This fall, 35 new scholars will join the College of Arts and Science faculty, further advancing the impact of our research, discovery, and artistic expression. These renowned researchers, teachers, scholars, and artists span 19 departments and programs and join nearly 800 faculty colleagues in the college.
We are pleased to welcome:
- John Affleck, Writer-in-Residence in Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership. Sports and storytelling.
- Dina Asfaha, Mellon Assistant Professor in Anthropology. Historical and political-economic forces that inform how people shape medical infrastructure and clinical practice.
- Ryan Balch, Senior Lecturer in Psychology. Social psychology.
- Mandy Blandford, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Business Studies. Managerial finance and accounting.
- Alexandra Blau, Senior Lecturer in Art. Painting, how abstraction has open-ended possibilities and has been incorporated into mass culture.
- Arthur Brooks, Professor of the Practice of Medicine, Health, and Society. Bestselling author, social scientist, expert on human happiness and meaning.
- Karen Butt, Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Intersection of differential geometry (study of shapes) and dynamical systems (study of motion.)
- Anthony Chemero, Professor of Philosophy. Philosophy of mind, AI, psychology, and cognitive science; phenomenology.
- Thankful Cromartie, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy. Observational astrophysics, millisecond pulsars, radio astronomy.
“I can’t wait to help students feel the awe that comes with studying the cosmos, the self-empowerment that hands-on observing projects can impart, and the feeling of support and growth offered by participation in large scientific collaborations.” -Thankful Cromartie
- Sayan Das, Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Probability theory, which lies at the intersection of mathematics, statistics, and physics.
- Patrick DeGuira, Senior Lecturer in Art. Visual arts, linking art to other fields such as science, math, history, and social studies.
“Exposure to art, in my opinion, has a profound impact on our worldview. Students who participate in art courses engage in a distinctive kind of language that connects logical and linear questions with nonlinear and free associative creative acts.” -Patrick DeGuira
- Yazmin Gomez, Mellon Assistant Professor in Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership. American, women’s, and gender history, specifically Latinx history, the Midwest, Latina feminism, and women’s activism in the late 20th
- Jeremy Goodwin, Senior Lecturer in History. U.S. business and economic history.
- Katrina Hanna, Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies. Applied critical-rhetorical research across a myriad of contexts: college classrooms, public dialogues, broadly circulated discourses.
- Bailey Heath, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics. Algebra and algebraic geometry.
“Mathematics excites me because of its combination of natural beauty and human ingenuity. The abstract nature of mathematics allows us to discover intrinsic truths that can be proved with absolute certainty while revealing connections between seemingly unrelated ideas.” -Bailey Heath
- Arun Hendi, Associate Professor of Sociology. Demography, population dynamics, inequality, policy.
- Allison Leich Hilburn, Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences. Biostatistics.
- Jessica Ho, Associate Professor of Sociology. Demography, aging, mortality, global health.
- Payson Johnston, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Business Studies. Entrepreneurship and business planning.
- Eva Karasmanis, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy. Biophysics and cell biology.
- Diana Da In Lee, Assistant Professor of Political Science. Race and ethnicity in politics, representation, political methodology, politics of AI.
- Nicholas Lepp, Senior Lecturer of Communication Studies. Critical theory, LGBTQ politics and representation, feminist and queer theory, popular culture and media.
- Gen Li, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Organic chemistry, chemical biology.
- Amadeus Martin, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics. Multivariable calculus.
- Alina McIntyre, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Climate and Environmental Studies. Climate and environmental policy; climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience; environmental health; community-engaged approaches to environmental exposure assessment and reduction.
“What excites me most about environmental health and climate research is its interdisciplinary nature. Addressing complex environmental challenges requires drawing on insights from science, policy, public health, community knowledge, and lived experience.” -Alina McIntyre
- Jason Merchant, Searcy Family Dean of the College of Arts and Science; Professor of Philosophy. Linguistics, syntax, morphology, semantics.
- Shaina Munin, Senior Lecturer in Psychology. General psychology, social/personality psychology.
- Gregory Patchell, Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Pure mathematics, especially quantum theory, geometric group theory, functional analysis, operator algebras.
- Pamela Osborn Popp, Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience. Computational neuroscience, how AI can help us better understand the brain and behavior.
- Katherine Santilena, Senior Lecturer in Medicine, Health, and Society. Health and social media.
“It is clear that Vanderbilt is a place where people are invested in one another’s success, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that community and support students as they discover and pursue their future paths.” -Katherine Santilena
- David Shipko, Mellon Assistant Professor in Climate and Environmental Studies. Climate and environmental humanities; how literature and media shape (mis)conceptions of climate change.
- John Warren, Senior Lecturer in Art. Video art, animation.
- Nicholas Wawrykow, Research Assistant Professor in Mathematics. Algebraic topology, particularly stability patterns in sequences of groups and spaces.
- Greg Wehrman, Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences. Anatomy, physiology.
- Dong Wei, Assistant Professor of Economics. Microeconomic theory, game theory, information economics, dynamic games.
- Maren Young, Senior Lecturer in Economics. Behavioral and applied microeconomics.