Lectures & Campus Events
Summer Institute
The Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative
4-8 June 2018
Topic - Reclaiming Our Time: Public Theology, Racial Justice, and the Fight for Democracy
America is in a kairos moment. It is a time of immense reflection, equipping, and mobilization. The Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative's Summer Institute is designed to be the gathering place for those who discern the time. We are calling all scholars, students, clergy, community activists, community organizers, politicians, concerned citizens, artists, and strategists in Nashville, Tennessee, for the convening of the first cohort of what we envision to be a think tank of leaders invested in the soul of our democracy.
Our aim this year is to equip participants to engage a wide public on the issues presented to racial minorities in the mid-term elections.
Register today at publictheologyracialjustice.org/summerinstitute .
An Evening with Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry (Maya Angelou Presidential Chair, Wake Forest University)
The Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative
6 June 2018 - 5:45pm
Vanderbilt University, Langford Auditorium (2209 Garland Avenue, Nashville, TN 37232)
Interviewed by Professor Tracey Meares, JD (Yale Law School).
A Book Talk with Dr. Emilie M. Townes (Dean, Vanderbilt Divinity School)
The Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative
5 June 2018 - 5:45pm
Vanderbilt University, Divinity School Reading Room (411 21st Avenue S, Nashville, TN 37240)
Celebrating 25 years since the publication of her seminal work, Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope.
The Goodwin Prize for Excellence in Theological Writing
Theological Horizons
1 June 2018
In recognition of essays that demonstrate creative theological thinking and excellence in scholarship. 1st Place: $2,500. 2nd Place: $1,000. 3rd Place: $500.
$500 prize goes to the professor of the winning student.
Eligibility requirements: the writer must be a masters or doctoral student; the submission must be an original, unpublished essay; submissions must be postmarked by June 1st.
For more information please visit our website: www.theologicalhorizons.org/writing.
Fort Negley Descendents Project: Nashville's Black Legacies of the Civil War
Friends of Fort Negley and the Vanderbilt Center for Digital Humanities
28 April 2018 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Fort Negley (1100 Fort Negley Blvd., Nashville, TN 37203)
Join us for the unveiling of the Fort Negley Descendants Project.
Meet us at the Fort for the premiere of two interviews from our new oral history archive that honors descendants of the African-American laborers and soldiers who built and defended the fort in the 1860's. Join us for refreshments and to share your Fort Negley stories!
This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of Fort Negley and the Vanderbilt Center for Digital Humanities.
Questions? Write to us at fortnegleydescendants@gmail.com.
Families of Blood & Faith: Religion, Race, and Community in the Sephardic Atlantic
The Program in Jewish Studies 2017-2018 Lecture Series
26 April 2018 - 12:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
Presented by Ronnie Perelis (Yeshiva University).
Lunch provided.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies, the Department of Religious Studies, and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Water, Infrastructure, and American Politics: A State of the Field Discussion
Vanderbilt History Seminar 2017-2018: WATER
16 April 2018 - 3:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 216/220
Presented by Andrew Needham (New York University) and Jason Scott Smith (University of New Mexico).
Discussion will be based on pre-circulated papers available in the Department of History, Benson 227. The VHS Directors are Jefferson Cowie and Ruth Rogaski.
The Canopy and the Byzantine Church
Divinity School Program in Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture
14 April 2018 - 3:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Divinity G-23
Professor Jelena Bogdanovic (Iowa State University) will give a lecture on medieval Serbian Orthodox Iconography. The lecture will be followed by a gallery showing for the Vanderbilt Art Gallery exhibit, "Eikon: A Triple Encounter," presented by Julia Liden (Divinity School Master's student) and featuring medieval Byzantine and Slavic icon reproductions. The exhibit will be open from March 27 through May 10.
Sponsored by the Divinity School's Program in Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture. Additional sponsorship provided by the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of History of Art, the Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies, and the Department of History.
The Literary Imagination of Ritual in Early Japan
Robert Penn Warren Humanities Center
13 April 2018 - 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities
Presented by Torquil Duthie, Asian Languages and Cultures (UCLA).
Lunch will be provided.
This event is sponsored by The Group for Pre-Modern Cultural Studies at the Warren Center, the Asian Studies Program, and the Department of Religious Studies.
I Think You Changed the World: The Poetics of Experiment in the Works of Pat Parker and Audre Lorde
Department of Religious Studies
12 April 2018, 1:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Wilson 112
Talk to be given by Mecca Sullivan, Assistant Professor of English (Bryn Mawr College).
Sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and the Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender and Sexuality.
The Politics of Beauty in South Africa: Art and Education Under Apartheid
The "Africa at a Crossroads" Trans-Institutional Program
11 April 2018 - 3:10pm to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Presentation by Dan Magaziner, Associate Professor of History (Yale University).
Co-sponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.
