Vanderbilt Divinity School

Class of 2023: Read about Bangkok, Thailand native Pai Masavisut and how he tackles the challenging academic concentration of prison and carceral studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School.  Read More

Vanderbilt Divinity School and the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries announced a grant of $350,000 from the NEH that is enabling Vanderbilt to partner with Texas A&M and Marquette universities to continue preserving the history of Syriac culture, a medieval dialect once spoken widely by Middle Eastern Christian communities.  Read More

Dawn Bennett has found paths to servant leadership throughout her life, but it was decades before she made a leap of faith and enrolled in Vanderbilt Divinity School. In January 2020, she was ordained by Bishop Kevin Strickland to remain in Nashville and build The Table, a faith collective centered on LGBTQIA+ people and vulnerable identities. Read More

Yolanda Pierce, dean of the Howard University School of Divinity and a prominent leader on the role of religion in public life, will become dean of Vanderbilt University's Divinity School effective July 1. Read More

Join us for dinner and conversations on womanists’ responses to the need for creative, courageous and socially responsive leadership. During this roundtable discussion, womanist scholars and practitioners will challenge and help us imagine ways to advance the work of social justice. Read More

The Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center, Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Vanderbilt Divinity School will host a lunchtime discussion about women’s leadership on Monday, March 27. “When Women Lead: Unapologetically Taking Up Space” will feature several prominent women leaders as panelists. Read More

A new co-edited volume by Vanderbilt researchers is a tribute to the late Katie Geneva Cannon, who in 1974 became the first African American woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church. Cannon’s work lays the groundwork for continued discussions on moral thought among scholars today.   Read More

Terrance Dean, assistant professor at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, died Aug. 11 after an illness. He was 53. Read More

Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor and associate professor of ethics and society, has edited and published Religion, Race, and COVID-19: Confronting White Supremacy in the Pandemic, an anthology exploring the countless challenges, racially charged acts, setbacks, triumphs and newfound hope through the eyes of individuals living through one of the most pressing, perplexing social crises in recent memory—the global COVID-19 pandemic.  Read More

An upcoming virtual symposium featuring noted speakers and held in celebration of the civil rights accomplishments of Kelly Miller Smith Sr. will discuss voter access and civic participation in light of this year’s midterm elections. This year’s featured speaker is Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Barack Obama Foundation and former senior advisor to President Barack Obama. Read More

Joerg Rieger, Distinguished Professor of Theology, Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair of Wesleyan Studies and founding director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice, discusses why Labor Day is an opportunity to reflect on the past and future of labor while examining economic inequalities that are still prevalent. Read More

Alumna Prisca Mojica Rodriguez rebuilt the framework for understanding her identity after enrolling at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Now as a published author, she speaks at colleges and universities around the country and continues to monitor “Latina Rebels,” an Instagram account she started while at VDS, that now numbers more than 200,000 followers and functions as a place to question and explore the complexities of Latinidad. Read More

The research of New Testament scholar Richard Batey, BD'58, PhD'61, into the ancient city of Sepphoris in Galilee broadens ideas about Jesus and gives a new perspective for understanding the Gospels. Read More

Leaders at the forefront of systemic change make a difference by thinking about how to shift old patterns that have kept people marginalized. Thirteen students nominated by deans across Vanderbilt this year got the chance to engage in such big-picture thinking as participants in the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership’s interprofessional student fellowship. Read More

Vanderbilt is a community where innovative students with a strong vision and drive are championed and encouraged to pursue their passions and forge their own paths. Meet some members of the Class of 2022 whose strong vision and enterprising spirit propelled them to learn, explore and thrive. Read More

Class of 2022: Becoming an ordained Presbyterian minister was not initially part of Adrian White’s future plans, but that path became clear during their time at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Read More

Vanderbilt Divinity School is accepting registrations for summer enrollment in its Lifelong Learning program until April 24. Early bird pricing is available through April 3. Read More

The work of Nashville artists Joon Powell, Bill Steber, Dawn Majors and John Partipilo is featured in a new exhibit at Vanderbilt Divinity School titled “Nashville: A Pandemic Observed.” Students and community members will have the opportunity to attend a gallery talk featuring the artists and Vanderbilt scholars on Tuesday, March 15, from 5 to 7 p.m. Read More

Graham Reside, executive director of the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions and assistant professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School, discusses how the evolving pandemic has challenged views on illness as a moral issue. Read More

The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham discussed the complex intersection of religion and politics in American democracy on Jan. 13 as part of a virtual event hosted by the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy and Vanderbilt Divinity School. Read More