August 29, 2005
TO:
Members of the University Community
FROM:
Mona Frederick, Executive Director, Warren Center
RE:
Fall Semester 2005 Warren Center Programs
The Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities promotes interdisciplinary
research and study in the humanities and social sciences and, when appropriate, the
natural sciences. Members of the Vanderbilt community representing a wide variety of
specializations take part in the Center’s programs, which are designed to intensify and
increase interdisciplinary discussion of academic, social, and cultural issues.
We are always interested in expanding our list of programs. If you have
suggestions for additional seminars or reading groups that would be appropriate to the
work of the Warren Center, please contact me at 343-6060 or
mona.frederick@vanderbilt.edu.
Warren Center Programs
Fellows Programs
2004/2005 Warren Center Fellows, “Strategic Actions: Women, Power, and Gender
Norms,” will host a lecture by Verta Taylor (sociology, University of California, Santa
Barbara). Taylor teaches courses on gender, qualitative research methods, and social
movements. Her works include Rock-a-By Baby: Feminism, Self-Help, and Postpartum
Depression and the “Feminist Frontiers” series, co-authored with Laurel Richardson.
Most recently, Taylor co-wrote Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret, with Leila J. Rupp.
More information on this lecture will be distributed soon.
2005/2006 Fellows Program, “Pre-modern Others: Race and Sexuality,” co-directed
by Leah Marcus (English) and Holly Tucker (French). Participants in the program are
Katherine Crawford (history), Dyan Elliott (history), Lynn Enterline (English), Carlos
Jáuregui (Spanish), Lynn Ramey (French), and David J. Wasserstein (history). The
2005/2006 Williams S. Vaughn Visiting Fellow is Jean Feerick (English, Brown
University).
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2005/2006 College of Arts and Science Graduate Student Fellows. Kathleen Eamon
(philosophy) and Brian McGinnis (German) are the inaugural College of Arts and
Science fellows. They will each present a public lecture about their research in the spring
term.
2006 Graduate Student Summer Fellows Program. Eight graduate students at the
dissertation writing stage will be selected to participate in the program. More information
will be distributed later in the semster.
2006/2007 Fellows Program, “Between Word and Image” co-directed by Carolyn
Dever (English) and Gregg Horowitz (Philosophy). Further information about this
opportunity will be distributed shortly.
Special Events
Carole Pateman (political science, UCLA) and Charles Mills (philosophy, University
of Illinois, Chicago). Pateman, author of The Sexual Contract, and Mills, author of The
Racial Contract, will give a joint presentation entitled “Contract and Domination: A
Collaborative Debate on Social Contract Theory” at 4:15 p.m. September 23, 2005 in
the Moore Room of the VU Law School. Pateman’s major research has covered three
broad areas: democratic theory, theories of original contracts, and feminist political
theory. Mills’ main research interests are in radical and oppositional political theory,
particularly around issues of class, gender, and race. Together they are working on a book
tentatively titled “Contract and Domination.” This program is an outgrowth of the
Diversity Reading Group, one of the Warren Center’s 2004/2005 seminars. Additional
support is being provided by Human and Organizational Development in Peabody
College, the Philosophy Department, the Political Science Department, the Program in
African American and Diaspora Studies, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, and
the Vanderbilt Law School.
“Settlers, Creoles, and the Re-Enactment of History.” The Warren Center is cosponsoring a conference, the third in a series, devoted to the topic of re-enactment
history. The conference, organized by Jonathan Lamb (English), will focus on how settler
and Creole cultures affirm the fact and right of settlement by means of historical reenactments that either alter metropolitan history to suit Creole history or celebrate
foundational moments of settlement itself. The program will take place November, 1112, 2005. More detailed information will be announced later in the semester.
Warren Center Seminars
All seminars meet in the Warren Center conference room unless otherwise noted.
American and Southern Studies Friday Lunch Bunch. Faculty with an interest in
American Studies gather monthly to lunch, enjoy each other’s company, and hear a
presentation on work-in-progress by a member of the group. Presentations have ranged
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across the spectrum of American and Southern Studies. Seminar coordinator: Dale
Cockrell (Director, American and Southern Studies Program),
dale.cockrell@vanderbilt.edu. Meeting dates and times to be determined.
Ancient and Medieval Studies Seminar. The purpose of the group is to foster
interdisciplinary study of the time periods embraced in its title, which means not only
history but language and literature, chiefly, though not exclusively, Greek, Hebrew, and
Latin. The main focus will be on faculty and graduate student research. Seminar
coordinators: Bill Caferro (history), william.p.caferro@vanderbilt.edu and Tom McGinn
(classical studies), thomas.a.mcginn@vanderbilt.edu. Meeting dates and times have not
been set yet. To join the email list, contact Lacey Galbraith at
lacey.f.galbraith@vanderbilt.edu.
Black Europe/Black European Studies Reading Group. The reading group is
committed to exploring intellectually Black Europe as an emerging field of study on the
European continent and in Great Britain, as well as the particularlities of the Black
European experience. The seminar will have brown bag luncheon meetings on
Wednesday, October 19, and November 16. Visiting speaker. Sabine Broeck (American
Studies, University of Bremen, Germany) will give a talk entitled “Slavery and the
Making of Modern Europe,” 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, November 16 (location to be
announced). Broeck is a founding Member of the Collegium for African American
Research in Europe (CAAR) and the author of White Amnesia - Black Memory?
