Your VDS news for the week. Lots going on, friends!
Your VDS news for the week. Lots going on, friends!
f you have submissions, please send them to Sophia by end of day every Thursday.

Administrative Items Requiring Action

None at this time.

Administrative Items Of Note

None at this time.

VDS Community Announcements

Weekly Spiritual Formation Opportunities


The community is invited to weekly gatherings while classes are in session:
Community worship happens each Wednesday in The Space from 11:15am-12:00pm; immediately following worship, meet  in the Common Room/Student Lounge (ground level) for Coffee Hour from 12:00-1:00pm. If you are interested in joining the Worship Committee, please Dr. Stephanie Budwey or Dr. Dave Perkins.
Weekly Centering Prayer
Each Thursday beginning, September 12, from 12:30-1:00pm, gather for Centering Prayer with Kara Lassen Oliver, from the Upper Room.
First Tuesdays: Constructing Faith and Practice Labs or “The Lab” in the Student Life Suite, from 12-1pm. Simple lunch provided on a first come first-served basis. 

Spiritual Formation Small Groups
You are invited to join or form a small group (between 4-6 people) who will commit to meeting at least monthly to read an entry from the “Mining Spiritual Resources for Social Justice Leadership” handbook. At the conclusion of each entry are discussion questions that invite deeper reflection and engagement with some idea related to spiritual practices. If you are interested, please sign your small group up with Dean Steele. She has printed handbooks in her office. You can also find the entire handbook, here.

Austen Hartke: September 16, 11:30am


Join author Austen Hartke for a time of education, discussion, and encouragement as we figure out how to make the Gospel we preach actually sound like good news to every member of the Body of Christ.
September 16, 11:30-1, Divinity School G29
Brown Bag Lunch—Dessert and Drinks provided

Methodist Student Association Meets 9/17, 12:20


Methodist Students are invited to gather for lunch on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 12:20pm in Room 127. Please RSVP to Sophia by end of day on Monday, 9/16 if you plan to attend. Vegan and gluten free options will be available.
If you're able to help set up or clean up, please indicate that in the email.

Join Paul Vasile on Wednesday, September 18


Join Paul Vasile, Executive Director of Music that Makes Community, on Wednesday, September 18th:

9:30am-11am: “Engaging Voices, Spoken and Sung” (Suite 119, with Worship Committee and open to the community)

11:15am-12pm: Worship (The Space, Paul will lead us in music)

1:15-2:25: “Creative Ideas for Proclaiming Sacred Texts” (G-43, Prof. Budwey’s Intro to Worship class and open to the community).

His two discussions will explore the use of paperless music in worship and the varied applications of oral tradition learning and how it can be used to strengthen congregational singing and deepen into spaces of embodied, communal song (within and outside church).

Fall Art Exhibit: Ah Rising

Join Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture for the Opening and Reception of the fall art exhibit with artist and alumni, Rev. Erie Chapman.
Thursday, September 19
Divinity Art Room (Ground Floor)
11AM-1PM: Coffee/Lunch/Dessert
4-7PM: Wine & Cheese Reception

September 19-20: Poverty Skolarship: Poor-Peoples Led Theory, Art Words, and Solutions

Join us for two days with Poverty Skolars Leroy F. Moore Jr. & Lisa “Tiny” Gray Garcia of Poor Magazine as they share the experiential wisdom and practical, spirit-filled solutions for those most criminalized and targeted with violence because they are unhoused and cash poor.  Learn More >>

September 27: Community Breakfast with Dean Townes

Community Breakfasts are a way of inviting the larger community into the Divinity School. Dean Townes will field questions about the religious import of the events of our day such as schooling, immigration, spirituality, social activism, protest, and how to love yourself fiercely while being God’s agents for justice and hope in the world.

Friday, September 27, 7:30- 8:30 a.m.
Vanderbilt Divinity School, Room 124
This breakfast is free for VDS students but registration is required.

Latinx Seminarians Host Conexión Américas new ED


Join the Latinx Seminarians on September 27, 5:30-7:30PM for an evening of Afro-Latin jazz to welcome new Executive Director of Conexión Américas, Juliana Ospina-Cano.
Attendance is open to all. Food and beverage will be provided.
Questions? Email Damian.

