Peabody Reflector Town Hall

The following speech was delivered by Peabody Distinguished Alumna Sharon Shields, PhD’76, at Peabody Diploma Ceremonies on May 8, 2025. Her remarks have been lightly edited for context. Sharon Shields and Camilla Benbow, Peabody College Doctor of Education Degree Ceremony at the Peabody Esplanade on May 09, 2025. (Photo… Read More

By Steven Smartt, BME’71, MME’72 April 1, 1970, was a notable day in the history of Peabody College. John T. Scopes, defendant in the famous “Monkey Trial” of July 1925 in Dayton, Tenn., spent a full day on campus at the invitation of the Peabody Student Government Association. John… Read More

RESEARCH SPARK: AI is becoming a common tool for Human Resources departments. Learn from new faculty Salvatore Falletta about the ethical lines between creepy AI analytics creative decision making. Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich and Krystal Schmidt If you are an educator—or work with educators—then it’s likely you have encountered Section 504 plans. These plans support more than 1.3 million students with disabilities across the country, but they differ from Individualized Education Plans, or IEPs.  In the… Read More

By Jenna Somers Whether a young child lives in Guatemala or the Netherlands, whether they attend school in a mudbrick building with dirt floors or a state-of-the-art facility, is it possible to develop common measures to understand their health and development? How does child development differ across cultural contexts, and… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich and Krystal Schmidt As kids return to school, families considering special education services for their children may wonder where to start. Even after support is in place, Section 504 plans and IEPs can feel overwhelming. Vanderbilt Peabody College researcher Meghan Burke, professor of special… Read More

By Jenna Somers and Krystal Schmidt Tennessee’s Education Freedom Act of 2025 takes effect in the 2025-2026 school year. In the first year, the Tennessee Department of Education will award 20,000 state-funded scholarships, commonly known as vouchers, to eligible families to support their children’s attendance at scholarship-accepting private schools. Read More

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s report “Understanding and Addressing Misinformation about Science” In December, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released the consensus study report, “Understanding and Addressing Misinformation about Science.” The report documents two years of research by a multi-disciplinary expert committee to “characterize… Read More

By Jenna Somers Ashley Carse What happens to communities and environments when waterways are dredged to accommodate global shipping vessels? How does built infrastructure affect city temperatures and who is most affected? As a cultural anthropologist, Ashley Carse tries to answer these questions by investigating the local impacts of… Read More

By Jenna Somers During the 2024 legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly and Governor Bill Lee attempted to pass a statewide education scholarship account (ESA) program. ESAs—also called education savings accounts—are a type of voucher program that support not only private school tuition but other education-related expenses for families… Read More

On June 29, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of Students for Fair Admissions in cases against the University of North Carolina and Harvard College for violating the Constitution’s equal protection clause in their admissions practices. The decisions overturned more than 40 years of precedent set… Read More

By Jenna Somers Will Doyle, professor of leadership, policy, and organizations In April, Will Doyle, professor of leadership, policy, and organizations, participated in a panel presentation attended by congressional staff in Washington, D.C., to discuss the possibility of federal-state partnerships to fund higher education at low or no… Read More