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George W. Bush can probably look forward to an upswing in popularity as time goes by, say two Vanderbilt political scientists. A poll by CBS News and The New York Times near the end of Bush’s 2001-2009 presidency showed his approval rating at 22 percent, making him one of the most unpopular departing presidents in history. Read More

Meet sociology professor Laura Carpenter, Vanderbilt's resident "sexpert." Her research interests include virginity loss and how chronic illness affects the sex lives of patients. Read More

Vanderbilt University researcher Ron Zimmer says many states are seeking No Child Left Behind waivers because states are required to raise the bar on the number of students reaching proficiency standards. Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a search warrant is needed to plant a physical tracking device on a vehicle. But only four members of the court – not a majority – were willing to go further and hold that continuously monitoring such a device for a month is also a search. Read More

Vanderbilt law professor James F. Blumstein has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that President Obama’s proposed expansion of Medicaid would put too much of an unforeseeable burden on the states. Read More

Protesters of proposed anti-piracy legislation being considered by Congress are right when they say the measures as written threaten the rights of Internet companies and consumers, said Daniel Gervais, co-director of the Vanderbilt Intellectual Property Program. Read More

Vanderbilt political scientist David E. Lewis says a move for authority to shrink the federal government by President Obama is an attempt to preempt Republican challenger Mitt Romney from positioning himself as the candidate associated with government efficiency. Read More

Video purporting to show four U.S. marines urinating on dead Afghani fighters, if verified, would clearly fall under the category of a war crime, says a Vanderbilt University law professor. Read More

Vanderbilt experts are available to discuss negative campaigning, religious bias among candidates, patriotism and the Bible, the GOP's stance on immigration and how to eliminate bias in political polling. Read More

The smallest exoplanets yet discovered orbit a dwarf star almost identical to Barnard’s star, one of the Sun’s nearest neighbors. The similarity helped the astronomers calculate the size of the distant planets. Read More

As the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp passes this month, a Vanderbilt law professor and former U.S. adviser on detainee cases says it’s time for new rules on deciding what to do with detainees whose allegiances are unclear. Read More

The nomination of former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to head up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “is clearly an issue that has come to the forefront because of election year politics,” said David Lewis, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. Read More

The conventional wisdom about Newt Gingrich's troubles at the Iowa caucuses may be mistaken, says John Geer of Vanderbilt University. Blaming a barrage of attack ads aimed at the former House speaker for his decline in the polls may be inaccurate, Geer believes. Read More

Children learn more from television when parents interact with them similarly to book reading. Read More

Groundbreaking new legal research from a team of Vanderbilt University and other researchers suggests that juror confusion over how to apply the Model Penal Code in criminal trials could cause major, unnoticed and life-altering sentencing errors. Read More

When the Republican presidential candidates ramp up anti-immigrant rhetoric this campaign season, they are likely to alienate conservative-leaning Latinos. Read More

A distinguished panel of business and academic experts will discuss the viability of record labels in the digital age during the first Vanderbilt-Melbourne Global Debate. The debate, the first of an ongoing series born of Vanderbilt University’s partnership with The University of Melbourne, will be held 9 to 10:45 a.m. Nov. 15 in Flynn Auditorium at Vanderbilt Law School. Read More

Only a society built on Libyan culture and values has any chance to bring peace and democracy to that nation after years of abuse under dictator Moammar Gadhafi, says a Vanderbilt University professor who is advising the new government there. Read More

The struggle against juvenile crime may come down to one simple question, says a Vanderbilt University researcher: Do we want revenge or do we want results? If we want results, says legal expert Christopher Slobogin, we should dramatically reform the system to stress community-based treatment over incarceration. Read More

The Occupy Wall Street movement could offer a similar opportunity to left-wing politicians as the Tea Party movement did to the right, says a Vanderbilt University historian. Read More