Lectures & Events

Ricardo Lagos, a former Chilean president whose administration achieved strong economic growth while adopting democratic and social reforms, will address current issues facing Latin America during an Oct. 1 lecture at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Civil rights movement leader the Rev. James Lawson will highlight the fall 2009 semester programming of Vanderbilt Divinity School when he delivers the annual Cole Lectures Oct. 15-16. Read More

Questions of identity surrounded Michael Jackson in life and death. A Sept. 21 panel discussion at Vanderbilt University will focus on larger issues of identity and diversity through the lens of the late pop star's life and career. Read More

Dhavan V. Shah, an expert on the social psychology of media influence on political judgment, will examine the impact of new media in his presentation "Network Nation: How Campaign Ads and the Internet Shape Participation" on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 4:10 p.m. at the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. Read More

The history of country music, little-known stories behind the design of prominent Washington, D.C., buildings and Southern poetry are among a wide variety of courses offered by The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Vanderbilt this fall. Read More

The Nazca Lines are an enigma. The strange geometric shapes and animals carved into the land were first spotted in the Peruvian desert south of Lima in the 1930s when commercial airlines began flying over them. Read More

Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos will give the traditional address to graduates during the Commencement ceremony beginning 9 a.m. Friday, May 8. Read More

Three courses will be offered this summer by the Master of Liberal Arts and Science program at Vanderbilt University. The program offers working adults the chance to earn a graduate degree on a convenient one-evening-per-week class schedule. Read More

Vanderbilt students will be able to safely see incredible features of the sun in all its naked glory on Sunday, April 5. The Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory will set up its new solar telescope outside The Commons from noon to 2 p.m. Read More

Rock critic/biblical scholar Mark Allan Powell will speak on how the Bible is used in popular contemporary Christian songs during a visit to a Vanderbilt University class on The Bible and Music. Read More

Academy Award-nominated documentary Encounters at the End of the World will be screened free-of-charge on April 6 at Vanderbilt University, followed by a discussion led by a producer of the film. Read More

Vanderbilt students are getting into the spirit of Earth Hour on Saturday, March 28. They will join millions of people around the world and here in Nashville who are turning out lights to draw attention to climate change. Read More

One hundred sixteen Vanderbilt graduate students will present original research at the Graduate Student Research Symposium on Monday, March 30, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Life Center ballrooms and meeting rooms. The symposium, one of several events scheduled for Graduate Education Week, is free and open to the public. Read More

The Net Impact group at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management is hosting a day-long symposium on profitable environmentally and socially conscious careers and the new sustainable economy. Read More

Galileo looked through a telescope for the first time 400 years ago. The global "100 Hours of Astronomy Cornerstone Project" hopes to have as many people as possible look through a telescope as Galileo did from April 2 to 5. Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory will participate in the project by offering people a chance to view the stars on Saturday, April 4. Read More

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Israeli legislator Natan Sharansky will deliver public lectures at Vanderbilt University March 17-18 as part of the university's annual Impact Symposium. Read More

Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will speak about leadership at a March 26 breakfast sponsored by the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Read More

Christian beliefs have been used to support the myths that promote violence against women and to counter those myths, says theologian Rev. Traci C. West. During the annual Antoinette Brown Lecture at Vanderbilt University on March 26, West will address how Christian theology and activism can be used to make the world safer for women. Read More

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Israeli legislator Natan Sharansky will deliver public lectures at Vanderbilt University March 17-18 as part of the university's annual Impact Symposium. Read More

Poet Maggie Anderson, famed for her evocation of Appalachian themes and language in her work, will read from her poems at Vanderbilt University as part of the Gertrude and Harold S. Vanderbilt Visiting Writers Series. Read More