In grade school students are often told that acts could “go on their permanent record”—a mythical file that impacts everything from college admissions to job searches. Today, College of Arts and Science researchers seek to discover if there’s a true kind of permanent record that resides in a person’s white blood cells. John McLean, assistant [...]

You’re wrong. You’re stupid. And your mother dresses you funny. In his new book, Democracy and Moral Conflict, Robert Talisse, associate professor of philosophy and political science, argues that our nation’s current polarized state is actually a threat to democracy. The book examines the political debate in America today and the lack of civility that sides [...]

In a world where some items—SUVs, houses, the size of the national debt—seem to be growing at an alarming pace, Arts and Science physicists have their eyes trained on particles so tiny they make atoms look elephantine. Nanotechnology is the study of these tiny particles—specifically those that meas-ure 100 nanometers. (Before you ask, a nanometer [...]

It starts with a tickle in your nose. Maybe a little discomfort at the back of the throat. You try to imagine it’s not there. You hold it in as long as you can and then…ACHOO! Yep, you have a cold. But what kind of cold? The symptoms for colds—or respiratory infections—caused by bacteria are [...]

Next time you’re bothered by mosquitoes, try giving them the cold shoulder—literally. Senior Research Associate Guirong Wang will test his theory that mosquitoes are attracted by humans’ warmblooded heat with the help of a $100,000 Grand Challenges Exploration grant awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Wang is working to find molecules that interfere [...]

Marshall Eakin, professor of history, will use his recently won Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship to study the formation of Brazilian national identity in the 20th century. “I am looking at Brazilian national identity to see how it is that the peoples of Brazil come to identify with a common set of symbols that are [...]

Only starving artists and songwriters can produce great music, right? Not so, say Jennifer Lena, assistant professor of sociology, and Richard “Pete” Peterson, professor of sociology, emeritus. The American Sociological Review published their findings regarding the development of 20th century music genres in the United States. Their study of more than 60 types of music [...]

Telling stories in comic book or graphic novels isn’t new—ancient Romans had their own version in the Tabulae Iliacae—but what scholar David Petrain learns from them is. Petrain, assistant professor of classics, is studying the group of 22 carved stone plaques which date to the early Roman empire and tell the story of the Trojan [...]

Tiny carbon tubes are helping researchers find a way to free Type 1 diabetics from insulin shots. Using nanotechnology, Vanderbilt researchers have been able to continuously monitor the amount of insulin produced by transplanted cells. Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes can be treated by transplanting insulin-producing cells into a patient’s pancreas to replace nonfunctional cells. [...]

Research by Assistant Professor of Astronomy Kelly Holley-Bockelmann indicates that there may be hundreds of nearly impossible-to-spot black holes careening around the galaxy. Because these rogue black holes can’t be directly observed, Holley-Bockelmann’s research simulates their behavior. She uses the supercomputer at Vanderbilt’s Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education (ACCRE) to run simulations to [...]