Arts and Science Centers & Institutes
Through major strategic investments by the university and through the generous support of our alumni and benefactors, the College of Arts and Science serves as a home to major centers, institutes, and initiatives that advance knowledge and impact through research, application, action, and community engagement.
Center for Effective Lawmaking
The Center for Effective Lawmaking was created in 2017 to advance the generation, communication, and use of new knowledge about the effectiveness of individual lawmakers and U.S. legislative insitutions.
Center for Global Democracy
The Center for Global Democracy is dedicated to advancing rigorous scientific research to deepen understanding on how democracies emerge, function, and decline. The center's core research projects, including its flagship LAPOP Lab, examine how mass publics perceive, experience, and support democratic development.
Center for Innovative Technology
The Center for Innovative Technology is a state-of-the-art molecular omics research center specializing in mass spectrometry techniques. The center serves as a resource for the Vanderbilt community by supporting, facilitating, and collaborating on molecular omics research.
Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (CLACX)
The Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies fosters research and teaching that examines borders and intersections through comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. CLACX aims to educate undergraduate and graduate students, K-16 educators, the business community, and the general public about Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx communities.
Center for Research on Inequality and Health
The Center for Research on Inequality and Health conducts cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary research to understand the causes and consequences of health-related inequalities. In partnership with the School of Nursing, the center brings together scholars in population health science; LGBTQ+ health policy; gun violence; and economic and social inequality.
Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions
The Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions conducts systematic theoretical and empirical research on questions central to the survival and flourishing of democratic institutions in the United States and abroad.
Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy
Established in 2003, the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy is the first university-based policy program to fully engage the American cultural policy system. Drawing upon the unique resources of a great university, the Curb Center supports research and programming that address the five primary sources of cultural policy in the United States.
Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice
In collaboration with the Frist Art Museum, Fisk University, and Millions of Conversations, the Engine for Art, Democracy and Justice explores the difficulties and entanglement of art today and how it connects to issues of democracy and justice.
Evolutionary Studies Initiative
Evolutionary Studies brings together anthropology, neuroscience, psychological sciences, economics, law, language, paleontology, education, ecology, medicine, and other fields to address critical issues. The initiative explores health (e.g., drug resistance, cancer), social (e.g., climate change), and economic (e.g., livestock/crop improvement) challenges to better understand the human condition and our place in the universe.
McGee Applied Research Center for Narrative Studies
The McGee Applied Research Center for Narrative Studies equips individuals with the skills and knowledge to adeptly navigate and critically assess the dynamic media landscape of the 21st century. The center supports innovative research, engages with the local community, and offers educational initiatives to create an informed and empowered citizenry.
Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities
The Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities connects faculty and students from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to share ideas and teach one another. The center sponsors teacher trainings, lectures, and publications designed to promote the importance of the humanities in today's world.
Rogers Center for the American Presidency
The Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the American Presidency pioneers an innovative approach to the U.S. presidency, thinking expansively about the presidency as both an institution and an idea. The center brings together presidential scholars from across the country in conferences and workshops that support cutting-edge research on executive power.
Vanderbilt Center for Languages
The Vanderbilt Center for Languages emphasizes the importance of learning new languages and cultures as a stepping stone to global exploration and cultural exchange. The center hosts frequent coffee hours and weekly tutoring sessions to help all students practice and master their chosen languages.
Vanderbilt Initiative for Gravity, Waves and Fluids (VandyGRAF)
The Vanderbilt Initiative for Gravity, Waves and Fluids connects mathematicians, physicists, and astrophysicists for collaborative study in relevant scientific fields, such as general relativity, fluid mechanics, and the evolution of partial differential equations. VandyGRAF hosts seminars and conversations with award-winning faculty.
Vanderbilt Initiative for Probes of Extreme Relativity (VIPER)
The Vanderbilt Initiative for Probes of Extreme Relativity (VIPER) group harnesses gravity to reveal new insights about the universe. Member study gravitational waves at low to mid frequencies to answer unique astrophysical questions about populations of stellar binaries, neutron stars, and black holes.
Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education
The Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education (VIIBRE) unites scientists and engineers from across campus who have an interest in working at the interface between the physical sciences, engineering, and biological sciences. Researchers focus primarily on cellular instrumentation and control, technology-guided therapy, biological applications of nanosystems, and cellular/tissue bioengineering and biotechnology.
Vanderbilt LGBTQ+ Policy Lab
The Vanderbilt LGBTQ+ Policy Lab brings in expertise from diverse fields of study—including economics, sociology, medicine, and law—to understand how policy shapes the lives of LGBTQ+ people and how people can, in turn, shape policy. The lab conducts important research, hosts a national conference, collaborates with community leaders to deliver relevant and impactful programming, and offers learning opportunities, such as courses and fellowships.
Interdisciplinary Centers
The College of Arts and Science also partners with other schools at Vanderbilt, other universities, and organizations to leverage faculty and student strengths, leading to innovative new classes, new programming, and new research, all of which strengthen Vanderbilt's intellectual community.
Vanderbilt Institute for Chemical Biology
The Vanderbilt Institute for Chemical Biology runs research and education programs in the application of chemical technologies to important biological problems. Specifically, the center's researchers design and develop new chemical agents to assist in the detection and treatment of disease. The center trains graduate students, recruits new faculty members with needed expertise, and runs a seminar program.
Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering
The Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering's mission is to drive innovation in nanoscience, nanotechnology, and education that benefits society by providing access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, sharing hands-on technical expertise, and facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations.
Arts and Science Cores
Research at Vanderbilt University is supported by designated institutional cores and shared resources. These facilities offer cutting-edge scientific services, enabling access to high-end equipment, advanced techniques, and specialized expertise for all Vanderbilt investigators.
Center For Innovative Technology
The Center for Innovative Technology offers collaborators an extensive lineup of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry instrumentation to enable numerous types of metabolomic analyses. We support investigators in numerous phases of the analytical pipeline and provide a number of services to meet the goals of individual research projects.
Chemical Storeroom
The Chemical Storeroom is a recharge center that provides chemicals, glassware, and various apparatus items. We provide services to Vanderbilt University, VUMC, and the VA Hospital.
Chemistry X-Ray Diffraction
The Chemistry X-Ray Diffraction facility is a core facility containing the Rigaku Smart Lab with Cu Ka X-ray source for Powder X-ray diffraction. Additional features and capabilities can be found on their website.
Vanderbilt Institute For Spatial Research (VISR)
VISR provides geospatial analysis and geophysical survey for projects within Vanderbilt and with partners nationwide. The wide range of projects cover the social sciences, humanities, medicine, public health, epidemiology, STEM education, environmental health and science, urban planning, and engineering. VISR facilities include advanced geospatial computational resources, instrumentation for geophysical and land survey, and 3D scanning equipment.