Vanderbilt Divinity School

Recognizing the significant suicidality, post-traumatic stress, depression and moral injury endured by active military and veteran populations, Vanderbilt Divinity School has partnered with Integrative Mental Health, a national program of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to prepare chaplains for contemporary care challenges. Read More

Dialogue Vanderbilt recently hosted an insightful fireside chat between Rabbi David J. Wolpe and Vanderbilt Divinity School Dean Yolanda Pierce. The Jan. 18 event was part of a series organized by Dialogue Vanderbilt that aims to foster open discussions about faith and how it influences people dealing with pressing societal issues.  Read More

WATCH: Find out how former Commodore football player Cam Robinson is combining a passion for healing, a love of people, and his Divinity School education to change lives. Read More

Rabbi David Wolpe, whom Newsweek called “the most influential rabbi in America,” will visit Vanderbilt, joining Divinity School Dean Yolanda Pierce for a fireside conversation centered around Vanderbilt’s commitment to free expression, constructive dialogue and mutual respect. The free event, which is a part of the Dialogue Vanderbilt initiative, is open to Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff and will be at 5 p.m., Jan. 18; registration is required. Read More

The Divinity School’s storied history and reputation for theological education—including advocacy for racial and social justice—were key to Yolanda Pierce’s move to Vanderbilt for the deanship. Read More

Dean Yolanda Pierce has undertaken several community outreach efforts this fall, with the goal of making “radical hospitality” a cornerstone of her tenure at Vanderbilt Divinity School. 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

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

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

Vanderbilt University theology professor Joerg Rieger discusses how studying religion can help us to critique and redesign economic systems that benefit the working class… Read More

“Untitled” by Alicia Henry, mixed media, 2 feet by 3 feet Paper dolls have long been used to emphasize cultural norms regarding femininity and beauty. As often happens, childhood play subtly reinforces society’s notions of the “ideal.” Once these playthings are cast off and one enters adulthood, these romanticized… Read More

Photo by Neil Brake The Rev. Donald F. Beisswenger, a Vanderbilt Divinity School emeritus professor who lived out his faith as a dedicated community activist—serving six months in federal prison for a nonviolent protest—died Nov. 26, 2018. He was 88. As a professor of church and community, he… Read More

Renewed Energy: Insights for Clean Energy’s Future (2018, Kauffman Fellows) by John Weyant, Ernestine Fu and Justin Bowersock, BA’94 Renewed Energy sheds light on the recent history of clean energy between the 2009 recession and 2012, providing firsthand perspectives from the industry’s leading policy makers, technology investors and industry experts. Read More

Eugene Arthur TeSelle Jr., Oberlin Professor of Church History and Theology, emeritus, and a strong advocate on community issues ranging from urban neighborhood preservation to integrated schools, died March 1. He was 86. TeSelle was born in Ames, Iowa, on Aug. 8, 1931. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa… Read More

Above: The Cultures in Clay exhibit includes the Man and Beast seal (Arno Poebel Collection); below, left, a statue of Osiris, mythological father of the Egyptian god Horus, from the private collection of emeritus professor Douglas Knight; and, below right, the Drehem tablet (James Stevenson Collection). Clay… Read More

An Evening with Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, a public lecture and conversation hosted by the Faith Matters Network, Scarritt Bennett Center, and Vanderbilt Divinity School. Rev. Jennifer Bailey will speak with Rev. Salvatierra in an interview-style format about her community organizing work around immigrant justice. Alexia is an ELCA Lutheran pastor… Read More

Watch video of the Vanderbilt Divinity School 2017 Mafoi Carlisle Bogitsh Lecture delivered by Stacey Floyd-Thomas, “It’s a Surreal World After All: Social Sin and Sacred Silence in a Trumped Era.”… Read More

In his American Epic series, currently on display at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Shaw presents broad themes like religion and technology in lush, detailed and sometimes disturbing imagery, rooting his interpretation in the style of the painters of the Mexican Mural Renaissance. Read More

Watch video of a panel discussion about the limits of free speech, especially on college campuses. Moderated by John M. Seigenthaler, former news anchor for NBC, MSNBC and Al Jazeera America. Panelists include: Haka Mitchell, Executive Director of Rocketship Nashville; Norman Tolk, Vanderbilt Professor of Physics and liaison for the… Read More