Lectures

Coursera-in-TN is a collaborative conversation between the Vanderbilt University Coursera team and the Tennessee State System schools which recently joined with Coursera. At an event on June 24, 2013, Vanderbilt administrators, faculty and staff shared lessons learned from the early days of Coursera production, and gave brief show-and-tell remarks about… Read More

Vanderbilt University seniors closed the chapter on their undergraduate experience with words from Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, who delivered the Senior Day address Thursday, May 9, at 11 a.m. Read more »… Read More

Watch video of Justice Edwin Cameron discussing “South Africa’s Constitutional Transition and AIDS: A Personal Account” April 11. Cameron is a justice on South Africa’s Constitutional Court and serves as general secretary to the Rhodes Trust for South Africa. As the first senior South African official to publicly disclose his… Read More

Watch James Hudnut-Beumler, who will step down this summer as dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School, give a talk on the evolution of American religious trends during his school leadership. Read More

In his new book, The End of Exceptionalism in American Education, Jeffrey Henig traces the roots of the shift in school governance. Once the domain of local and state school boards, decisions about schools and schooling have begun to emerge in every level and branch of government. In this Peabody College colloquium, Henig, professor of political science and education at Columbia University, reflects on the erosion of the “special status” of education decision-making over the past 50 years. Read More

Joe Sestak, the highest-ranking military official ever elected to Congress, addressed future national security issues for the United States during an April 4 lecture co-sponsored by the History and Political Science departments. His talk is titled “After Afghanistan: The National Security Challenges of the Next Decade.” Sestak is also a… Read More

Watch leading theologian James Cone give a talk called "The Cross and the Lynching Tree" at Vanderbilt Divinity School April 3, 2013. Read More

Watch David Williams II give a talk titled, "A Look into the Role Intercollegiate Athletics Plays into the Mission of Higher Education" at a Lunch and Learn event April 3. Read More

Watch Leymah Gbowee, a 2011 Nobel laureate, speak at Vanderbilt's Impact Symposium March 19, 2013. Read More

Watch a conversation with former Sen. George Mitchell, who served as U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace from 2009 to 2011 and as independent chairman of the Northern Ireland Peace Talks, facilitated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss at Vanderbilt University March 18, 2013. Read More

W. James Booth, professor of political science and philosophy, examines our obligations toward the dead. Read More

Watch video of the Rev. Monica A. Coleman, scholar and inspirational speaker with a strong commitment to connecting faith and social justice, delivering the 2013 Antoinette Brown Lecture March 21 at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Read the full press release. Coleman… Read More

There is good reason to think that long-term solitary confinement has debilitating psychological effects which render people unable to engage socially, says Lisa Guenther, associate professor of philosophy. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s Lenn E. Goodman builds upon his extensive writing and speaking on the commandment “Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself” as he delivers the 2013 Mafoi Carlisle Bogitsh Memorial Lecture  Feb 28. Goodman, professor of philosophy and the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, discusses “Love: Does God… Read More

Watch “Can War Be Justified?” a lecture by Larry May, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy and professor of law. Larry May’s talk offers an introduction to a range of questions on the morality of war. He addresses such questions as: Is the killing of… Read More

Watch video of the most recent presentation in the InsideOut of the Lunch Box series — The Technical Side of Theatre — which took place on February 21. Take a look at what goes on backstage as well as onstage in this Lunch Box featuring the national Broadway touring production… Read More

Watch video of “Better Living Through Economics”, part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Lecture Series presented on Jan. 31 by Vanderbilt Professor of Economics John Siegfried, who has written a book with the same title. Siegfried will focus on various case studies to demonstrate how economic research has improved societal conditions… Read More

Watch video of “Better Living Through Economics”, part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Lecture Series presented on Feb. 14 by Vanderbilt Professor of Economics John Siegfried, who has written a book with the same title. Siegfried will focus on various case studies to demonstrate how economic research has improved societal conditions… Read More

Watch video of “America and the Vietnam War” from the Osher Lifelong Lecture Series event on Feb. 14.  Thomas A. Schwartz, a professor of history and political science at Vanderbilt, examines the war’s history, United States’ involvement, anti-war protests and more. Lifelong learners aged 50 and above can sign up… Read More

Watch video of “America and the Vietnam War” from the Osher Lifelong Lecture Series event on Feb. 7.  Thomas A. Schwartz, a professor of history and political science at Vanderbilt, examines the war’s history, United States’ involvement, anti-war protests and more. Lifelong learners aged 50 and above can sign up… Read More