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Welcome to Religious Life at Vanderbilt
 Religious Life seeks to function in an educational capacity, not only for those students and groups who are traditionally religious, but by way of raising ethical questions and issues of value and character among the student body at large. Because we seek to educate the "whole person", we view ethical and spiritual formation as integral to the University's overall educational mission and religious life as an important dimension of the so-called hidden curriculum of the University. Therefore we seek to integrate the programs and services offered by the chaplains and professional staff into the larger life of the University community Check us out on Facebook!
Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday.
We are located in the Tarpley Building
Looking for a hospital chaplain?
Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Department of Pastoral Care
Upcoming and Current Events
Leadership Development Breakfast
Presented by:
The Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership
Thursday, December 10, 2009 7:30am - 9:00 am
Vanderbilt Divinity School Reading Room
Graham Reside, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Cal Turner Program and Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt Divinity School
Please join us for breakfast with Graham in VU Divinity School’s Reading Room from 7:30 am to 9:00 am. Registration fee is $10.00 for community members and Vanderbilt faulty and staff. Students are free.
Register Here
Faith In Action:
Elizabeth Eiland
If we’re completely honest with ourselves, most of us already have what we need for the holidays. Who needs another sweater or a video game? Yes, we may want these things but do we need them? Why not buy your loved ones some bees from Heifer Project, International that will go to a family in a developing country for honey? Or what about a mosquito net for someone in Africa to prevent malaria? Or what about purchasing a tangible gift from Thistle Farms, a ministry that benefits rehabilitated women from the streets?
Elizabeth Eiland has been talking up Alternative Gift Fair (AGF) around campus since September of 2008. What’s an Alternative Gift Fair? An Alternative Gift Fair is a local and global change agent that seeks to promote and facilitate alternative gift giving by bringing together benevolent campus and community organizations. Alternative gift giving enables individuals to make charitable donations, often toward specific items or services, or to purchase tangible fundraising gifts in honor of their loved ones.
Last year, Presbyterian Student Fellowship (PSF) began Vanderbilt’s first Alternative Gift Fair. Under the leadership of Hannah DeZeeuw, a group of students, including Eiland, worked together to pull off the first ever AGF in December of 2008 by raising $10,000 for over 20 non-profits/organizations in Nashville and beyond. This year AGF is back, and it’s going to be better than ever- all thanks to Elizabeth Eiland and her outstanding leadership team.
Elizabeth Eiland, a junior from Midland, TX, was hand selected by DeZeeuw to lead the wonderful AGF Board for 2009. After serving with DeZeeuw last year, Eiland did not hesitate to step up to the plate. Eiland is very humble and credits her many wonderful classmates who are working hard to pull off another successful AGF. Yet, Elizabeth Eiland has a passion for AGF, and it shows. Even though Eiland is studying abroad next semester, she has chosen to devote much of her time to getting others involved in this year’s fair. The date for Vanderbilt’s AGF is Friday, Dec. 4th from 3-7 PM in St. Augustine’s Chapel. Parking will be available (and FREE) in the 25th Street Garage until 5:00. After that time, parking will be $5. However, meter parking on West End is a quarter per 15 minutes and after 6:00 PM, it is free.
If you know of a student organization or non-profit that wants to be involved, please fill out the form on this link- http://www.psfnashville.org/agf/AGF_home. For more info, please also use the aforementioned link. If you’d like to volunteer on Dec. 4th, please e-mail Elizabeth directly.
Reaching Us:
Religious Life
2417 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37240
Phone: 615-322-2457
Fax: 615-343-8355
Email:religiouslife@vanderbilt.edu
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Side Notes:
One World, Under God
Robert Wright
For all the advances and wonders of our global era, Christians, Jews, and Muslims seem ever more locked in mortal combat. But history suggests a happier outcome for the Peoples of the Book. As technological evolution has brought communities, nations, and faiths into closer contact, it is the prophets of tolerance and love that have prospered, along with the religions they represent. Is globalization, in fact, God’s will?
The Atlantic article
Western policymakers and academics often concern themselves with death in Islam only in the context of suicide terrorism. But the Islamic treatment of death is far more complicated. Leor Halevi, professor of history at Vanderbilt University, has written a masterful, well-written work filled with original research that shows how Islamic notions of death coalesced in the first centuries of the new religion.
The Religious Landscape of the United States
With unprecedented precision, a new Pew Forum survey details the religious affiliation of the American public and quantifies the remarkable dynamism taking place in the U.S. religious marketplace. Read the report and explore religion in America using online tools.
The Pew Forum on Religion an Public Life |
