Society and Culture
TIPs grant funds groundbreaking LGBT policy lab
Dec. 12, 2017—Funded by a 2017 TIPs grant, the Vanderbilt LGBT Policy Lab connects interdisciplinary faculty and students to study the impact of LGBT-related public policies. In the VU BreakThru blog, Tara McKay, assistant professor of medicine, health and society, discusses how she uses her research to influence health, legal and social policies in both the domestic and global arenas.
Gaps in required curricula may explain differences in climate change views among college graduates
Dec. 7, 2017—The average American college student has a 17 percent chance of learning about climate change before graduation through required core courses.
A quest to find ‘the best’ may bring out the worst in shoppers
Dec. 1, 2017—Marketers want to motivate consumers to act in their own self-interest, but they may be encouraging negative behavior such as theft or illegal returns, according to new Vanderbilt research.
Faculty grant allows Janusek to delve into mystery of stone giants
Nov. 29, 2017—With a provost-funded Research Scholar Grant, John Janusek has been able to expand his decades-long research into Tiwanaku, one of the Andes’ earliest cities and an influential religious center.
New LGBT Policy Lab off and running with TIPs funding
Nov. 10, 2017—The new TIPs-supported Vanderbilt LGBT Policy Lab is just five months old and has already launched an Internal Seminar Series and presented at a prestigious national conference. The lab brings together faculty from five schools and 10 departments and is focused on research to understand the causes and consequences of LGBT-targeted public policies. Read more about the lab and other internally funded projects at the VU BreakThru blog.
LGBT rights and health on the African continent
Nov. 10, 2017—The recent decriminalization of homosexuality in Mozambique has not made it easier for LGBT advocacy groups to support these populations within the country.
South African prison life: The importance of religion to inmates and ex-offenders
Nov. 9, 2017—Many incarcerated South Africans find religion in prison, found undergraduate Zoe Psakis.
New faculty: David Ikard, professor of African American and diaspora studies
Oct. 19, 2017—While literary luminaries Toni Morrison and James Baldwin are among the top influencers on David Ikard’s research, he credits everything from political rhetoric to popular television series for sparking his scholarship.
Progess isn’t progress unless it happens for you
Oct. 16, 2017—People who don't prosper when the overall economy does well tend to feel dispossessed and angry.
New research on the ancient Mediterranean among workshop topics
Oct. 16, 2017—Researchers from a variety of institutions who study the Late Antiquity will be on campus Oct. 19-20 for a consortium in which Vanderbilt faculty across many academic disciplines will participate.
New faculty: Rhonda Williams, John L. Seigenthaler Chair in American History
Oct. 12, 2017—Middle Tennessee gains a community activist along with a respected historian with the addition of Rhonda Y. Williams to the Vanderbilt faculty.
Building social values into the Internet of Things
Oct. 10, 2017—New project aims to build social norms, policies and values into the basic architecture of the Internet of Things.