Research

Are student loans a smart way to pay for college? Is pawning jewelry ever a good way to acquire extra cash? And why do humans have so much trouble making smart financial decisions? Economics faculty Paige Marta Skiba and Lesley Turner are researching the answers to… Read More

Noam Lupu (Steve Green/Vanderbilt University) New research from Associate Professor of Political Science Noam Lupu challenges several common assumptions about white working-class support for President Donald Trump. Lupu conducted the research, outlined in the article “The White Working Class and the 2016 Election,” with… Read More

As public health officials tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, they face an overwhelming number of factors that affect the virus’s spread. Population density, economic challenges, adherence to social distancing measures—they all play a part in determining the rise or fall of infection rates. And the results of efforts to “flatten the… Read More

Vanderbilt’s College of Arts and Science has long had connections to Latin America. Through the Center for Latin American Studies, the work of Latin American specialists in departments such as history and anthropology, and numerous student and faculty research trips, the college has forged strong… Read More

Two graduate students in the Department of Physics and Astronomy have been awarded coveted U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) fellowships to advance their research. David Curie, a third-year physics Ph.D. student, received an Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Fellowship to conduct part of… Read More

Amidst all the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, one constant has held: researchers across the College of Arts and Science have dedicated their efforts to understanding the virus, how to control it, and how it impacts our communities. Jennifer Trueblood, associate professor of psychology, and… Read More

Two members of the College of Arts and Science faculty—Distinguished University Professor Houston A. Baker and University Distinguished Professor George Hornberger—have been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAAS). Founded in 1780 by John Adams and John Hancock, among others,… Read More

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Steve Townsend Assistant Professor of Chemistry Steve Townsend has been named to this year’s class of Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awardees. Every year, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation supports the careers of a select number of faculty in the chemical… Read More

Associate Professor of Art Vesna Pavlović has been awarded a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship to conduct research at the Archives of American Art (AAA) in summer 2021. The program provides support for outstanding visual artists from around the world, with the aim of inspiring… Read More

More than 500 College of Arts and Science alumni registered for an April 22 coronavirus webinar with David Wright, Stevenson Professor of Chemistry, Dean of Graduate Education & Research, and expert on respiratory viruses and diagnostics. The webinar, which was hosted by the Office of Development… Read More

William R. Kenan, Jr. Chair Brandt Eichman has been named the recipient of the Biochemical Society’s 2021 International Award for outstanding and independent research that demonstrates the importance of the molecular biosciences. Brandt Eichman (Vanderbilt University) The Biochemical Society, the UK’s… Read More

When Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences Thomas Clements first came to Vanderbilt, he realized right away that he would have to be intentional about connecting with his students. His fall teaching load typically includes BiSci 1510, an intro-level lecture that sometimes draws hundreds of students, and he wanted them… Read More

Two College of Arts and Science faculty members have been named Alfred P. Sloan Foundation 2020 Research Fellows. Assistant Professor of Psychology Antonia Kaczkurkin and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Ann Tate will each receive a $75,000 award, which can be used over a… Read More

On the eighth floor of Vanderbilt’s Central Library, a group of small offices flank a large, welcoming study area. Pieces of art from the library’s collection dot the walls. Though light pours into the space from large windows, students from the College of Arts and Science are largely in the… Read More

Faculty from the Department of Political Science traveled to Taiwan in January to witness one of the country’s most significant presidential elections to date. Professor Josh Clinton, Associate Professor Brett Benson, and Assistant Professor Brad Smith were part of a larger academic delegation invited by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign… Read More

Assistant Professor of Physics Alfredo Gurrola has won a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to further his search for the particles that make up dark matter and are responsible for dark matter interactions. The grant is part of the NSF’s prestigious CAREER program, which supports early-career faculty… Read More

Vanderbilt’s LAPOP lab for international survey research has received a $10 million, five-year U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) grant to support its influential AmericasBarometer survey and related activities. The grant is the third received from USAID, which has a long-standing collaborative relationship with LAPOP. LAPOP… Read More

Steve Townsend’s office has a lot of the hallmarks you would expect to find in a chemistry professor’s office: models of chemical bonds sitting on the desk, academic and industry awards lining the bookshelf, and published papers pinned to the corkboard outside. But these ordinary items also hint at… Read More