Feature Category
Welcome from Joy Bronson, MDiv2
Aug. 17, 2016—Each year, VDS invites returning students to offer words of advice to the incoming class. We hope these stories and lived wisdom will help you navigate your own path at Vanderbilt! As I round the corner into my second year at Vanderbilt Divinity School, I have a few reflections on my past year that I...
Reconciling Peace
Aug. 3, 2016—A Metadiscourse on Remembering Religion and the Troubles in Belfast By: Stephanie Downing, MTS2 “Ireland, the continual past.”[1] This stage direction sets the stage for Northern Irish playwright Stewart Parker’s masterpiece Northern Star. There is perhaps no better setting for a play written in 1984 about the failed 1798 rebellion, led by the United Irishmen,...
Exploring library archives
Jun. 29, 2016—by Jonathan Redding, PhD Candidate’17 Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel In the spring 2016, the students studying Hebrew Bible from the Vanderbilt University Graduate Department of Religion visited Princeton, New Jersey to explore the Princeton Theological Seminary library archives. Below are pictures of some beautiful old bibles, along with the Bible Dietrich Bonhoeffer used when...
A note to our Class of 2016
May. 4, 2016—It was the spring of 1998. Europe was in the final stages of agreeing on a single currency, the euro. The Good Friday Accord had just been reached in Northern Ireland. Back in the United States, the President was embroiled in a White House sex scandal. And closer to home, on the speakers of high...
“Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home.”
Mar. 9, 2016—As my yearlong research leave from the Divinity School was winding down this past summer, I found myself imagining how I might put some of the resources in my endowed chair to work for the benefit of our school and the wider community. The notion first came to me in late May on a long...
Creating Change 2016 – Levi Dillard
Mar. 2, 2016—The National Conference for LGBT Equality: Creating Change is an annual event. It’s truly a one-of-a-king organizing and skills-building event for the LGBTQ community and allies. The 28th annual Creating Change conference was held in Chicago, Illinois, this year. Vanderbilt Divinity School student delegates Shakiya Canty, Levi Dillard, Sarah Jordan, and Marty B. Tracy attended...
Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience training
Feb. 17, 2016—“This is my symbol of trauma.” I snapped open the blue container containing the mouth guard that my dentist had crafted specifically for my nighttime teeth grinding. After a few explanatory sentences I placed my container on the table and passed the talking stick to the friend on my right side. This exercise, sharing our...
On Care for Our Common Home
Jan. 20, 2016—On Thursday, June 18, 2015, Pope Francis released Laudato Si’, in English Praise Be to You: On Care for Our Common Home. This encyclical is the first to address the sweeping consequences of anthropogenic climate change, and it presents Pope Francis’ pastoral commitment to the integral flourishing of all life. Throughout this writing, Francis draws...
Fear is the Cause of War
Jan. 13, 2016—Bishop Joe E. Pennel, Jr, Professor of the Practice of Leadership, writes about his concern for the chaos in today’s world and his attempt to understand the source as informed by the faith that gave birth to the Church. Fear is a sign of our time in history. Fear captures the hearts of people from every...
The season of waiting
Dec. 20, 2015—The long quiet has settled in the halls of the Divinity School. Students depart to visit family and friends across town and around the world. Faculty retreat to cozier spaces to grade papers and prepare for the new term. Around our building, the staff is keeping the lights on, holding our steady vigil over daily...