‘theology’
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.
READ THIS BOOK: November 2017
Nov. 13, 2017—The question of the “other” is a recurring one. Many scholarly volumes wrestle with this inquiry: who is the other? Toni Morrison enters the discourse with a decidedly reflective view of her own work alongside a plethora of writers who have produced both fictional and scholarly, literary and scientific contributions. Morrison’s particular reference to “origin”...
READ THIS BOOK: January 2017
Jan. 8, 2017—Each month, we ask a member of the Vanderbilt Divinity School faculty to recommend a book they are currently reading. Our January recommendation is offered by Joerg Rieger, Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair in Wesleyan Studies and Distinguished Professor of Theology. Professor Rieger recommends Transcending Greedy Money: Interreligious Solidarity for Just Relations by Ulrich Duchrow and...
Alumni/ae Tuesday: Jeanie Rice-Cranford
Dec. 13, 2016—Our monthly Alumni/ae Tuesday Guest Post series on the VDS Voices blog highlights posts written by VDS and GDR alumni/ae. Hear firsthand about their important work in the community, collaborations with other alumni/ae and faculty, and much more. Be sure to also check out the Divinity School Instagram feed every Tuesday for our Alumni/ae Instagram Takeover Day....
READ THIS BOOK: November 2016
Nov. 7, 2016—Each month, we ask a member of the Vanderbilt Divinity School faculty to recommend a book they are currently reading. Our October recommendation is offered by Juan Floyd-Thomas, Associate Professor of African American Religious History. Professor Floyd-Thomas recommends “The New Abolition: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Black Social Gospel” by Gary Dorrien. Gary Dorrien’s The New Abolition...
The First Year Experience: An Extended Introduction
Sep. 14, 2016—By Amy E. Steele, MDiv, PhD Assistant Dean for Student Life The First Year experience at Vanderbilt Divinity School is an extension of the New Student Orientation. It is comprised of six sessions that focus on spiritual formation, stewardship, and vocation—or in other words, matters of spiritual grounding, money, and jobs. Perhaps these ideas seem...
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...
READ THIS BOOK – March 2016
Mar. 13, 2016—Each month, we ask a member of the Vanderbilt Divinity School faculty to recommend a book they are currently reading. Our March recommendation is offered by Victor Anderson, Oberlin Theological School Professor of Ethics and Society and Professor of the Program in African American and Diaspora Studies and Religious Studies. Professor Anderson recommends The Christian Imagination:...
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...
My First Year Experience – Kimberly A. Goins
Nov. 25, 2015—by Kimberly A. Goins, MTS1 As I reflect upon my first year experience at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, I cannot help but think what I wrote in my personal statement: I want to pursue the master of theological studies degree because I have a myriad of ideas about the connections among politics, racism, social justice, the...