Authority & Urban Space
Vanderbilt History Seminar 2018 Workshop
11 April 2018 - 9:00am to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Alumni Hall 202 / Joe C Davis Memorial Hall
With presentations by: Professor Eric Hanne (Florida Atlantic University), Professor Jennifer DeSilva (Ball State University), Professor John J. Janusek (Vanderbilt University).
Panels chaired by: Professor David J. Wasserstein (Vanderbilt University), Professor William Caferro (Vanderbilt University), Professor Tasha Rijke-Epstein (Vanderbilt University).
To submit abstracts or for more information, please email vhsw2018@gmail.com by 7 March 2018. All disciplines welcome to apply
Sponsored by the Vanderbilt History Department, Graduate History Association, Department of Religious Studies, and Islamic Studies.
The Reconstruction Constitution in the Age of Empire
Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium 2017-2018
9 April 2018 - 12:15pm to 1:45pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
Presented by Sam Erman, Gould School of Law (University of Southern California).
Discussion will be based on a pre-circulated paper. To reserve lunch and request a copy of the paper, contact Heidi Welch at heidi.welch@vanderbilt.edu.
The Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium is sponsored by the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science and directed by Professor Sarah Igo.
Climate and Empire: Habsburg History for the Anthropocene
The Max Kade Center Spring 2018 Lecture Series
6 April 2018 - 3:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 101
Presentation by Deborah Cohen, Professor of History at Yale University.
Co-sponsored by the Vanderbilt Department of History.
Embattled Earth: Commodities, Conflict and Climate Change in the Indian Ocean
Celebrating 50 Years of Asian Studies at Vanderbilt
4 April 2018 - 5:30pm
Vanderbilt University, Jean and Alexander Heard Library (Central Library) Community Room
Presented by Amitav Ghosh, author of the Ibis Trilogy and The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable.
Free and open to the public. Reception and book signing to follow.
Sponsored by the Asian Studies Program, Creative Writing Program, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Political Science, Department of Religious Studies, Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Jewish Studies Program, Office of the Chancellor, Office of the Dean of Arts & Science, Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.
Groundwater, State Power, and Environmental Conservation in a Southern Spanish Wetland, 1950-1995
Vanderbilt History Seminar 2017-2018: WATER
26 March 2018 - 3:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 216/220
To be presented by Sarah Hamilton (Auburn University). Commented on by Tasha Rijke-Epstein (Vanderbilt University).
Discussion will be based on pre-circulated papers available in the Department of History, Benson 227.
VHS Directors are Jefferson Cowie and Ruth Rogaski.
Limitation of Recoverable Losses: From Damages Circa Rem to Foreseeability of Damages - Some Aspects of an Evolution
Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium 2017/2018
19 March 2018 - 12:15pm to 1:45pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
To be presented by Pascal Pichonnaz (Université de Fribourg).
Lunch served at noon.
Discussion will be based on a pre-circulated paper. To reserve lunch and request a copy of the paper, contact Heidi Welch at heidi.welch@vanderbilt.edu.
The Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium is sponsored by the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science and directed by Professor Sarah Igo.
Dhvanya - The Transformation of the Flute: Indian Classical Dance in the Bharatnetyam Form
Asian Studies Program
17 March 2018 - 6:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Choral Hall (Blair School of Music)
Performed by Chitra Chandrasekhar Dasarathy.
Free and open to the public.
Sponsored by the Program in Asian Studies & Department of History, Vanderbilt University Sri Ganesha Temple Cultural Programs, and Kala Nivedanam.
Making Grief: How a Soviet Photographer Made a Photograph of Holocaust Liberation into an Icon of War's Human Tragedy
The Department of German, Russia & East European Studies
16 March 2018 - 12:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Garland Hall 101
Talk to be given by David Schneer ( Associate Professor of History and Director of Jewish Studies, University of Colorado). Lunch will be provided
The event is co-sponsored by the Program in Jewish Studies and the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies.
About David Schneer: Called a "pathbreaking" scholar by the Frankenfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Schneer's research focuses on 20th century European, Russian and Jewish history and culture. His newest book, Through Soviet Jewish Eyes: Photography , War, and the Holocaust (Rugters University Press, 2011), finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and winner of the 2013 Aossication for Jewish Studies Jordan Schnitzer Prize, looks at the lives and works of two dozen Soviet Jewish World War II military photographers to examine what kinds of photography they took when they encountered evidence of Nazi genocide on the Eastern Front.
