Dana Nelson

“How to Heal a Divided America” will begin in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sept. 12 and culminate on Sept. 19–20, 2024, with a joint event with the Aspen Institute’s Weave: The Social Fabric Project and Dialogue Vanderbilt. Read More

In August 2023, the university launched Dialogue Vanderbilt, its core initiative to bridge divides, reestablish a vibrant culture of civil discourse and free expression, and showcase experts from on campus and around the world, leading the charge to build more engaged citizens and communities.  Read More

The distinguished faculty members and deans representing eight colleges and schools were presented with medallions that symbolize the attainment of their positions and will become part of their official academic regalia. Chair holders contribute their expertise to real-world challenges, including climate change, political inequality and access to justice, artificial intelligence and ICU trauma.   Read More

Derrick R. Spires, an associate professor of literatures in English at Cornell University, has a talent for making 19th-century newspapers and pamphlets feel as accessible as the latest social media feed. He explores the culture of the early 19th-century Black press in his 2019 book 'The Practice of Citizenship: Black Politics and Print Culture in the Early United States' (University of Pennsylvania Press), which was recently released in paperback. Read More

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente has appointed a new advisory task force comprised of faculty from across the university to holistically review the Trans-Institutional Programs initiative. TIPs completed its sixth and final award cycle last academic year as part of the university’s $50 million strategic investment. Read More

The Faculty Senate will host a community conversation for faculty and staff from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, to discuss themes from the Chancellor’s Lecture Series event with presidential historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham taking place the prior evening. Read More

Vanderbilt University Board of Trust Chairman Bruce R. Evans has appointed a Chancellor Search Advisory Committee to assist in the search for the university’s ninth chancellor. Read More

Vanderbilt faculty and alumni are featured at the free Southern Festival of Books, happening this weekend at War Memorial Plaza and the downtown Nashville Public Library. Read More

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan R. Wente has charged a new committee comprising authors, faculty and university leaders to make strategic recommendations for Vanderbilt University Press. Read More

Ann Cook Calhoun, an internationally renowned Shakespeare scholar and a powerful force for making the Bard's plays accessible to everyone, died Aug. 13 at the age of 82. Read More

Professor of English Mark Schoenfield, an expert on Romantic periodicals and culture, has been awarded a 2017 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in English literature. Read More

President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated Jan. 20. Several Vanderbilt professors have opinions about the inauguration and transition. Read More

As Election Day approaches, members of the community are invited to discuss the future of democracy at the downtown Nashville Public Library Nov. 2. Read More

“Occupy Wall Street, Democratic Process and Lessons for November” will be the focus of the Thinking Out of the (Lunch) Box: Conversations with a Philosophical Flavor with David Wood event on Oct. 5. Read More

Richard McGregor, associate professor of religious studies, Dana Nelson, the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English and American Studies, and Thomas Schwartz, professor of history, will examine “The 10-Year Shadow of 9/11: How Would America be Different Without It?” during a roundtable discussion Sept. 13. Read More

Vanderbilt University will observe the tenth anniversary of 9/11 with several public events including musical performances, an interfaith service and a talk by Lawrence Wright. Events are free and open to the public. Read More