A lecture by human rights activist and author Supriya Vani (pictured, above) on Oct. 30 and a Dean’s Dinner with an acclaimed theater and education professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Erica Halverson (pictured, below), on Nov. 5 marked the first visits by Patterson Fellows for the 2019-20 academic year.
The Patterson Fellowship program, established with philanthropic support from bestselling author and Vanderbilt University alumnus James Patterson, MA’70, allows visiting scholars to stay for up to a week at Vanderbilt’s Residential Colleges, where they discuss their work and interact regularly with students.
Vani, author of Battling Injustice: 16 Women Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, spoke on “Women, Leadership and Engaged Citizenship” for the annual Frank Armstrong Crawford Lecture at The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons. Halverson—the featured guest for first-year students at a dinner hosted by Melissa Gresalfi, dean of The Ingram Commons and associate professor at Peabody College—spoke about the intersection of art, improvisation, comedy and education.
All Patterson Fellows receive an honorarium, travel expenses, a meal plan and a complimentary stay in a Residential Colleges suite for 3-5 nights. To nominate a Patterson Fellow, please send a current CV, proposed dates of the scholar’s visit and a list of potential activities to christina.bailey@vanderbilt.edu.