About the talk: In 1942, Dmitrii Baltermants took some of the first images from the liberator perspective of photographs that document the Holocaust on the outskirts of the Russian city of Kerch. Twenty years later, he went back to his archive of Kerch photographs and produced Grief, what would go on to become one of his most widely published, exhibited, and purchased photographs. This talk examines why this photograph came to serve as a Holocaust photograph and how it functioned as a projection of the peace-loving Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Saint Louis du Senegal: The Making of an Indigenous City in the Atlantic World, from the French Revolution to WWI
The 2018 Bryn Lecture
15 March 2018 - 4:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Featheringill Hall 134
Lecture to be given by Mamadou Diouf, Leitner Family Professor of African Studies at Columbia University. Presented by the Vanderbilt Department of History.
Open to the public. Reception to follow.
Intimate Interventions in Global Health: Family Planning and HIV Prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa
The "Africa at a Crossroads" Trans-Institutional Program
14 March 2018 - 3:10pm to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Black Cultural Center Auditorium
To be presented by Rachel Sullivan Robinson, Associate Professor, School of International Service (American University).
Co-sponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.
Joe Hill Road Show
Vanderbilt Department of Sociology
14 March 2018 - 4:10pm to 5:45pm
Vanderbilt University, Divinity 124 (Reading Room)
Learn the story of labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill and the early U.S. labor movement through music, spoken word, and historical images.
Joe Hill's songs fanned the flames of discontent in the early 20th century, becoming anthems of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. Hill was executed in 1915 for a murder he probably did not commit, but his music has lived on to influence generations of social and political protest music.
Featuring the Shelby Bottom Duo and a Q&A with faculty from the Divinity School and Departments of History and Sociology.
Light refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public. Closest parking is Wesley Place Garage.
Co-sponsored by Vanderbilt Department of Sociology, Divinity School, Department of History, Program in American Studies, and Blair School of Music's Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology. Special thanks to the Tennessee Arts Commission.
A Common Struggle: Making Mental Health Essential Health
Chancellor's Lecture Series 2017-2018
13 March 2018 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Langford Auditorium
Presented by the Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy, Congressman (Rhode Island 1995-2011) and Founder of The Kennedy Forum on Community Mental Health.
Tickets will not be distributed for this lecture. Admission is free and available on a first-come basis.
Questions for the Q+A sessions may be submitted before the event by utilizing #VUCLS on Twitter.
Fighting the Deportation Machine: Immigration Activism in the Streets and in the Courts, 1970-1985
Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium 2017/2018
12 March 2018 - 12:45pm to 1:45pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
Discussion will be based on a pre-circulated paper. To reserve lunch and a copy of the paper, contact Heidi Welch at heidi.welch@vanderbilt.edu.
The Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium series is sponsored by the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science and directed by Professor Sarah Igo.
Sin Big: Why Mary Daly's Insights (and Her Limitations) Are Valuable to Us Now
Department of Religious Studies
1 March 2018 - 1:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Wilson 112
Talk to be given by Professor Jennifer Rycenga, Professor of Comparative Religious Studies at San José State University. Dr. Rycenga is the co-editor of The Mary Daly Reader with Linda Barufaldi.
Sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and the Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality.
Unsettling Resettlement: Forced Concentration of the Native Population in the Colonial Andes
National Museum of Ethnology, Japan (International Symposium)
23-24 February 2018
Vanderbilt University, Community Room (Jean and Alexander Heard Library)
For more information visit http://www.r.minpaku.ac.jp/andes/events06.html
Yiddish Glory: Lost and Found Songs of Soviet Jews During WWII
The Program in Jewish Studies Lecture Series 2017-2018
21 February 2018 - 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt Cinema
Singer-songwriter Psoy Korolenko and historian Anna Shternshis bring to life "lost" Yiddish songs of the World War II era in this all-new concert and lecture program. These previously unknown Yiddish songs were confiscated and hidden by the Soviets government in 1949, and have only recently come to light. Refreshments provided.
For more information, email jewishstudies@vanderbilt.edu .
Co-sponsored by The Max Kade Center for European and German Studies.
Unexpected Consequences: Women and Power in Post-Conflict Africa
The "Africa at a Crossroads" Trans-Institutional Program
21 February 2018 - 3:10pm to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Talk to be given by Aili Tripp, University of Madison, Wisconsin.
Co-sponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.
Bhutan: Development with Values
Asian Studies Program
21 February 2018 - 4:10pm to 5:30pm
Vanderbilt University, 203 Cohen Memorial Hall
Presentation and Q&A with the Bhutan Foundation.
Sponsored by the Bhutan Foundation.
Desert Dreams of Drinking the Sea: Technopolitical Flows of Desalination and Energy from the Pacific to the Persian Gulf
Vanderbilt History Seminar 2017-2018: Water
19 February 2018 - 3:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 216/220
Talk to be given by Michael Christopher Low, Iowa State University. Comments given by Mary Bridges, Vanderbilt University.
Discussion will be based on pre-circulated papers available in the Department of History, Benson 227.
