Feature Category
An invitation to co-create the world we imagine
Jan. 29, 2023—Dear Colleagues, friends, and James Lawson Institute (JLI) Community, We are yet again learning of the death of a Black man by those who have sworn to uphold Justice, pursue peace, and to protect. What we know is that five police officers in Memphis, TN have been charged with the brutal beating and murder of...
Black girl joy, brilliance and magic are front and center at the inaugural Black Girls Becoming summer program
Aug. 1, 2022—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.
The choice for historically Black congregations in Edgehill and 12 South: stay or go
Jul. 20, 2022—Originally published at 9:00 p.m. CT July 19, 2022 in the Tennessean. by Liam Adams and Sydney Satterwhite Key Points Demographic changes in Edgehill and 12 South caused by development have affected membership for historically Black congregations Five historically Black congregations have left the neighborhoods, and one is currently moving Some churches that have stayed wrestle with how...
VDS student’s field education, guided by VDS alumna, provided much-needed pastoral care at local domestic violence shelter
Jun. 16, 2022—Camille Kammer (MDiv ’22) was one of the few VDS students whose field education at the YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee was completed in-person during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work providing pastoral care to women fleeing domestic violence served the largest domestic violence shelter in the region and was guided by Erika Callaway Kleiner (MDiv ’02).
Scholars of economic justice from varied disciplines expand on Wendland-Cook Program’s mission in Academic Fellows Forum
Mar. 29, 2022—For the first time in its history, the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice has accepted three scholars into its year-long fellowship program, which focuses on matters relating to the intersections of religion, economic justice, class and labor, and environmental justice. The previous cohort in 2020 had a single fellow. During his fellowship, Jeremy Posadas,...
Lament is not about helplessness or hopelessness
Mar. 11, 2022—Lament is not about helplessness or hopelessness. When done in community, we name that which is causing us to be tempted by despair with as much precision as possible and then begin to take steps to address—if not eradicate—that which keeps us from a more just world.
Divinity students bring unique experience with grief rituals during an era of extraordinary death
Feb. 7, 2022—Meg Wade, a second-year MDiv student, brings her passion for helping those in mourning process their grief as a “grief doula,” while George Schmidt, a second-year PhD student in theological studies, brings his experience as an military chaplain that was present at hundreds of burial ceremonies to assist next of kin at the Arlington National Cemetery. Both highlight contrasts as well as similarities in the way society ritualizes grief.
Public theology fellow leaves legacy of community building and support
Dec. 20, 2021—The Rev. Teresa L. Smallwood, who helped launch Vanderbilt’s Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative as associate director in 2017, is moving to Pennsylvania’s United Lutheran Seminary in January. Over Smallwood’s four years at Vanderbilt Divinity School, the Collaborative has hosted nearly 30 workshops and more than 20 fellows and scholars to advance racial justice...
Favorite Nashville Spots
Jul. 28, 2021—Are you moving to Nashville for divinity school? Coming to visit to see if you’d like to join us at Vanderbilt Divinity? We put together a list of favorite Nashville spots recommended by VDS students and alumni. You want it? Nashville’s got it. This is not an exhaustive list – just a place to get you...
Charge to the Class of 2021
May. 17, 2021—Delivered by Vanderbilt Divinity School dean, emilie m. townes on May 16, 2021 whether we are talking calendar year or academic year, this has been some year we have lived and it’s good to see so many of you in the flesh rather than in zoom boxes those boxes had their advantages…and disadvantages but i...