Cole Lectures

Daisy L. Machado will examine what lived religion looks like in the borderlands, including unorthodox practices, when she delivers the Divinity School's Cole Lectures Oct. 26-27 at Benton Chapel. Read More

Ingrid Mattson, a prominent Islamic studies scholar and Muslim religious leader, is the 2016 Cole Lecturer at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Read More

Friday, October 9, 2015 in Benton Chapel A Young Black Woman Shimmy & Shakes a Flagpole and Finally Brings the Confederate Flag Down After One Hundred Years: Thoughts on Climbing, Not Waiting on the Calvary, Faith, and Manners, in the Contemporary South Poet Nikky Finney helped start the Affrilachian Writers… Read More

Thursday, October 8, 2015 in Benton Chapel A Young Black Woman Shimmy & Shakes a Flagpole and Finally Brings the Confederate Flag Down After One Hundred Years: Thoughts on Climbing, Not Waiting on the Calvary, Faith, and Manners, in the Contemporary South Poet Nikky Finney helped start the Affrilachian… Read More

An acclaimed poet who came of age in the South during the turmoil and unrest of 1960s and '70s civil rights struggles will deliver the 2015 Cole Lectures at Benton Chapel Oct. 8 and 9. Read More

The 2014 Cole Lecturer at Vanderbilt Divinity School is Tex Sample, an author and Methodist minister noted for his social justice work. Read More

Watch video of religious historian Elaine Pagels, author of Revelations: Visions, Prophecy and Politics in the Book of Revelation, delivering the Vanderbilt Divinity School’s 2013 Cole Lecture at Benton Chapel. Read more. Read More

Watch religious historian Elaine Pagels, author of Revelations: Visions, Prophecy and Politics in the Book of Revelation, delivering the Vanderbilt Divinity School’s 2013 Cole Lecture at Benton Chapel. Read more. Read More

Elaine Pagels, author of "Revelations: Visions, Prophecy and Politics in the Book of Revelation," will deliver the 2013 Cole Lectures at Benton Chapel Oct. 3 and 4. Read More

Watch video of Anthea Butler, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and the Graduate Chair of Religion, University of Pennsylvania, for the second Cole Lecture when she expands on the way different communities have used the founders and their documents to open up religious and civic opportunities for all. The presentation is… Read More

Watch video of Anthea Butler, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and the Graduate Chair of Religion, University of Pennsylvania, as she discusses the implications of the reconstuctionist, revisionist history that permeates many conservative and fundamentalist Christian churches and political action organizations. The presentation is part of the Divinity School’s 2012… Read More

Anthea Butler, a noted scholar on religion and politics who is a regular contributor to national media programs, will deliver the 2012 Cole Lectures at Vanderbilt University Divinity School’s Benton Chapel. Read More

Watch video of R. Scott Appleby, a historian who studies modern religions and their capacity for both violence and peace building, delivering the 2011 Cole Lectures. Appleby, a professor of history and the John M. Regan Jr. Director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University… Read More

University of Notre Dame religious historian R. Scott Appleby will be on campus Oct. 20-21 to deliver the 2011 Cole Lectures. Read More

The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, put the condition and future of the Catholic faith on the table for discussion. Nearly 45 years after the three-year council ended, the effects of Vatican II are still being felt, from the role of laity to the language used… Read More

The Rev. John O’Malley, University Professor at Georgetown University, will speak about Vatican II The Rev. John W. O’Malley speaks Oct. 21-22 The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, put the condition and future of the Catholic faith on the table for discussion. Nearly 45 years… Read More