Languages of the People: A Romanian-Jewish Philologist on Yiddish, Romanian and French
The Program in Jewish Studies 2017-2018 Lecture Series
14 February 2018 - 4:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Divinity School 124 (Reading Room)
Talk to be given by Natalie Zemon Davis, University of Toronto.
Co-sponsored by the Department of History, the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies, and the Department of German, Russian & East European Studies.
Guns, Communities, and Civic Life
Vanderbilt Center for Medicine, Health, and Society
13 February 2018 - 7:00pm
Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center
Screening of the documentary Whose Streets?, followed by a panel discussion.
14 February 2018 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Light Hall 208 (Vanderbilt Medical School)
Panelists:
Jonathan Metzl (Director, Center for Medicine, Health, and Society): Introduction
Stephan Heckers (Chair, VUMC Psychiatry): Firearms and Mental Health
Beth Roth (Director, Safe Tennessee): Community Activism in Red States
Lee Harris (TN State Senator, 29th District): The State of Legislation
Molly Pahn (Boston University, Public Health): Firearm Violence Research
Purnima Unni (VUMC Pediatric Surgery): Trauma and Injury Prevention
Framing Questions: Ken MacLeish (Medicine, Health, and Society)
Brief presentations followed by respectful public conversation. Open to one and all.
Sponsored by the Vanderbilt Center for Medicine, Health, and Society.
Co-sponsored by the Program in American Studies and the Deans' Offices of Arts and Science and Medicine.
Protestant Veiling and Politics in Early Modern Europe
Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium 2017-2018
12 February 2018 - 12:15pm to 1:45pm (Lunch served at Noon)
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick Hall 123
Talk to be given by Susanna Burghartz (Department of History, University of Basel). Discussion will be based on a pre-circulated paper. To reserve lunch and request a copy of the paper, contact Heidi Welch at heidi.welch@vanderbilt.edu.
The Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium is sponsored by the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science and directed by Professor Sarah Igo.
Edutainment: A Roundtable Discussion
The "Africa at a Crossroads" Trans-Institutional Program
2 February 2018 - 3:10pm to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Music, entertainment, and political violence in Africa: a roundtable on the role of arts and entertainment in conflict transformation.
Commentators include: Rezarta Bilai (New York University), Gregory Melchor-Barz (Vanderbilt University), and Kristin Micheltich (Vanderbilt University).
Co-sponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.
A Clash of Islams: Sufism and Salafism in the Caucasus
Department of Religious Studies
1 February 2018 - 4:10pm to 5:30pm
Vanderbilt University - Center for Second Language Studies Room 003 (Furman Hall)
Presented by Dr. Alexander Knysh, University of Michigan. Dr. Knysh's talk will explore the vicissitudes of Sufism's recent history in the Muslim republics of Russia's Northern Caucasus, and shows how Sufism's status as a "mainstay of the international social order" (per Marshall Hodgson) has come under critical scrutiny as well as verbal and physical attacks from a variety of quarters. Somewhat paradoxically, anti-Sufi discourses have been motivated by its former and recent social, political, and cultural prominence in Muslim societies. The most potent challenge to Sufism's doctrinal and devotional dominance has come from various Salafi ("fundamentalist") movements. Does this "clash of Islams" represent a re-enactment, in Muslim communities worldwide, of the Protestant Reformation?
Co-sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of Classical and Mediterranean Studies, the Department of History, the Program in Jewish Studies, the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies, the Department of German, Russian & East European Studies, and the Center for Second Language Studies.
The talk is free and open to the public.
In My Lifetime: An African American Perspective
1-28 February 2018
Vanderbilt University, Divinity School G-20 (Ground Floor)
Painting and mixed media by Omari Booker.
For Gallery Hours: religionandarts.com
Opening Reception: 1 February, 3:00pm to 7:00pm
Gallery Talk: 8 February, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Omari Booker and Paul Polycarpou (Nashville Arts Magazine)
Spiritual Meditation: 28 February, 10:00am
Michael Brandon McCormack, Ph.D. (University of Louisville)
All events to be held in room G-20.
All events are open to the public.
Sponsored by: Religions in the Arts and Contemporary Culture and the Kelly Miller Smith Insitute on Black Church Studies.
The Third Reich as Supernatural Project: The Role of Folklore Occultism, and Border Science in Nazi Empire-Building
The Max Kade Center for European and German Studies Spring 2018 Lecture Series
1 February 2018 - 4:10pm to 5:40pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 102
Talk to be given by Erik Kurlander (Stetson University).
Co-sponsored by the Program in Jewish Studies.
Post-Holocaust Visions of War and Decolonization in France, 1958-1963
Program in Jewish Studies 2017-2018 Lecture Series
31 January 2018 - 12:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities
Talk to be given by Sandrine Sanos (Texas A&M University). Lunch will be provided for attendees.
Co-sponsored by the Department of History of Art, Women's and Gender Studies, and the Department of French and Italian.
