Lectures And Events

Michael Sam, an American football defensive end who made history when he came out as gay ahead of the 2014 NFL draft, will speak at Vanderbilt Thursday, Feb. 16, as part of the Chancellor’s Lecture Series. Read More

The author of the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction will speak at Vanderbilt Feb. 1. Read More

An art exhibition inspired by a Vanderbilt undergraduate student's course work in African American history will be hosted by Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture at the Divinity School. Read More

Bill Adair, founder of the PolitiFact website, will discuss "Pants on Fire: A Fact-checker's Tales of the 2016 Election" Feb. 2 at the First Amendment Center. Read More

Six days after the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, Yale University's Jacob Hacker will join three Vanderbilt University professors to discuss the election that brought Trump to power and its political, economic and social consequences. Read More

Noted clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison, whose best-selling memoir chronicled her early experience with bipolar disorder, will speak at Vanderbilt Jan. 31. Read More

“Strengths Philosophy: Living Out What You Do Best” is scheduled for noon Tuesday, Jan. 24, in Sarratt Student Center, Room 363. Read More

"The Banjo: A Conversation with Laurent Dubois and Dom Flemons" will include a musical performance by Flemons, a Grammy-winning musician, Jan. 26 in Alumni Hall. Read More

Douglas R. Lowy, acting director of the National Cancer Institute, will deliver the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center George Daniel Brooks Lecture at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 11 a.m. in Light Hall, Room 208. The title of the presentation is “Preventing HPV-associated Cancers: Short-term and Long-term Approaches.” Read More

In the final days of Barack Obama’s historic presidency, Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos will host a panel discussion reflecting on the 44th president’s legacy. “Beyond Obama: Race, Politics and America’s Future” is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 17. Read More

Hear the deputy surgeon general of the United States, Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, on Monday, Jan. 9, at 3 p.m. in Room 155 of the Godchaux Nursing Annex. Her talk is part of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Dean’s Diversity Lecture Series. Read More

Critically acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns, who has produced some of the most-watched documentaries on public television, will address graduating seniors and their families during Senior Day. Read More

David Gordon, dean of the University of Akron College of Health Professions, will speak from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in conjunction with the 2017 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Series at Vanderbilt. Read More

Some 40 years ago, children born to families belonging to the upper third of American society and those born to families on the lower third of the economic scale had roughly equal chance of achieving success in life. Not so any more, said Harvard University political scientist Robert Putnam Monday evening at the Student Life Center. Read More

One week after Donald Trump’s surprising victory in the 2016 presidential election, the Vanderbilt campus—and the nation—is still grappling with the outcome. Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos hosted two prominent members of the national media as well as Distinguished Visiting Professor Jon Meacham Tuesday evening to discuss the 2016 race and their expectations for a Trump presidency. Read More

Prominent political scientist Robert D. Putnam, whose latest book examines the widening class-based opportunity gap among young people and its long-term effect on social mobility, will speak at Vanderbilt University Monday, Nov. 28, as part of the Chancellor’s Lecture Series. Read More

Notre Dame's Joan F. Brennecke, a highly recognized researcher and prolific writer dedicated to creating a better environment, will deliver the fall 2016 John R. and Donna S. Hall Engineering Lecture. Read More

Hale Woodruff, an African American painter who worked to reinvent abstraction into a more pluralistic cultural practice, will be the focus of the Nov. 10 Goldberg Lecture by John Ott. Read More

Narayana Kocherlakota of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis will discuss "Room for Improvement in the U.S. Economy" from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14. Read More

Grammy and Tony Award-winning performer Daveed Diggs, who starred in the original Broadway cast of the hit musical "Hamilton," will speak at Vanderbilt Nov. 9. Preceding Diggs’ talk, Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos and Writer-in-residence Alice Randall will participate in a roundtable discussion providing insight into Alexander Hamilton, the statesman’s—and "Hamilton," the musical’s—influences on contemporary American politics. Read More