Society And Culture

Lawmakers in the Americas hew close to voters' preferences when it comes to same-sex marriage, according to a new study from Vanderbilt's LAPOP opinion project. Read More

New research by Katharine Donato and Blake Sisk examines why children make the difficult journey north. Read More

The NCAA recently voted to allow schools to begin compensating its student-athletes for their entire cost of attendance, but economists from Vanderbilt University and the University of Chicago say it’s not nearly enough. Read More

Jane Landers, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History, says that the breakthrough in U.S.-Cuban relations is long overdue, but Cuba must still address its profound social problems. Read More

James McFarland, assistant professor of German, Cinema and Media Arts, asks: How does Ridley Scott's strange and violent retelling of "Exodus" fit into our own moral universe? Read More

Aid programs sponsored by the United States are effective in lowering crime in Central America, according to a Vanderbilt study. Read More

In the United States, your nationality has some effect on your likelihood to be employed--but being married matters more. For women, it matters a lot more. Read More

Unsolicited job leads are welcome to the unemployed, but surprisingly stressful for those with jobs. Read More

Doctors and other health care workers need to be advocates for improving not just biological conditions, but also social ones, said the director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Medicine, Health and Society. Read More

Vanderbilt's LAPOP researchers say people who have been asked to pay a bribe or been the victim of a crime are more likely to leave their Central America homeland seeking a new life. Read More

Some scholars still believe that romantic love was invented by European troubadours in the Middle Ages, and that people outside of the western tradition don’t really experience it. Ted Fischer, professor of anthropology, decided to test that theory. The verdict? Everybody loves. Read More

When an Aztec child was born, soothsayers would consult the birth almanacs contained in codices to determine the most auspicious date to initiate the child into the Aztec community. Read More

Bright-colored products and brands do more than just draw attention. They allow people to signal a personal identity that aligns them with elite athletes, explains Vanderbilt marketing professor Jennifer Escalas. Read More

High-quality preschool is an effective way to reduce social problems associated with poverty because it teaches children the psychological skills they need to succeed as adults, according to a Vanderbilt professor who studies the economics of human development. Read More

Analysts with Vanderbilt's LAPOP team say Chilean authorities might want to brace for more civil discord in that country. Read More

Mixed-income neighborhoods help improve the safety and wellbeing of low-income residents, but cannot relieve deeply entrenched poverty or provide upward mobility without additional social services and supports, say Peabody and University of Chicago researchers in a new report. Read More

In a letter to faculty, Carolyn Dever, dean of the College of Arts and Science, reflects on how research informs teaching, and vice-versa. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers are finding that Jamaicans are feeling more confidence in their local police as they report decreasing incidences of bribe solicitation. Read More

Protests may spread from Brazil to other Latin American nations with similar conditions, says a report from Vanderbilt University’s Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP). Read More

A possible Pre-Hispanic solar calender was documented last week by Vanderbilt archaeology graduate student Kasia Szremski near the small town of Casa Vieja in the Andean foothills of Peru. Read More