Building an Empire of Supreme Courts
Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium 2017/2018
29 January 2018 - 12:15pm to 1:45pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
Talk to be given by Paul Halliday (University of Virginia). Discussion will be based on a pre-circulated paper. Lunch will be served at noon. To reserve lunch and request a copy go the paper, contact Heidi Welch at heidi.welch@vanderbilt.edu.
The Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium series is sponsored by the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science and directed by Professor Sarah Igo.
Theology, Class, and Intersectionality
Vanderbilt Divinity School
27 January 2018 - 10:00am to 12:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Divinity School G23
Join us for a special session of the Theology, Economic, and Labor course taught by Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger and Dr. Joerg Rieger. Panel participants will include Dr. Stacey Floyd-Thomas (E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair in Ethics and Society, Associate Professor of Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University), Dr. Jeremy Posadas (Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Austin College), and Dr. Santiago Slabodsky (Florence and Robert Kaufman Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies, Associate Professor of Religion, Hofstra University).
The discussion is free and open to the public.
To RSVP please email Dr. Rieger at j.rieger@vanderbilt.edu.
2018 Spring Signature Workshop Schedule
Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Vanderbilt University, Kissam Center C210 Multi-Purpose Room
Inclusive Excellence 101: Unconscious Bias - A New Look at an Old Dynamic!
- 24 January 2018 - 3:00pm
- 4 April 2018 - 11:00am
- 16 May 2018 - 11:00am
Inclusive Excellence 201: Everyday Bias
- 21 February 2018 - 11:00am
Inclusive Excellence 401: Mindful Communication across Diverse Groups
- 14 March 2018 - 1:00pm to 3:00pm
To register, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/equity-diversity-inclusion.
Walk in U.S., Talk on Japan
Asian Studies Program
23 January 2018 - 4:10pm to 5:30pm
Vanderbilt University, Kissam Center C216
Please join us as a delegation of the "Walk in U.S., Talk on Japan," headed by Former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Fujisaki, visit Middle Tennessee to share their stories of Japan today through grassroots exchange. Delegation members will take part in exchanges with local communities, discuss important factors of the future of the U.S.-Japan relationship, and talk about recent positive development in Japan. Since the program's launch in 2014, 19 delegations have visited 34 states and 66 cities throughout the U.S.
For further details, please visit the official website or Facebook.
Delegation members include: Ichiro FUJISAKI (Delegation Leader), Liu XIAOYAN, Hayato SAWA, and Asako KATO.
For information on the Consulate-General of Japan in Nashville, please email info@nv.mofa.go.jp or call 615-340-4300.
This is a free, public event.
Maymester Information Fair
23 January 2018 - 11:00am to 1:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt Student Center Promenade
For more information regarding the information fair and available May and Summer Session courses, visit https://www.vanderbilt.edu/summer/.
A VHS State of the Field Discussion with Gregory T. Cushman (University of Kansas)
Vanderbilt History Seminar 2017-2018: WATER
22 January 2018 - 3:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 216/220
Join VHS for a discussion of Cushman's book, Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History. A short paper accompanies the talk and is available in Benson 227. Vanderbilt University's Paul Kramer will serve as commentator. The 2017-2018 VHS Series directors are Jefferson Cowie and Ruth Rogaski.
Global/Asia: Celebrating 50 Years of Asian Studies at Vanderbilt
Asian Studies Spring 2018 Event Schedule
10-19 January 2018
Lecture Series: "New Directions in Korean Studies"
23 January 2018
"Walk in US, Talk on Japan" presentation, Q&A, and networking delegation headed by Ichiro Fujisaki, former Japanese Ambassador to the United States and President of the America-Japan Society.
4:10pm to 5:30pm, Kissam C216
8 February 2018
"Imagination and Interpretation in Early China" lecture given by Michael Puett, Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology (Harvard University).
4:10pm to 5:30pm, Cohen Memorial Hall 203
21 February 2018
"Bhutan: Development with Values" presentation and Q&A with representatives from the Bhutan Foundation.
4:10pm to 5:30pm, Wilson Hall 127
23 February 2018
Asian Studies Lunar Potluck Luncheon
12:00pm to 1:30pm, Buttrick Hall 230
15 March 2018
"From 'Literacy' to 'Civil' Culture: Redefining Literature in the Biographies of New Tang History" lecture given by Anna Shields, Professor of East Asian Studies (Princeton University).
4:10pm to 5:30pm, Buttrick Hall 123
4 April 2018
An Evening with Amitav Ghosh, author of The Ibis Trilogy and The Great Derangement.
Lecture from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, Reception and Book Signing from 6:30pm to 7:30pm
Jean and Alexander Heard Library (Central Library) Community Reading Room.
