News
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Praying to OCD: Divinity alumna’s research helps faith communities talk about mental health
When you imagine depictions of obsessive-compulsive disorder in popular culture, you probably think of cleanliness practices like excessive hand washing. Or maybe you imagine common popular culture tropes of people being a “little OCD” because they like a neat desk or an organized closet. Katie O’Dunne, DMin ’24, is an… Read MoreSeptember 29, 2026
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Expanding access and opportunity in theological education
For over 35 years, the Hispanic Scholars Program has provided curricular opportunities at the intersection of religious studies and Latine culture to more than 2,000 students at divinity schools and theological programs across the country. Read MoreSeptember 18, 2026
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James Lawson Institute announces 2026 Change-Maker Fellows
The Change-Maker Fellowship is an academic-year leadership program through the James Lawson Institute for the Research and Study of Nonviolent Movements designed to equip undergraduate and graduate students with the knowledge, skills and grounding to create social change through nonviolent direct action. The JLI Change-Maker Fellows held their first… Read MoreSeptember 14, 2026
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Divinity School Reunion: A time to remember and celebrate
Vanderbilt Divinity School will celebrate Reunion Weekend on October 16-17, 2026. From emerging topics in AI, to explorations of friendships over 40 years in the making, to student-led interfaith worship, join us for a weekend highlighting the ways in which Divinity education continues to be a rigorous and relevant… Read MoreSeptember 9, 2026
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Vanderbilt’s Art in the Christian Tradition database launches major update
Vanderbilt Divinity Library has launched a comprehensive redesign of its Art in the Christian Tradition (ACT) website, fully integrating this database of more than 7,000 religious images with the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) platform to support digi... Read MoreAugust 9, 2026
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Vanderbilt to host 2027 North American Syriac Symposium
Every four years, scholars and students in North America join across institutions to discuss the study of Syriac language and culture. The North American Syriac Symposium, held since 1991, brings together the brightest in the field to discuss topics related to the language, literature and cultural history of Syriac… Read MoreAugust 5, 2026
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Reading the history of religion in America: 250 years of influence
As part of the Treaty of Tripoli, 1797, President John Adams approved the following statement: “The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” Yet that didn’t mean Christianity wasn’t influential during the Revolutionary era, and the relationship between religion and… Read MoreJune 30, 2026
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Integrative Chaplaincy and the work of grief
For Chaplain (Captain) William Dykes, ministry is a shared experience of entering fully into the lives of the people he serves. Dykes is a student in the Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Doctor of Ministry in Integrative Chaplaincy program and an active-duty Army chaplain in the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The… Read MoreMay 19, 2026
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Celebrating the graduating Class of 2026
“Friends, graduates, this now is part of your calling. I hope you will form communities of compassion in an age of outrage,” said Bishop William McAlilly to the 60 graduates and hundreds of guests at Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Commencement. McAlilly is a retired Bishop of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference… Read MoreMay 13, 2026
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Vanderbilt University honors Class of 2026 Founder’s Medalists
Learn about the outstanding graduates chosen as each school's Founder's Medalist recipients for the Class of 2026 Read MoreMay 6, 2026