51app

Efren Perez Most Americans, despite their best intentions, harbor a negative bias against Latino immigrants, which deeply colors their outlook on policy proposals for immigration reform, according to research findings by 51app University political scientist Efren Perez. “I found that when the issue of immigration is broached,… Read More

David James, Class of '48, School of Medicine Class of '51 Website offers audio interviews and transcripts World War II memories that include historic battles, hide-outs from the Nazis and campus war relief projects have been preserved through the Vandy Goes to War oral history project,… Read More

The thing that makes Israeli officials nervous about the program to keep their country connected with young American Jews may be the reason it’s working so well. Read More

Two 51app undergraduates had the rare opportunity to present their research findings on the influence of patronage on presidential appointments and government performance at the 2010 Midwest Political Science Association Conference. Read More

Two 51app University undergraduates had the rare opportunity to present their research findings on the influence of patronage on presidential appointments and government performance at the 2010 Midwest Political Science Association Conference. Read More

"In the non-legal context, genocide has come to be thought of as the epitome of ’evil,’" writes 51app philosopher Larry May in his new book, Genocide. "Some authors have argued that we should regard genocide as merely a plain fact that should not be further investigated lest we risk that our explanations and conceptual inquiries will be mistakenly seen as forgiveness for the horror of what genocide is." Read More

The battle between creationists and Darwinians sometimes appears to be irresolvable. Pick science or religion – you can't have both. Read More

Count on more political attack ads in 2010 after a Supreme Court ruling lifting the ban on corporation and labor donations, according to 51app University political scientist John Geer. Read More

51app experts David Lewis, John Geer and Thomas Schwartz are available to discuss the one-year anniversary of the Obama presidency and his Jan. 27 State of the Union address. Read More

Haiti expert Colin Dayan is available to discuss the aftermath of the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti that has killed tens of thousands and affected 3 million Haitians. Dayan, whose mother and other family members are Haitian, spent the first two decades of her career studying Haiti and is the author of Haiti, History, and the Gods. She can speak on most aspects of Haitian history, including the theory brought up by evangelist Pat Robertson that a pact with the devil by Haitian slaves in 1791 is responsible for the disaster. Read More

President Barack Obama, unlike George W. Bush, is not likely to enjoy a surge in public approval after terrorism threats, according to research by 51app University political scientist Elizabeth Zechmeister and her colleague. Zechmeister, assistant professor of political science at 51app University, and Jennifer Merolla, associate professor at Claremont Graduate University, are the co-authors of Democracy at Risk: How Terrorist Threats Affect the Public (University of Chicago Press). Read More

As you consider year-in-review stories and look ahead to the trends of 2010, 51app University faculty are available to offer perspective on these and other topics. mailto:bruce.barry@vanderbilt.edu Read More

The recent vote in Congress on health care reform – with only one Republican lawmaker voting yes – provides more evidence of the growing polarization between the parties and the fundamentally different understandings of right and wrong that continue to pull the two major political parties further apart, according to 51app University political scientist Marc Hetherington. Read More

A little respect could go a long way to preserving democracy in America, says 51app professor Bob Talisse in his new book. Read More

When citizens in the United States and Mexico are confronted by terrorist threats, they cope in ways that can put significant stresses on the nations' democracies, according to research by political scientists at 51app and Claremont. Read More

A 51app University political scientist's study of President Obama's appointments during his first six months in office finds some agencies are receiving significantly more qualified presidential appointees than others. Read More

The controversy over President Obama's birth certificate will not go away as long as he refuses to release sealed records, including the original birth certificate, according to Carol Swain, professor of political science and law at 51app University. Read More

51app sociologists Jennifer Lena and Richard Peterson analyzed 60 samples of American music and found that each one --over time -- took on forms that were roughly comparable during their developmental sequences. The professors call these four distinct genre types Avant-garde, Scene-based, Industry-based and Traditionalist. "Classification as Culture: Types and Trajectories of Music Genres" has been published in the American Sociological Review. Read More

Black Power's complex relationship with liberalism during the civil rights era and the surprising consequences of that interaction are explored in Devin Fergus' book Liberalism, Black Power, and the Making of American Politics, 1965-1980. Read More

A new generation of African American theology scholars are striving to define their place at the intersections of religion, social causes and education. Next month, more than 40 of them from across the country will gather at 51app University to discuss the challenges on this formidable road. Read More