7 April 2018
Middle Tennessee Area Japanese Speech Contest
8:00am to 5:00pm, Wilson Hall
13 April 2018
"The Literary Imagination of Ritual in Early Japan" seminar by Torquil Duthie, Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures (UCLA).
12:00pm to 1:30pm, Robert Penn Warren Center
Archaeological Perspectives on the 19th Century "Illegal" Slave Trade Along the Rio Pongo, Guinea
Presented by the 'Africa at a Crossroads' Trans-Institutional Program
6 December 2017 - 3:10pm to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Talk to be given by Kenneth Kelly, Professor (Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina). Reception to follow.
Co-sponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.
Cultures in Clay: The Shaping of Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations
Divinity Library Opening Reception
6 December 2017 - 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Divinity Library
The exhibit is curated by Dr. Annalisa Azzoni, Dr. Doug Knight, Serena Jarvis, Jonathan Redding, Michael Sekuras and Charlotte Lew.
Asian Hydro-Histories in the Longue Durée
Vanderbilt History Seminar 2017-2018: Water
4 December 2017 - 3:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 216/220
Talks to be given by Benjamin Cohen (Historian of South Asia, University of Utah) and Ruth Mostern (Historian of China, University of Pittsburgh). Commentators will be Professors Ruth Rogaski and Samira Sheikh of the Vanderbilt University Department of History.
Discussion will be based on pre-ciculated papers available in the Department of History, Benson 227. The Vanderbilt History Seminar 2017-2018 Directors are Jefferson Cowie and Ruth Rogaski.
"A Principle of Incompleteness" with Fred Moten & Stefano Harney, authors of The Undercommons
Lecture: 29 November 2017 - 4:30pm, Wilson 103
Open Seminar: 28 November 2017 - 4:00pm, Buttrick 123
Vanderbilt University
Pre-circulated readings available in the Benson 4th Floor lounge, or by email at aprincipleofcompleteness@gmail.com.
Made possible with generous support from the Department of English and African American and Diaspora Studies; the Office of Inclusive Excellence; the Owen School of Management; Jefferson Cowie, James G. Stahlman Professor of History; Colin Dayan, Robert Penn Warren Professor in the Humanities; Vera Kutzinski, Martha Rivers Ingram Professor of English; Hortense Spillers, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor; and Cecelia Tichi, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English.
Student Research Workshop
13 November 2015 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Commons Center Room 349
Sponsored by the "Africa At A Crossroads" Trans-Institutional Program
The Evolution of the Legal Subject in Classical Hindu Law
Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium 2017/2018
13 November 2017 - 12:15pm to 1:45pm (Lunch served at noon)
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
Talk to be given by Donald Davis of the University of Texas at Austin.
Discussion will be based on a pre-circulated paper. To reserve lunch and request a copy of the paper, contact Christen Harper at c.harper@vanderbilt.edu.
The Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium series is sponsored by the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science and directed by Professor Sarah Igo.
Nostalgia for the Future: A Documentary Film on Indian Modernity, the Making of the Citizen, and the Architecture of the Home (2017 - 54 Minutes)
9 November 2017 - 4:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Cohen Memorial Hall 203
The screening will be followed by a panel session with directors Avijit Mukul Kishore and Rohan Shivkumar, with responses by Professor Heeryoon Shin (History of Art) and Professor Akshya Sazena (English).
Sponsored by History of Art, Cinema and Media Arts, Asian Studies, Political Science, and History.
Circles of Jewish Life: Changing Family Formation and Jewish Connectedness among America's Younger Jews
Jewish Studies Lecture Series
9 November 2017 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
Talk to be given by Sylvia Barack Fishman, Brandeis University. Lunch provided.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology and the Department of Religious Studies.
On Writing: Imagining the Very Small and the Long Ago
Presented by The Writing Studio
9 November 2017 - 4:15pm
Vanderbilt University, Alumni Hall Lounge Room 100
What is the role of the imagination in academic writing? Whether researching nanoparticles, Chinese military history, or Japanese Buddhist practices, scholars use creative thinking in their work. Join us for a conversation with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Janet MacDonald, Assistant Professor of History and Asian Studies Peter Lorge, and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Bryan Lowe as they discuss their creative processes in relations to their recent writing projects.
On Writing is free and open to the public.
Music, Migration and the New African Diasporas
The "Africa at a Crossroads" Trans-Institutional Program
8 November 2017 - 3:10pm to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Talk to be given by Patricia Tang, Associate Professor of Music in the Department of Music and Theater at MIT.
Reception to follow.
Cosponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.
Never in this World a Victim Like Me: What Disabled Veterans Can Teach Us About the History (and Future) of American War
MHS Hot Topic Lecture Series
7 November 2017 - 1:00pm to 2:30pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 216/220
Talk to be given by John M. Kinder, Associate Professor of American Studies within the Department of History at Oklahoma State University.
Co-sponsored by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.
