Berry Lecture in Public Philosophy

As a student at Vanderbilt in the early 1960s, Mr. Alan Berry was inspired by the teachings of the Department of Philosophy’s late Professor John Lachs. In Mr. Berry’s words, “What is taught in the Vanderbilt Department of Philosophy helps us to live a more ethical life—a life where we do better to get along, understand one another, and give people respect, while standing up for what we believe. I see ethics as vitally important in our lives and the total life of the community.”

The goal of Mr. Berry’s generous donation to the Vanderbilt Department of Philosophy in 1981 was to support a wide range of departmental endeavors, including the annual Berry Lecture, philosophy department programming and professional development, and annual graduate and undergraduate student awards.

The annual Berry Lecture is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy with this generous support from the Berry Fund. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Upcoming Speakers

Check back for updates on programming.

Past Speakers

2024 – Elizabeth Anderson (University of Michigan)
2023 – Linda M. Alcoff (CUNY)
2022 – Nancy Fraser (The New School for Social Research)
2021 – Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. (Princeton University)
2019 – Kimberley Brownlee (University of Warwick)
2017 – John Lachs (Vanderbilt)
2016 – Michael Lynch (University of Connecticut), Leif Wenar (King’s College London), Cheryl Misak (Toronto), and James Jackson (Vanderbilt Medical Center)