American Women's Writing and History (Lang, Frankfurt/New York 1999). For more
information, please contact seminar coordinator Tracy Sharpley-Whiting at
tracy.d.sharpley-whiting@vanderbilt.edu.
Circum-Atlantic Studies Group. Now in it fifth year, this group meets monthly and will
read and treat works-in-progress authored by participants. Participants’ scholarship
should be interdisciplinary in nature, focus on at least two of the following regions–
Africa, Europe, Latin and Central America, the Caribbean, and North America–and treat
some aspect of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonialism, and/or postcolonialism.
Seminar coordinators: Sean Goudie (English), sx.goudie@vanderbilt.edu and Jane
Landers (history), jane.landers@vanderbilt.edu.
Diabetes Work Group. The diabetes working group consists of scholars across the
disciplines whose research involves the social aspects of diabetes. They will meet several
times this semester to discuss common research interests and explore possibilities for
collaborative research. For more information, please contact seminar coordinator Arleen
Tuchman at 2-8151 or arleen.m.tuchman@vanderbilt.edu.
Language Matters. How are language, identity, and conceptual development linked?
What can child language acquisition tell us about theories of the mind? What cognitive
and sociocultural dynamics are involved in adult second language acquisition? With
participating faculty who work in psychology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and
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modern foreign languages, the Language Matters group will explore issues related to
language and cognition. For more information, please contact seminar coordinator Meg
Saylor (psychology and human development) megan.saylor@vanderbilt.edu.
Medicine, Health, and Society Workshop/Planning Group. This interdisciplinary
seminar will meet monthly to discuss common concerns and hear talks by members and
visiting speakers. Please contact Matthew Ramsey (history) at
mhs+director@vanderbilt.edu if you plan to attend or would like to be added to the
group’s email list. The following talks all of which start at 3:10 p.m., will take place at
the Warren Center:
Wednesday, September 7, Kenneth Wallston (psychology) will give a talk
entitled “Hocus-pocus, The Focus Isn’t Strictly on Locus: One Man’s Odyssey
with Studying Perceived Control and Health.”
Wednesday, October 12, Isaac Prilleltensky (human and organizational
Development) will give a talk entitled “Time for a Change: Shifting the Paradigm
in Health and Human Services Through Action Research.”
Wednesday, November 9, Laura Carpenter (sociology) will give a talk entitled
“The Politics of Infant Male Circumcision.”
Wednesday, December 14, Sten Vermund (director of the Vanderbilt Institute
for Global Health) will give a talk entitled “Complexities in Prevention of
Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Africa.”
In addition on Thursday, September 15, the Center for Medicine, Health and
Society will host Robert Kane, M.D., (Minnesota Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging,
University of Minnesota School of Public Health) and his sister Joan West, authors of It
Shouldn't Be This Way: The Failure Of Long-term Care. The book tells the story of their
mother's experience after she suffered a debilitating stroke. They will deliver the MHS
fall lecture from noon-1:00 p.m. in 208 Light Hall. At 3:30 p.m., Dr. Kane and Ms.
West will meet at the Warren Center to allow a fuller discussion of the issues they raise
in their book and lecture. A reception and book signing will follow at the Vanderbilt
University Bookstore at 5:00 p.m.
Nineteenth Century Seminar. This group focuses upon the history, art, literature, and
culture of the long nineteenth century (ca. 1760-1914). Meetings will occur on a moreor-less monthly basis during the academic year to consider current scholarship by group
members and others. Graduate students and faculty are encouraged to attend. Seminar
coordinators are Natalie Champ (nats310@hotmail.com) and Lauren Wood
(lauren.n.wood@vanderbilt.edu).
Queer Theory/Gender Theory Graduate Student Reading Group. This seminar, for
graduate students, will meet to discuss emergent issues in queer theory and gender
theory. The focus of the discussions will be the ways in which current issues are
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developing across disciplinary boundaries. Meetings take place from 1-3 p.m. on the
following dates: September 2, October 7, November 18, and December 2. For more
information, please contact seminar coordinators Rebecca Chapman at
rebecca.r.chapman@vanderbilt.edu and Donald Jellerson at
donald.c.jellerson@vanderbilt.edu.
Vanderbilt Group for Early Modern Cultural Studies. This is an interdisciplinary
forum for faculty and graduate students with an interest in literature, history, music, art,
and culture from 1400-1800. The group meets monthly to discuss ongoing research by a
faculty member, recent publications in the field, or the work of a visiting scholar.
Graduate students are particularly encouraged to attend and contribute. For more
information, contact Leah Marcus (English) 2-2330 or leah.s.marcus@vanderbilt.edu. If
you would like to be added to the mailing list, please e-mail Lacey Galbraith at
lacey.f.galbraith@vanderbilt.edu.
Women’s and Gender Studies Seminar. This seminar will highlight work being done on
campus in the area of women’s and gender studies. Lynn Clarke and Dana Nelson will
speak at two meetings, dates to be determined. Visiting Speaker. At 4:10 p.m., Thursday,
September 29, Jennifer Finney Boylan (English, Colby College), will give a talk in
Wilson 103. Boylan is the author of a number of books, most recently, She’s Not There: A
Life in Two Genders (Doubleday/Broadway, 2005). If you would like to be added to the
mailing list for this seminar, please email Lacey Galbraith at
lacey.f.galbraith@vanderbilt.edu.
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