The Complex Sex: Intersexuality in Pre-Modern Islamic Legal Texts
Vanderbilt Legal History Colloquium 2017/2018
6 November 2017 - 12:15pm to 1:45pm (Lunch served at noon)
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
Talk to be given by Indira Gesink, Baldwin Wallace University. Discussion will be based on a pre-circulated paper. To reserve lunch and request a copy of the paper, contact Christen Harper at c.harper@vanderbilt.edu.
The Series is sponsored by the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science and is directed by Professor Sarah Igo.
The Restless Resource: Medieval Europeans and Water
Vanderbilt History Seminar 2017-2018: Water
6 November 2017 - 3:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 216/220
Talk to be given by Paolo Squatriti, University of Michigan, with comments by William Caferro of Vanderbilt University. Discussion will be based on pre-circulated papers available in the Department of History, Benson 227.
VHS Directors: Jefferson Cowie & Ruth Rogaski
Click here for further information.
Teaching from and for the Margins in These Troubled Times: A Conference on Radial Love Politics and Critical Pedagogy
3rd Biennial Conference of the Society of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion (SRER)
27-29 October 2017
Vanderbilt University, Divinity School
Conference Plenary Speakers: Emilie M. Townes, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Laura S. Levitt, David Kyuman Kim.
Click here for further information.
Of Marginal Identities and Heterotopic Saints: Lived Religion in the Borderlands
2017 Cole Lecture Series
26 October 2017 - 7:00pm
27 October 2017 - 10:00am
Vanderbilt University, Benton Chapel
To be delivered by Daisy L. Machado, Professor of American Religious History at the Union Theological Seminary.
Sponsored by the Divinity School.
Against Continental Disunity: Writers on a Constitution for Europe
26 October 2017 - 5:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
A talk given by Paul Michael Lützeler, Rosa May distinguished Professor in the Humanities and Director of the Max Kade Center at Washington University in St. Louis.
Additional Workshop offered by Dr. Lützeler - Transforming Humanities: A Conversation the Future of German Studies (27 October 2017 - 11:30am, Furman 123).
Contested Origins: Brazilian Pentecostalism Among Nikkei "Return" Migrants in Japan
Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities
26 October 2016 - 12:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Robert Penn Warren Center Seminar Room
A talk by Dr. Suma Ikeuchi, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.
The event is presented by the Brazilian Reading Group. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Gesture and Power: Religion, Nationalism, and Everyday Performance in the Congo
23 October 2017 - 3:10pm to 5:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center Auditorium
A talk given by Yolanda Covington-Ward (University of Pittsburgh), with reception to follow.
Sponsored by the "Africa at a Crossroads" Trans-Institutional Program. Co-sponsored by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.
Don Quixote in a Day
21 October 2017 - 9:30am to 4:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Wilson 126
Vanderbilt Speakers: Edward Friedman (Spanish and Portuguese/Comparative Literature) and Kristen Mendoza (English). Guest Speaker: Cory Duclos (Colgate University).
Prior reading of Don Quixote is not required. Lunch will be provided to those who register by email to rpw.center@vanderbilt.edu by October 18.
Sponsored by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.
ReLACS 2017
Program in Classical and Mediterranean Studies & the Divinity School
19-20 October 2017
Keynote Address: 19 October, 4:10pm in 203 Cohen Memorial Hall, Vanderbilt University
By Stephen J. Davis, Professor of Religious Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University: "The Archaeology of Early Christian Monasticism: Evidentiary Problems and Criteria."
Participation is open to all scholars and students interested in Late Antiquity broadly defined. Those planning to attend should use the following link to register: https://divinity.vanderbilt.edu/news/relacs2017.php. The full event schedule, including the Professional Seminar, "Introduction to the Cairo Geniza," and the Works in Progress Workshop can be found at the link as well. Please contact David Michelson with any questions. There is no cost to attend and lunch will be provided for all those who register. The event is additionally co-sponsired by the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Religious Studies, the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, the Department of History, the Department of History of Art, and the Program in Jewish Studies.
Crying like a Protestant: Dublin Jail, 1640
19 October 2017 - 3:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 216/220
Talk to be given by Peter Lake (Department of History, Vanderbilt University). Discussion will be based on pre-circulated papers available in the Department of History, Benson 227.
Meanings and Implications of the Holocaust
Relevant Religion 2017: A Wednesday Evening lecture Series on West End with Jay Geller, Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Culture, Vanderbilt University
18 October 2017 - Sherith Israel
25 October 2017 - Blakemore UMC
1 November 2017 - West End Church of Christ
8 November 2017 - Sherith Israel
All events start with dinner at 5:30pm. $10 for the entire series (dinners included).
Dinner at the Center of the Earth: A Reading and Discussion
New York Times Best-selling Author Nathan Englander
5 October 2017 - 11:30am to 2:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Buttrick 123
Co-sponsored by the Program in Jewish Studies, the Program in Creative Writing, and the Department of History.
