Grand Challenge Initiative

Jenny Davis, professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Science, and Pamela Wisniewski, associate professor in human-computer interaction and Flowers Faculty Fellow in the School of Engineering, join 22 other distinguished scholars from a wide array of organizations and backgrounds to collaborate on critical policy discussions related to technology and society. Read More

The Curb Center is pleased to announce the Vanderbilt Eco-Grief Initiative, a yearlong collaborative project that will use art as a tool to investigate the complex set of emotions—sorrow, guilt, terror, complicity and a range of others—that come to mind as we contemplate our changing climate and witness its effects on earthly life. By engaging artists working in a range of disciplines—theater, creative writing and the visual arts—the Curb Center aims to highlight creative work that confronts the emotional dimensions of climate change with the hope that true emotional reckoning might serve as an avenue to candid dialogue, innovation and lasting impact. Read More

More than half of the world’s population lives in dense urban areas. The College of Arts and Science’s Grand Challenge Initiative on Cities is hosting a two-day symposium to address critical questions, such as: What makes a successful city, and how might universities and scholars introduce innovative ways of understanding cities, their problems and their solutions? Read More

Growing worries among Grundy County, Tennessee, residents about cancer outbreaks within families, churches and neighborhoods have propelled a community partnership drawing on Vanderbilt University’s strengths to develop environmental and health self-assessment tools. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies will host a participatory art installation that aims to raise community awareness about the human side of undocumented migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s College of Arts and Science has launched the Grand Challenge Initiative to invest in collaborative research projects with the potential of making a significant impact on some of society’s most pressing questions. Read More