Additional VDS Events At-A-Glance


A number of events are happening this fall! Save the dates and watch for more info, soon.
SEPTEMBER
Every Monday, Noon: Just Lunch hosted by the Wendland-Cook Program. RSVP here.
17-19: Paul Vasile, Music that Makes Community (RACC, Community Life)
27: Community Breakfast with Dean Townes
OCTOBER
Every Monday, Noon: Just Lunch hosted by the Wendland-Cook Program. RSVP here.
17: Those with interest in the Religion and the Arts Concentration: Join a brown bag info session on October 8, from 12:00–12:45 in Room 127. Questions? Contact John McClure.
18: Pathways Conference. Visit website.
24-25: Fall Break
26: Second Annual Womanist Ethnography & Black Women's Vocation
29: Dying of Whiteness Community Town Hall @ Nashville Public Library. Learn more >>

Additional Announcements for Campus and Beyond

From Your Divinity Librarians

Zotero Workshops

Zotero is a great tool to organize your sources as well as generate bibliographies in almost any citation style — in addition to letting you insert auto-filled citations in your paper while your write. Your Divinity librarians are hosting a series of workshops to use this tool. Schedule is below, but if you aren't able to make those times, email Chris Benda to schedule a different time.

Student Success Workshops: Thriving In Grad School


The Divinity librarians and writing tutor are teaming up to bring you a workshop series to acquaint you with some of the vital skills for your grad school success. Focusing students “wish they would have known sooner,” these workshops are open to everyone, but may be especially helpful to first year students.

All workshops will be on Thursdays at 3pm in Room 103 (in the Div School)

September 19—Citation: Politics and Practice
September 26—Reading at the Graduate Level
October 3—Thesis Statements & Outlines

Faculty, Students, and Alumni/ae in the News,

on the Road, and Publications

James Hudnut-Beumler is quoted extensively in this piece in USA Today on mental illness and "a growing pattern of theological reflection that says perhaps God can and will forgive what human beings will not understand."
Bruce Rogers-Vaughn sat down with Tripp Fuller with HomeBrewed Christianity about "Caring for Souls in a Neoliberal Age", now in paperback.
This summer, Professor Joerg Rieger gave the following international presentations:
- “Why all Theology is Political and What to Do About It.” International Conference, Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz, Germany, July 6, 2019.
- “Gemeinsam sind wir stärker: Tiefe Solidarität zwischen Religion und Arbeit.” Evangelische Stadtkirche Göppingen (co-sponsored by several churches, unions, and fair-trade organizations), Göppingen, Germany, July 1, 2019.
- “The Multiple Intersections of Faith, Labor and Class.” DARE Forum, Taipei, Taiwan, June 21, 2019.
- “Glaube und Arbeit zuammenbringen” (with Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger), Institut für Theologie und Politik (ITPOL), Münster, Germany, June 6, 2019.
- “Zukunftsforum Gewerkschaften Rhein-Neckar” (with Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger), Gewerkschaftshaus Mannheim, Germany, June 5, 2019.
- “Gemeinsam sind wir stärker: Tiefe Solidarität zwischen Religion und Arbeit” (with Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger), Stadtbibliothek Murrhardt, Germany, June 4, 2019.
- “Jesus vs. Caesar: Religiöse Konflikte innerhalb des Christentums.” Universität Salzburg, Austria, May 27, 2019.
Amy-Jill Levine recently returned from Bratislava, Slovakia, where she gave a plenary lecture for the European Society for Catholic Theology (ESCT) conference, “Where does our Hope Lie?”; the talk was entitled, “Hope for Understanding and Empathy: Biblical Interpretation and Jewish/Christian Dialogue”; concurrent with the conference, she gave a talk on Psalm 110 to the "Commentaries on the Old Testament in Slovakia” working group. Last week Abingdon press released Dr. Levine's study, Light of the World; A Beginner’s Guide to Advent (video, leader guide, and participant guide). AJ is speaking at St. Mary’s College of California on Thursday evening Sept 19 and doing a clergy/religious educator workshop on Friday morning, Sept. 20. She is also speaking this coming Wednesday evening, Sept. 18, at Woodmont Christian Church in Nashville.
“Songs for the Holy Other: Hymns Affirming the LGBTQIA2S+ Community” is now available for free download from the Hymn Society. Stephanie Budwey is a member of the working group for this gift to the community.

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