Vanderbilt

  I remember the morning vividly, it was Friday, June 24th. I received a very disturbing text message from a 28-year-old trans man. He was petrified at the overturning of Roe v. Wade and was desperately scrambling to find some modicum of security or safety. We talked about so many things that… Read More

Excerpt from “Blacks and Jews, Again”, a New York Times opinion guest essay by Michael Eric Dyson: “. . . Ye, the hip-hop artist and fashion designer formerly known as Kanye West, has unleashed a rash of antisemitic tirades, and the Brooklyn Nets basketball superstar Kyrie Irving posted on social… Read More

Congratulations to two Vanderbilt Divinity School professors, Michael Eric Dyson and Peter Lake, for their promotions to University Distinguished Professors! Congratulations to Michael Eric Dyson on his promotion to University Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies in the Vanderbilt University College of Arts and Science and University Distinguished Professor… Read More

West Southern Pines School A reflection from our dean, Emilie M. Townes, for November 2022: When I was a little Black kid growing up in a very traditional Black transclass community in Durham, NC, and in my grandmother’s working class, Black community in West Southern Pines, NC, about 75 miles… Read More

A new book from Stephanie Budwey, an assistant professor of the history and practice of Christian worship and the arts, discusses the erasure of intersex people in the areas of science, law, culture, and theology due to the assumption that all humans are either ‘female’ or ‘male.’ Read More

A reflection from our dean, Emilie M. Townes, for October 2022: Lately, I’ve been finding myself talking about integrity in the various talks I’ve been giving. I do so because I think having integrity and living our lives by modeling it gives us a benchmark for our actions.  In this… Read More

Dean Emilie M. Townes’ Fall Convocation remarks, as delivered on August 26, 2022 each opening convocation, we have begun by remembering those who have died since we were last together in May and to celebrate the new births during this time as well today, we remember those killed… Read More

In the spirit of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, the program engages 7th and 8th grade Black girls in two weeks of classes that support their socio-emotional development while developing somatic and academic literacies. Read More

A reflection from our dean, Emilie M. Townes, for July 2022: With the early release of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision written by Justice Alito in May, we knew what the opinion would be. The finality of the end to the constitutional… Read More

Pastor Darin Freeman of Tabernacle Baptist Church walks around the old property which recently sold at 2214 12 Avenue South in Nashville , Tenn., Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Two years ago the church moved to 6801 Charlotte Pike. NICOLE HESTER / THE TENNESSEAN Originally published at 9:00 p.m. CT July 19,… Read More