VDS Voices

2018-19 Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion Distinguished Alumni Award recipients Divinity School Recipient: Dr. James A. Sanders Claremont, CA Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, TN B.D.’51 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN .   B.A. ‘48  James A. Sanders was professor of intertestamental and biblical studies at the Claremont School of… Read More

By: Katherine H. Smith Jeremiah 33:14-16 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up… Read More

monthly message from emilie m. townes, vanderbilt divinity school dean One of the most exciting things I did as a youth was to vote in my first election. I asked my folks and other adults over and over again what they actually did behind that curtain. The idea that… Read More

What is community? I am standing here as the representative of our communal body to invite you all into our shared adventure, and as I attempted to write this speech I kept asking myself multiple questions. What did I need to hear as a first year? How do I… Read More

Photo: Reuters A statement from Emilie M. Townes, dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School, regarding the recent events in Gaza. I was shocked into speechlessness and a growing sense of horror, sorrow, and mourning when I opened up my Facebook feed on Monday morning. As the death toll and injury… Read More

Delivered by Emilie M. Townes, dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School on May 11, 2018 to the 2018 graduating class. i have no new words for you that you do not already know that you have not already heard that you not already seen or tried to live, if… Read More

Each month, we ask a member of the Vanderbilt Divinity School faculty or administration to recommend a book they are currently reading. Our March recommendation is offered by Graham Reside, Executive Director of the Cal Turner Program in Moral Leadership for the Professions, and Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Read More

Each month, we ask a member of the Vanderbilt Divinity School faculty or administration to recommend a book they are currently reading. Our March recommendation is offered by Lyndsey Godwin, Assistant Director of the Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality. Lyndsey recommends “Emergent Strategy” by adrienne maree brown (AK Press,… Read More

With Commencement on the horizon, students in the Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture (RACC) program at Vanderbilt Divinity School have been preparing final projects to complete the requirements for the program’s certificate.  Four of 2018’s certificate recipients are extending their creative reach beyond the Divinity School community to… Read More

Each month, Dean Emilie M. Townes writes a letter to alumni and friends in the Divinity School’s e-newsletter, the Spire. We are releasing this month’s reflection early to mark Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40 day season of Lent in the Christian calendar. Here Dean Townes reflects on the… Read More