Arts And Science

Science’s influence on pop culture is undeniable, and the reverse is equally important. Research led by Jay Clayton, the first literature professor to ever receive funding from the NIH, shows that films portray genetic science as risky far more often than television shows. Read More

Dan Cornfield, professor of sociology, political science and American studies, offers perspective on what’s driving the Great Resignation and what’s next for labor trends in this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More

Vanderbilt University Theatre will perform "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot," an imaginary courtroom trial of one of the most infamous biblical figures, Feb. 24–27 at Neely Auditorium. Read More

Second-year Ph.D. student Mayna Nguyen recently combined a longtime hobby with her study of biomedical optics with dazzling results: a playable laser harp that embodies both her love for the instrument and her research into photonics. Read More

Kenneth Catania, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences, has received the 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books in the Young Adult Science Book category for "Great Adaptations: Star-Nosed Moles, Electric Eels and Other Tales of Evolution’s Mysteries Solved." Read More

The College of Arts and Science is launching a dynamic and collaborative effort to reimagine its curriculum for the 21st century, ensuring that Vanderbilt students engage in educational experiences of the highest caliber. Read More

Audrey Arner, a first-year Ph.D. student, recently earned a pilot research grant from Vanderbilt’s Evolutionary Studies Initiative to study the evolutionary mismatch hypothesis in Malaysia. The basis of the research seeks to understand how genetic characteristics that were beneficial to communities in the past could be harmful in a modern environment.   Read More

A team of astronomers has made the discovery of a lifetime that will help answer burning questions on the evolution of stars. The group is led by Keivan Stassun, Evolutionary Studies Initiative member and Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy. Read More

The Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery presents "Skyscraper Gothic," a close, interdisciplinary look at the stylistic development of the tall office building, Feb. 14 through May 22. Read More

Over the past decade, Larisa DeSantis, paleontologist and associate professor of biological sciences, has worked with a team of former Vanderbilt undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and experts from across the globe to show how species can be both generalized at the species level and specialized individually—a probable key to their success. Read More

Vanderbilt University is one of 14 institutions awarded the 2022 Beckman Scholars Program from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, receiving $146,000 to renew Vanderbilt’s program through 2025. The award will support a total of six Beckman Scholars over the next three years, with two scholars named each year. Read More

Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Stevenson Professor of Astrophysics, has received the 2022 Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The award is for individuals who have mentored significant numbers of underrepresented students who are working toward doctorates in STEM. Read More

A poem by Mark Jarman, Centennial Professor of English, emeritus, whose most recent books are the poetry collection The Heronry and the essay collection Dailiness: Essays on Poetry. “The Arrow Paradox” appeared in the June 2021 issue of The Atlantic. Read More

Fourteen undergraduates and two graduate students represented Vanderbilt University in Glasgow, Scotland, as official delegates to the United Nations international climate change negotiations—dubbed COP26. Read More

The intersection of science and society is the foundation of a multi-institutional collaboration of students and faculty in a virtual and physical art exhibit titled "Nested Knowledge: Disentangling History, Truth and Race in STEM Experiences." The exhibit can be experienced online and at the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, through February 2022 in honor of Black History Month. Read More

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Maulik Patel and his lab have received a Pilot Research Grant from the Vanderbilt Evolutionary Studies Initiative to study reproduction and aging. Read More

Melvin Duane Joesten, an emeritus chemistry professor and co-founder of Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science, died Jan. 17 in Nashville after a brief illness. He was 89. Read More

Virtual learning for Vanderbilt debate students opened doors halfway around the world this spring, as a friendly virtual competition with the Rwanda National Debate Team brought deeper opportunities to learn about that nation’s genocide in 1994.  Read More

Vanderbilt Spanish and Portuguese Ph.D. student Elvira Aballi Morell is leading an effort to uplift and inspire Nashville’s Latinx creatives through a trans-institutional and community driven project, HEART–Unifying Communities through Language and Textile Art. Read More

New research from Sandra Rosenthal, Jack and Pamela Egan Professor of Chemistry and professor of pharmacology and chemical and biomolecular engineering, suggests that the rate of change in solar insolation—that is, the amount of solar radiation that reaches the ground over a specified time in a given location—has a greater impact on these depressive disorders than routine seasonal changes in sunlight. Read More