Releases

How much do babies understand about the world around them? More than we ever expected, Harvard researcher and national expert on infant development Elizabeth Spelke discovered. Spelke will discuss infant development and what it reveals about the origins of human knowledge in her lecture Thursday, Dec. 4, at 4 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. Read More

Hazardous toys can still be found on store shelves across the country despite passage of the 1994 Child Safety Protection Act, according to a nationwide survey released today by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) and Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. Read More

Doug Fuchs, professor of special education, says a Bush administration proposal to overahaul Individuals with Disabilities Act could result in major cuts to funding for learning-disabled children. Listen to the radio interview with Ann Marie Deer Owens. Read More

America is experiencing a troubling deja vu - a second coming of the Gilded Age. Marked by an incredible disparity between the wealthy and poor, by waves of layoffs (especially in manufacturing) and business scandal after business scandal, this era is also burdened by a political culture that often seems heedless - or downright hostile - toward the well-being of the general American public. Read More

Blanche Wiesen Cook, biographer of Eleanor Roosevelt, will speak at Vanderbilt University at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4. Read More

A lecture series at Vanderbilt University will be the first since the death of John Rawls to examine the legacy of the most important political philosopher of the 20th century. Read More

A former anthropologist with the World Bank who teaches at Vanderbilt will discuss the need for both major reform and support for this controversial organization at the next Thinking Out of the (Lunch) Box event on Dec. 3. Read More

A key administrator leading the national effort to secure and strengthen the national power grid visited the Vanderbilt School of Engineering last week to learn about the school's pioneering diamond and carbon technology research program. Read More

The lives of two west Tennessee families have been changed forever by the generous act of organ donation, but not in the way they had originally planned. Last Thursday, Kay Morris, 53, of Paris, Tenn. and Tom Duncan, 40, of Jackson, Tenn. received new kidneys in what became Vanderbilt University Medical Center's first paired exchange, or double swap kidney transplant. Read More

The Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS), the largest population-based health study of African-Americans ever conducted, has received a critical infusion of support from Caterpillar Inc., which has pledged $1 million to the historic initiative. Read More

Edward O. Wilson, a longtime Harvard University biologist considered a distinguished elder statesman in the field of science, will speak at Vanderbilt University on Wednesday, Nov. 19, as part of Vanderbilt's ongoing Chancellor's Lecture Series and in conjunction with the dedication of the University's new Biological Sciences-Medical Research Building III on campus. Read More

A Vanderbilt University lecture series dedicated in 2003 and 2004 to examining the concepts of ownership of ideas, Internet ethics and the right of privacy will bring the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to campus to speak. Read More

What do Paul Sheldon, who studies the elementary particles, Jason Moore, who analyzes high-dimensional genetic data, and Ron Schrimpf, who investigates the effects of radiation on space electronics, have in common? Read More

Al Franken, a political satirist and author of the best-selling book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, will speak at Vanderbilt University on Monday, Nov. 17, as part of Vanderbilt's ongoing Project Dialogue series. Read More

Professor of Electrical Engineering George E. Cook has been named associate dean for research and graduate studies for the Vanderbilt School of Engineering. Read More

Learn more about the history and culture of both Islam and Christianity and the efforts of a prominent dance choreographer to bring the two faiths closer together at the next InsideOut of the Lunch Box discussion Nov. 20 at War Memorial Auditorium. Read More

Engineering students at Vanderbilt received one of the world's most energy-efficent production automobiles as General Motors presented the School of Engineering with an electric EV-1 car recently Read More

Recognizing diabetes as the leading cause of adult blindness, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper introduced legislation today to expand patient access to new eye screening technology that helps curb this tragic and preventable disease. Read More

A team of students from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University took first place honors in this year's National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) case competition, held in conjunction with the society's 14th annual conference and career expo in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., last week. Read More

In the last installment of this year's Holocaust Lecture Series at Vanderbilt University, Arthur J. Caplan will speak on "The Morality of Evil: Lessons from Nazi Medical Experiments." Read More