Society And Culture

New research shows that every year spent in prison lowers overall life expectancy two years. Read More

Through a set of experiments, Gordon Logan, Nashville musician Jerry Kimbrough and Matthew Crump (now of Brooklyn College-CUNY) have illustrated that guitarists – and players of other related instruments like mandolin, banjo and bass – tend to acquire their skills differently than most other musicians. Read More

Perhaps pulled more into mainstream consciousness by television shows such as “Hard Core Pawn” and “Pawn Stars,” pawn shops have several advantages over the payday loan operations that have become the most visible source of loans for those with poor credit ratings. Read More

Duke University announced that Blair alumna Angela Mace, now pursuing her Ph.D. in musicology at Duke under the advisement of R. Larry Todd, has proved the authorship of a mystery “lost sonata.” The piece has often been attributed to 19th-century composer Felix Mendelssohn, although scholars have suspected the piece was actually written by his sister, Fanny Hensel. Read More

Vanderbilt archaeologist Tiffiny Tung leads students to Peru where they assist in groundbreaking research into the Wari culture, a society that existed over 1500 years ago. Tung is the recipient of the 2011-12 Chancellor’s Cup.  The award is given annually for “the greatest contribution outside the classroom to undergraduate student-faculty… Read More

"My goal is to be the last fat black woman in my family," writes Alice Randall, writer in residence at Vanderbilt and author of "Ada's Rules." Read More

The responsibilities of family life tend to impede political participation by women in the Americas, a new study from the Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbilt University shows. Read More

Amy-Jill Levine explores the shared heritage of Christianity and Judaism. Read More

Jonathan Metzl, director of the Center for Medicine, Health and Society, explains the science behind how the brain weighs decisions and forms political beliefs on the "Melissa Harris-Perry" show. Read More

Because racial identification is much more fluid in Latin America and the Caribbean than it is in the United States, researchers with Vanderbilt’s Latin American Public Opinion Project used actual skin color rather than racial identity to examine the effect of ethnicity on equality issues like class and educational attainment. Read More

Meet sociology professor Laura Carpenter, Vanderbilt's resident "sexpert." Her research interests include virginity loss and how chronic illness affects the sex lives of patients. Read More

Dale Andrews of Vanderbilt Divinity School is a proponent of social justice, a way of looking at theology that is diametrically opposed to prosperity theology. "Western preaching has gotten so tied up in privilege and power as evidence of God’s faith,” Andrews said. “I am of the opinion that God holds favor with those who are suffering.” Read More

In her interactions with black immigrants over the years, Jemima Pierre said she discovered a surprising sentiment. "They told me, 'I never knew I was black until I came to the U.S.' I found that fascinating." Read More

Stewart, a specialist in the religions and literatures of the Bengali-speaking world, arrives at Vanderbilt with a reputation as a program builder. Read More

Jonathan Metzl was born into medicine but is drawn to the humanities. He’s still insisting on having it both ways. Read More

Illegal immigrants are finding it increasingly harder to find work, pay taxes and submit tax returns because of tighter immigration restrictions. Read More

Do your children think you work too much and don’t spend enough time with them? If so, their perception could lead to bullying behavior, according to research by Vanderbilt University sociologist Andre Christie-Mizell. “Our behavior is driven by our perception of our world, so if children feel they… Read More

Dr. Jonathan M. Metzl Vanderbilt University’s innovative center that links the study of medicine to other disciplines will be headed by Dr. Jonathan M. Metzl, an expert in American culture, psychiatry and medical humanities. Metzl, currently director of the Program in Culture, Health and Medicine at the University of… Read More

We all know how to spot a macho guy – right? He’s a man’s man with a certain swagger and a way with the ladies. Well, social scientists have a different opinion – one that perpetuates stereotypes about black, Hispanic and certain homosexual men. In social science circles, a… Read More

Nashville Jazz Band, directed by Jim Williamson, performing in Ingram Hall with the Blair Big Band. (Photo credit: Vanderbilt University / Steve Green) Proponents of creating a cultural tax district for Nashville would need to identify community-specific goals that address voters’ shared values and ideals, according to a report prepared… Read More