African American And Diaspora Studies

The new Callie House Research Center for the Study of Black Cultures and Politics, named for a former slave who led a group for reparations, will be celebrated March 12 with the inaugural lecture by Mary Frances Berry. Read More

MyVU asked a handful of Vanderbilt faculty members to name the book that left a lasting impression on them this year. Their diverse recommendations span fiction, nonfiction, history, thriller, biography, memoir and more. Read More

Read about faculty and student awards and achievements. Read More

Lewis Baldwin, who will retire in December after 30 years of scholarship devoted to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., will deliver the 2013 Harrod Lecture and then be honored at "The Voice of Conscience" conference. Read More

Vanderbilt historian Jane Landers appears in the first episode of a new PBS documentary series about the history of African Americans, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. Read More

Vanderbilt University will celebrate the fall launch of Latino and Latina Studies, a new multidisciplinary program, with several events during Hispanic Heritage Month, including an Oct. 15 talk by author Joy Castro. Read More

Rethinking Prisons conference brings together more than 100 scholars, activists, and practitioners from across the US, as well as Canada and Brazil, to discuss issues raised by prisons and the death penalty. Read More

"Carrie Mae Weems: Afro-Chic" (video still), 2010. (courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York) Vanderbilt University will host programming on campus and sponsor an event at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in conjunction with the opening at the Frist of Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades… Read More

"Carrie Mae Weems: Afro-Chic" (video still), 2010. (courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York) Vanderbilt University will host programming on campus and sponsor an event at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in conjunction with the opening at the Frist of Carrie Mae… Read More

Twelve Vanderbilt University faculty members were honored for extraordinary contributions to their respective fields during an Aug. 28 celebration of endowed chair holders at the Student Life Center. Read More

Charlotte Pierce-Baker, a professor of women's and gender studies and English, has written the memoir "This Fragile Life: A Mother's Story of a Bipolar Son." Read More

Vanderbilt University Writer-in-Residence Alice Randall credits the school’s creative and interdisciplinary approaches to obesity-related diseases like diabetes with providing “fertile ground” for her new novel, Ada’s Rules (Bloomsbury USA). Read More

Senior Nate Marshall’s passion for poetry helped him find his voice – and his calling Nate Marshall is all about the words. He started writing poetry in grammar school, and in the eighth grade, when a poem he wrote got him detention, Marshall realized two things: His words could have… Read More

(John Russell/Vanderbilt) Acclaimed Cuban artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, in collaboration with the Vanderbilt senior art majors and other volunteers, participated in a campus art project last October, when they planted 4,400 grape hyacinth bulbs, mapping out Campos-Pons’ hometown. Outline of the artist's Cuban hometown, courtesy Google… Read More

From the mid-19th century, Indian laborers arrived in the Caribbean on boats, bringing a few belongings and their music with them, launching the beginnings of a remarkable cultural practice. Surabhi Sharma’s documentary Jahaji Music: India in the Caribbean follows pop/rock/Indian/fusion recording artist Remo Fernandes as he travels to the Islands… Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case this fall that could put new limits on the ability of colleges and universities to use race as a factor in admissions decisions. Legal and African American Studies experts from Vanderbilt are available to speak with media about these issues. Read More

(Image courtesy of the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco) A range of issues relative to the challenges, possibilities and tensions that have emerged from the migration and settlement of black people in North America, the Caribbean and Europe will be discussed at a symposium co-hosted by Vanderbilt… Read More

(Image courtesy of the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco) Vanderbilt and Fisk universities will co-host the Black Migration Symposium Feb. 10-11 on both university campuses. Sessions will be held Friday, Feb. 10, at Vanderbilt’s Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center. Sessions… Read More

Two western Pennsylvania school systems will use a program developed at Vanderbilt University to encourage young black males to be successful in school and go on to college. Read More

(istock photo) Artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, in collaboration with the Vanderbilt senior art majors, will participate in a campus art project Monday Oct. 17 in which 5,000 blue hyacinths will be planted in a shape mapping out the cuban hometown of the artist. All are welcome to… Read More