Arts And Science

Labor organizing victories in Southern states could have far-reaching political implications for the region and the nation, according to Vanderbilt University labor sociologist Dan Cornfield. Read More

Science has progressed from wild speculation about Earth’s planetary neighbors—including how they formed and whether they are inhabited—to a better understanding of our celestial neighborhood, David Weintraub, professor of astronomy, writes in "Scientific American." Read More

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

Authors Dan Balz, Lynn Vavreck and John Sides discuss the 2012 presidential election with David Lauter of the Los Angeles Times and John Seignethaler of the First Amendment Center. The “Perspectives on Election 2012” event was held Sept. 24, 2013, at the First Amendment Center on the Vanderbilt campus.To learn… Read More

Vandy’s supporting role in hit show Nashville Who is that with actor Alan Alda? And the sound of music for the Mighty Sky   All this and more in VUCast, Vanderbilt’s online newscast. Watch now.   [vucastblurb]… Read More

Policymakers in Washington, D.C., increasingly are earning the distrust of the American people, and the current impasse that led to a government shutdown is no exception, according to Marc Hetherington, a political science professor and author of two books on trust and polarization in American government. Read More

Neuroscientists have identified the location in the brain's visual cortex responsible for generating a common perceptual illusion: seeing shapes and surfaces that don't really exist when viewing a fragmented background. Read More

Professor Jay Clayton of Vanderbilt University is chatting with me over Skype, but he admits that his attention is slightly divided. He's got Lord of the Rings Online running on a second monitor, and countless players are sending him messages to say hello. Read More

Tiffiny Tung, associate professor of anthropology, is on familiar terms with the dead. She may not know their names, but she can tell you a surprising amount of information about how they lived—and even, on occasion, how they died. Read More

The Politics of Health Conference Oct. 3-4 at Vanderbilt is a free event that will speak to the scale, urgency and intimacy of health as a critical American economic and political issue. Read More

Forty years after Atari’s digital table tennis game Pong bleeped onto the scene and made video games mainstream entertainment, we’ve become a nation of video gamers. We’re playing games on phones, tablets, computers, game consoles, social networks, and even TVs connected directly to the Internet. Read More

“From a historical perspective, which looks at the American presidency since the end of World War II, Obama’s decision reflects a turning point, the clear triumph of domestic political considerations over foreign policy priorities,” according to Thomas Schwartz, a professor of history and political science at Vanderbilt. 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

When it comes to government funding of basic science training programs for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, Vanderbilt University Medical Center hit a grand slam this year, officials said. Read More

More can be done with sun-powered electricity source, writes Dennis Hall, vice provost for research, dean of the Graduate School, professor of physics and professor of electrical engineering. Read More

Fisk and Vanderbilt's Bridge Program mentors talented minority students pursuing advanced science degrees. Keivan Stassun, professor of astronomy and director of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, is quoted. 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

Each time Gitmo’s relevance was called into question—by Cuban opponents, and by Americans worried about the base’s diminishing returns, the trouble of running it and the toll it took on global goodwill—new purposes had been found with unfailing ingenuity, writes Paul Kramer, associate professor of history. Read More

A new study provides the first direct evidence that microbes can contribute to the origin of new species by reducing the viability of hybrids produced between males and females of different species. Read More

It is peak mosquito season, and while some lucky outdoor venturers seem unperturbed by the tiny insects, others appear to be relentlessly assaulted. Laurence Zwiebel, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences, explains the most common culprits. Read More