Profiles
Didi Jackson: Breeding human connection through poetry
Oct. 14, 2021—“Sometimes our motivations aren’t what we asked for—they are given to us.” That is the experience of Visiting Assistant Professor of English Didi Jackson, who joined Vanderbilt’s College of Arts and Science in Spring 2021. A true lover of the humanities, Jackson brings to A&S a deep passion for telling stories through poetry and visual...
Rate of Change: Sandra Rosenthal & the Patterns of Bipolar Disorder
Oct. 5, 2021—Sandra Rosenthal, Jack and Pamela Egan Chair and professor of chemistry, shares how her personal struggle with bipolar disorder has influenced her research.
Global Vanderbilt: Karan Jani
Sep. 20, 2021—Astrophysicist Karan Jani shares how Vanderbilt has shaped his research career as an international faculty member.
Anthropology department’s women Ph.D grads diversify, and change, the field
May. 3, 2021—Founded in 1987, the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Anthropology has been a leader in Andean archaeology, an important subdiscipline that studies some of the world’s earliest human settlements. In recent years, the department has maintained that leadership position by diversifying its small Ph.D. cohorts and more recently, by diversifying the faculty. The...
Department of Medicine, Health, and Society expands collaborative potential with new hires
Apr. 20, 2021—In 2007, Vanderbilt’s College of Arts and Science launched an innovative new major called Medicine, Health, and Society (MHS). From attracting just 40 enrollees in its first year, the interdisciplinary program has grown rapidly into one of A&S’s most popular majors. More than 700 undergraduate students are now studying toward an MHS degree, and MHS...
Cinema and Media Arts students use capstone projects to develop themselves as world citizens
Apr. 20, 2021—For students in the Department of Cinema and Media Arts (CMA), senior year involves an important rite of passage: the capstone seminar. Required for every CMA major, the seminar brings together the department’s unique blend of theory and practice. While most film departments around the country focus on training either film scholars (theory) or filmmakers...
Tiffany Ruby Patterson: Raising the voices of the unheard
Feb. 17, 2021—From a young age, Associate Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies Tiffany Ruby Patterson loved to learn. She read voraciously throughout her childhood: a set of World Book encyclopedias purchased by her uncle, an entire library left behind by the former owner of her family’s apartment building. That early love of books continued into...
Renã Robinson: Helping others through the power of research and representation
Feb. 11, 2021—For Associate Professor of Chemistry Renã Robinson, science has long been about helping people. She was an avid scientist-in-training throughout her childhood and went to college intending to become a cardiac surgeon. But when she got close to the end of her undergraduate career, she said, “I realized I just didn’t have another 12 years...
Vanderbilt Debate overcomes COVID-19 challenges to break new ground in civic engagement
Jan. 22, 2021—One year ago, Sahil “Sael” Soni ’21, a chemistry and economics double major, had just returned from a blue-ribbon performance in Vanderbilt Debate’s first-ever international competition. He was looking forward to finishing the 2019-2020 season on a high note, as were his teammates. For the last 30 years, Vanderbilt Debate has been a national leader,...
Antonis Rokas elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Dec. 9, 2020—Antonis Rokas, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The lifetime honor, first awarded in 1874, recognizes pre-eminent scientists who engage in pioneering research; excel at teaching, mentoring, and collaborating; and advance public understanding of science. The AAAS said in a...