Beyond the Horizon: 21st Century Global Security and Risk
Chancellor's Lecture Series 2017-2018
3 October 2017
Reception - 5:30pm to 6:30pm, Ingram Hall Lobby (Blair School of Music)
Lecture - 6:30pm to 7:30, Ingram Hall (Blair School of Music)
Tickets are required for the lecture. They are free and available on a first-come basis. There is a limit of 4 tickets per person, and they must be picked up at the Sarratt Student Center Box Office. For hours of operation, please call (615) 343-3361.
The Foreign Language Edge: Vanderbilt and Beyond
3 October 2017
Information Fair 11:00am to 1:00pm, The Commons Center Rooms 235-237
Panel Discussion - 7:00pm to 8:00pm, Furman 114
Sponsored by the Center for Second Language Studies, the College of Arts and Science, Vanderbilt Language Departments, Global Education Office, English Language Center, Career Center, McTyeire International House, the Martha Ingram Commons.
The Travels of Rosey E. Pool Through the Deep South, 1959-60
Program in Jewish Studies
3 October 2017 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Vanderbilt University, Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Presented by Lonneke Geerlings, Free University of Amsterdam.
Lunch provided.
Co-sponsored by African American and Diaspora Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and the Fisk University School of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences.
The Prophet Unmanned: The Male Prophetic Body in Ezekiel and Daniel Paul Schreber
Robert Penn Warren Center Group for Premodern Cultural Studies Seminar
2 October 2017 - 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Warren Center Seminar Room
Presented by Rhiannon Graybill, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Program Director of Gender and Sexuality Studies, Rhodes College
Lunch will be served before the talk, with time for questions and discussion afterwards.
Encountering Evil: Vanderbilt Faculty Discuss Suffering
Veritas Forum
18 February 2015
Vanderbilt University, Langford Auditorium
Moderator: Paul Lim
Panelists: Scott Aikin, Sandra Barnes, Nancy Lin, Keith Meadow, David Weintraub
For more info information, click here.
Cancelled due to inclement weather; may be rescheduled for a later date.
Nancy L. Clark
Nelson Mandela Memorial Lecture
3 February 2015
Vanderbilt University, Community Room - Jean & Alexander Heard Library
Sponsored by the Vanderbilt University Office of the Provost.
For more information, click here.
Seeing the World From Delhi: A Discussion on Writing from the Post-Western World
Curb Center
26 March 2014 - 12:10pm
Vanderbilt University, Sarratt 189
Presented by Rana Dasgupta.
Sponsored by the Curb Center, the Asian Studies Program, the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, the Department of English, and the Department of Religious Studies.
Global Folktales - Tokyo, Bulgaria, Delhi: A Literary Conversation with Ben Tran, Assistant Professor of Asian Studies and English
Curb Center
25 March 2014 - 4:00pm
Vanderbilt University, Yamada Room
Presented by Rana Dasgupta.
Sponsored by the Curb Center for Art Enterprise and Public Policy, the Asian Studies Program, the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, the Department of English, and the Department of Religious Studies.
In God's Land / Kadavulin Nilathi: Film Screening and Discussion
Department of History
29 October 2013
Vanderbilt University, 201 Alumni Hall
Sponsored by the Department of History, Asian Studies Program, and the Department of Religious Studies.
Reading Communities, Reading Scripture, Reading Responsibly: A Symposium in Honor of Daniel Patte
Department of Religious Studies
6 April 2013
Vanderbilt University, 129 Divinity School
For more information, please visit the symposium homepage.
Buddhism After the Tsunami / The Souls of Zen 3/11 Japan Special: Film Screening and Discussion
Asian Studies Program
11 March 2013 - 4:30pm
Vanderbilt University, 203 Cohen Memorial Hall
Panelists include Helen Auer, Yoshikuni Igarashi, Bryan Lowe, and Takashi Suzuki.
Sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, the Asian Studies Program, and the Center for U.S.-Japan Studies Cooperation.
Buddhist Blood Writing and Agency in Early Modern China
Colloquium on Religious History
15 January 2013 - 4:00pm to 5:30pm
Vanderbilt University, Tillet Faculty Lounge
Presented by Jimmy Yu, Department of Religion (Florida State University).
Sponsored by Vanderbilt University Divinity School.
Co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Program and the Department of Religious Studies.
The Cult of Confucius and the Shrine of His Robe and Cap
Norman L. & Rosella J. Goldberg Lecture Series
8 November 2012 - 4:10pm to 5:30pm
Vanderbilt University, 203 Cohen Memorial Hall
Presented by Julia K. Murray, University of Wisconsin.
Sponsored by the Department of the History of Art and co-sponsored by the Asian Studies Program.