Society And Culture

Assistant Professor of History of Art Rebecca VanDiver focuses her research on African American artists—particularly Black female artists of the 20th century. In the classroom, she presents art history not only as a discipline that allows for a study of the history of artistic movements and style, but also as a lens to study culture and history. Read More

"Vanderbilt Virtuosi," an album of works composed and performed by faculty and alumni of Vanderbilt Blair School of Music and spearheaded by Molly Barth, was released on the Blue Griffin label in February. Read More

Associate Professor of Musicology Douglas Shadle's latest book explores how Antonín Dvořák’s New World Symphony raised new questions in classical music about the place of African American music within the broader musical culture of the United States. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy has won a grant to expand its Racial Equity in Arts Leadership program, in cooperation with the Metro Nashville Arts Commission. The $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will enable the REAL program to expand and deepen its programming. Read More

In a new study published in "Social Psychology Quarterly," Lijun Song, associate professor of sociology in Vanderbilt University’s College of Arts and Science, examines how the theories of “social capital” and “social cost” predict an individual’s life satisfaction. Read More

The Vanderbilt Evolutionary Studies Initiative will host award-winning British science journalist and author Angela Saini for a virtual discussion of her best-selling book, "Superior: The Return of Race Science," on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 3:10 p.m. CT.  Read More

Americans may be much more receptive to refugee settlement in the United States than current government immigration policies suggest, according to a new study by Mariano Sana, associate professor of sociology and a faculty affiliate of Vanderbilt’s influential Latin American Public Opinion Project. Read More

Multidisciplinary researcher Robert Barsky has added a new approach to his studies on migration with the launch of "Contours Collaborations." The digital journal is sharing stories about borders and border crossings through the lens of art. Read More

Falling between the gender and race gap, men in same-sex couples are 12 percentage points less likely to have a STEM degree, research by Vanderbilt economist Kitt Carpenter confirms. Read More

With a statistical network to model civil conflict, political scientist Cassy Dorff applies a data-based lens to understanding war and peace. Read More

Refusing to allow the COVID-19 pandemic to silence her flute, Vanderbilt Blair School of Music Associate Professor Molly Barth devised creative ways to continue playing, among them a solo recording project. Read More

Vanderbilt-Fisk collaboration shares achievements of Black women artists in online ‘Women of Rosenwald’ exhibition, supported by the Mellon Partners for Humanities Education program. Read More

A new study sheds new light on the challenges facing African American women. More than half of all African American women in the United States report having at least one family member who is incarcerated, causing higher levels of depressive symptoms and psychological distress than previously understood. Read More

Research by Vanderbilt history professor Arleen Tuchman on the cultural history of diabetes offers important lessons for other public health challenges, including COVID-19. Read More

Vanderbilt graduate student Isaiah Speight co-authors international call to action on improvements to diversity and inclusion in the sciences. Read More

A spring 2020 seminar immersed Vanderbilt students in a unique academic experience examining gender stereotypes, masculinity and identity through the lens of dance as part of a special partnership between Nashville Ballet and the university. Read More

A precision medicine approach to health disparities, the social contexts of caregiving, the global psyche and Indigenous perspectives on science are the topics of recent journal issues edited by Vanderbilt University faculty that touch on health and well-being. Read More

Research associate professor of civil and environmental engineering Janey Camp is leading the development of online-friendly teaching materials for secondary school teachers focused on risk education. Read More

A two-year, $17,000 National Endowment of the Arts research grant will support a Vanderbilt analysis of how the characteristics and practices of more than 500 local arts agencies help or hinder their efforts to expand access to the arts in their communities. Read More

Nurse practitioners are often thought of as stopgaps to mitigate the shortage of primary care physicians, but in a new book, sociologist LaTonya Trotter shows that they also work to address non-medical issues that patients face that affect their health. Read More