Faculty News
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Seven Vanderbilt faculty research projects get innovation catalyst funding
Vanderbilt’s Innovation Catalyst Fund has awarded seven new faculty-led projects, advancing translational research and innovation in health care, engineering and AI-driven solutions. Read MoreFeb. 17, 2025
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Slow traffic, fast food: The effects of highway congestion on fast-food consumption
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Health, and Society Panka Bencsik Sitting in your car at 5:15 p.m. on a Tuesday, vehicles line the highway as far as the eye can see. The GPS estimates you still have 30 minutes left in traffic, and a vision of your empty fridge passes through… Read MoreFeb. 17, 2025
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Psychologist, philosopher, and anthropologist discuss love’s biggest questions | Agree/Disagree from Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science
Is love real? Does it make you sick? From their unique perspectives across the arts and sciences, hear three Vanderbilt professors’ hot takes on age-old questions of love. Featured: Matthew Congdon, assistant professor of philosophy; Ashleigh Maxcey, senior lecturer and research assistant… Read MoreFeb. 14, 2025
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Students contribute to Nashville’s socially engaged art scene
Socially engaged art is defined as art that involves the community in debate, collaboration, and social interaction. But what does that look like in practice? A group of Vanderbilt students sought to answer that question. As part of Professor of the Practice of Art Jana Harper’s class,… Read MoreFeb. 11, 2025
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One geologist and filmmaker duo are helping us better understand the Earth | Dual Perspectives
What do geology and filmmaking possibly have in common? How can they work together to help us understand the Earth and our place in it? Faculty members Lily Claiborne (Earth and environmental sciences) and Jonathan Waters (cinema and media arts) answer these… Read MoreJan. 31, 2025
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Katie Crawford named interim director of Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities; Holly Tucker steps down
Katie Crawford, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair, professor of history, and chair of the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies. Katie Crawford, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair, professor of history, and chair of the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies, has been named the interim director of the Robert Penn Warren Center for the… Read MoreJan. 28, 2025
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Faculty members and alumni honored with Presidential Early Career Award
On Jan. 14, President Biden awarded nearly 400 scientists and engineers the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers. ... Read MoreJan. 23, 2025
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Inaugural cohort of faculty fellows elevates Immersion Vanderbilt
Immersion Vanderbilt, now in its third year as a graduation requirement, consistently provides students with the opportunity to pursue a variety of in-depth experiences and independent projects. Students align their immersion projects with their intere... Read MoreJan. 16, 2025
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A picture is worth a thousand words: Advanced writing seminar offers students hands-on art historian experience
Photo by Liz Chagnon On a crisp fall evening in North Nashville, the sound of clapping emanates from Fisk University’s Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery. Inside, Vanderbilt students walk the large room, surrounded by a rich array of 20th century early modernist works from the collection of Alfred Stieglitz. As… Read MoreJan. 14, 2025
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Undergraduate students co-lead study on carbon offset financing for energy-efficiency upgrades for low-income households
Vanderbilt senior Maya Maciel-Seidman Climate change affects us all; however, disadvantaged communities are often the most vulnerable and negatively impacted. Low-income households have limited material and financial resources to build resilience to heat and other weather events. Low-income households in the U.S. spend 6 to 10 percent of their limited… Read MoreDec. 17, 2024
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Tony Stewart, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, emeritus, has died
Stewart, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities and professor of religious studies, emeritus, died on Oct. 6, 2024, in Nashville. He was 70. Read MoreDec. 16, 2024
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Estonian Ambassador Kristjan Prikk discusses Russia-Ukraine conflict and European democracy with Vanderbilt students
Article written by Alexander Schmidt, Visiting Associate Professor of Max Kade Center for European and German Studies, and Allison Kaplan, class of 2025 Estonia’s Ambassador to the United States, Kristjan Prikk, engaged students at Vanderbilt University on October 2 during a lively classroom discussion on the future of European security… Read MoreDec. 16, 2024
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Stewart, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, emeritus, has died
Tony Stewart, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities and professor of religious studies, emeritus, died on October 6, 2024, in Nashville. He was 70. Stewart was a prominent figure in the field of South Asian religious studies. He was a pioneer in research on Bengali religious narratives and helped… Read MoreDec. 13, 2024
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Vanderbilt Community Engagement Collaboration program announces seven awardees for fall 2024
From integrating literacy into music education to empowering teens to lead a more balanced digital life, seven innovative projects have been awarded funding through the fall 2024 cycle of the Community Engagement Collaboration Fund. Faculty and staff f... Read MoreDec. 12, 2024
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Cemetery of enslaved people at The Hermitage located with assistance from VISR
Directly north of The Hermitage, on a slight rise at the edge of the wooded bottomland near a creek, investigators confirmed what they had seen on a historic map: a cemetery where an estimated 28 bodies of enslaved individuals who lived on the property... Read MoreDec. 12, 2024
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Alan Wiseman, Catherine Gavin Loss appointed as associate provosts
Wiseman, an acclaimed political economist, was appointed associate provost for strategic projects and Gavin Loss, scholar of education history and policy, was appointed associate provost for academic affairs. Both will serve two-year terms within the O... Read MoreDec. 9, 2024
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Vanderbilt awarded up to $46M through ARPA-H to develop tools against alphaviruses
Jens Meiler, Distinguished Research Professor of Chemistry, was named the principal investigator for the project, in cooperation with 14 investigators across eight institutions. The team will work together to use advanced technology, including computat... Read MoreDec. 2, 2024
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Math professor and student answer your most frequently asked questions about mathematics | Frequently Asked
Math major Isaiah Williams (Class of 2025) joins math professor Dan Margalit to answer the most-searched questions about math…hear them break down formulas, how math shows up in every day life, and why math is so hard (spoiler: it doesn’t have to… Read MoreNov. 27, 2024
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Analyzing police shootings, public safety, and policy
A series of three recently published studies have provided the first nationally comprehensive analysis of shootings by law enforcement officers that injured or killed people in the U.S. Led by Julie Ward, assistant professor of medicine, health, and society, in a joint effort with the Johns Hopkins… Read MoreNov. 22, 2024
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Genes + culture: Exploring how our first language is echoed in our genes
Nicole Creanza, associate professor of biological sciences. A person’s native language is often referred to as their “mother tongue.” But does a first language always come from your mother? In a new study conducted by Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Nicole Creanza, postdoctoral student Yakov Pichkar, and… Read MoreNov. 21, 2024