensate K-12 public school teachers… Read More

An analysis of the amount, timing and causes of infant mortality among newborns with Down syndrome is the focus of new research by Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigators Robert Hodapp and Richard Urbano and recent Peabody graduate and Kennedy Center trainee, Samantha Goldman. The findings, reported in the Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, conclude infants with Down… Read More

Who will be our next President?  A lot depends on what happens to our ailing economy between now and election day. But, presidential historian Thomas Schwartz says another factor will depend on which candidate has the clearest vision for success. View 2012 election expertise information for Thomas Schwartz >>… Read More

Thomas Smith Fort Worth Independent School District is the latest partner in a national center at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College that aims to identify programs, practices, processes and policies that make some high schools more effective at reaching low-performing students.

 Fort Worth Independent School District, or FWISD, officially joined the… Read More

If you think campaign spending during the last presidential election was a lot, you haven’t seen anything yet. Distinguished Professor of Political Science John Geer says this will be the first presidential race since the landmark “Citizens United” 2010 Supreme Court ruling, which ended most restrictions on donations by… Read More

Attack ads are already hitting the airwaves during this presidential election. John Geer, who wrote the book In Defense of Negativity which analyzes negative ads during the 1960-2004 presidential campaigns, discusses the media’s role in the attack ad wars. View 2012 election expertise information for John Geer… Read More

This Week on VUCast, Vanderbilt’s weekly newscast highlighting research, experts, students, sports and everything Vanderbilt: Occupy Wall Street: A historical look at the new protest movement A cool way to learn how your brain really works with “Brain Matters” See the best of Memorial Madness! [vucastblurb]… Read More

For the third straight year, Peabody College was rated the No. 1 graduate school of education in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report rankings released in March.  Peabody is only the second education school in the last decade to have received the top honor spanning consecutive years.  “Peabody College is currently… Read More

Donna Ford Research from Peabody College faculty members Donna Ford and Rich Milner about historically persistent yet unresolved issues in teacher education was featured in Studying Diversity in Teacher Education, released by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in January. In the book, Ford and co-author Michelle Trotman Scott of the University of West Georgia examine how to prepare teacher… Read More

Jason Grissom Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations Jason Grissom Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education; Ph.D., Stanford University, 2007 

Carrie Kortegast Assistant Professor of the Practice of Higher Education; Ph.D., Iowa State University, 2011

 Christine Quinn Trank Senior Lecturer in Organizational Leadership; Ph.D., University… Read More

L-r: Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Jeff Balser and Melinda Balser; Lydia Howarth and Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos; and Tom Starling, CEO of the Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee. (photo courtesy of MHAMT) The Mental Health Association of Middle Tennessee honored Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos… Read More

Barnes & Noble at Vanderbilt will host an open house for the Vanderbilt community Nov. 3. (Joe Howell/Vanderbilt) Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff are invited to an open house Thursday, Nov. 3, at the new Barnes & Noble at Vanderbilt – a week before the bookstore’s official grand opening. Read More

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medications do not increase the risk for heart disease or heart attack in children and young adults, according to a Vanderbilt study of 1.2 million patients taking drugs including Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta and Strattera between 1998 and 2005. Read More

Give to Community Shares and help the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association and other community groups Beth Boord (foreground) runs Wootens Folly Rapids in Clear Creek Canyon on the Cumberland Plateau. (photo by David Pelren/TSRA) Ever want to get away from city noise, traffic and the daily commute? What about… Read More