About the Center

Mission

The Vanderbilt Center for Nashville Studies facilitates academic and applied, social scientific and historical research in greater Nashville, alone or in comparison with other cities in the state, nation, and world.  

Guiding Principles

• A rapidly globalizing city of the U.S. interior, Nashville abounds with original research sites in several policy domains.
• Studying the city of Nashville at this historical point in social and civic development will yield an abundance of policy-relevant, community enriching information.
• The wealth of intellectual resources at Vanderbilt University can greatly enhance and be enhanced by strong mutually beneficial ties to the multi-faceted city of Nashville.

What We Do

RESEARCH

The research projects conducted by both faculty and student fellows of the Center focus on Nashville alone or in comparison with other cities in the nation and world. The projects address overlapping, enduring and pressing human themes:

• Immigration
• Community Health
• Poverty, Wealth & the American Dream
• Race, Ethnic & Gender Relations
• Employment & Training
• Social justice & Human Rights
• Underserved Communities
• Civil Rights History

CURRICULAR INNOVATION

The Center's universitywide curricular innovations—new courses, seminars, independent studies, workshops and doctoral dissertation research—entail the development of credit-bearing research training opportunities that are linked to the Fellows' research projects. The Center's Faculty Advisory Board is composed of a multi-disciplinary group of distinguished Vanderbilt scholars who advise the Center on its academic operations.

INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITY

The Center invites faculty and doctoral students from across the University to participate in the intellectual life of the Center. By applying for research seed grants through the Center's peer-reviewed, intramural grant award programs, faculty and students can develop their research programs and avail themselves of the Center's multi-disciplinary scholarly community, research resources and Nashville Data Archive.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The community outreach operations of the Center focus on practical and pressing community issues. The Center brokers meetings between faculty experts, policymakers and the media. It facilitates, develops and administers applied research on policy issues. The Center's community programs enrich local political discourse by joining the expertise of the Center Fellows and that of local policy experts and practitioners. The Community Advisory Board is a diverse group of distinguished community leaders who advise the Center on its operations in the community.