1. The Faculty Senate- VSG Joint Annual Meeting : The Faculty Senate - VSG meeting was postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. We will inform you when it is rescheduled.

 

2. SACS Visit: VU completed a very successful SACSCOC reaccreditation visit in March. Learn more on the Provost's web page. Congratulations to all those who participated in the process.

 

3. Vanderbilt International Response Travel Team (VIRT): VIRT is coming in August 2017. This incident reporting system is being developed for all VU travelers who are traveling to conduct VU business. It will provide a single point of service for students and faculty travelers.

 

4. SkyVU: Go live date is January 1, 2018. Learn more at SkyVU.

 

5. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Campaign: Help spread the word and destigmatize mental health illnesses. Get your posters from the MHW team. Learn more at Go There .

 

6. MAPS: Consider MAPS training !! "MAPS is a Vanderbilt University joint initiative with the Psychological and Counseling Center (PCC) and the Center for Student Wellbeing designed to prevent suicide in the campus community while promoting mental health awareness."

 

7. Engage: Senators should inquire at their department meetings if faculty members are receiving their monthly issues of the Engage Newsletter. If not, please email the Faculty Senate at facultysenate@vanderbilt.edu .  

 

The Spring Faculty Assembly was held on April 6, 2017. Senator Teresa Goddu,  Associate Professor of English, kicked off the assembly by provided a stimulating presentation on "Climate Activism and the Antislavery Movement." Goddu traced the ways in which the antislavery movement is being invoked as a model for the type of environmental activism that is currently needed to tackle climate change. She argued that the antislavery movement is most useful for the example it offers on how to produce the cultural change necessary for societal transformation. Through the practice of telling new stories that present alternative world views--stories that make people think, feel, and see the climate movement differently, just like in the antislavery movement before it, we can shift public opinion and motivate people to action.

She began her career at Vanderbilt as a faculty   member in 1991 and divides her teaching responsibilities between the  English department  and the  American Studies Program . She also has served in various  administrative capacities. She has been acting director of the College Writing Program, director of the Undergraduate Honors Program in English and director of the Program in American Studies.

After receiving her B.A. from Yale University (1986), her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (1991), she is a specialist in nineteenth-century American literature and culture. Her research and teaching in the nineteenth century focuses on slavery and antislavery, race, and American culture.

Senator Goddu is developing new research and a teaching agenda in environmental humanities. She teaches contemporary climate fiction and serves as co-director of an interdisciplinary faculty seminar, "Environmental Humanities in Action," which is sponsored by Vanderbilt's Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities along with the Wond'ry. She also organizes the C19 Environmental Humanities Cluster. As Director of the Program in American Studies, she designed and directed "The Sustainability Project" which is a three-year interdisciplinary initiative to foster Vanderbilt's efforts toward sustainability. This project resulted in a minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. She was awarded The Chancellor's Cup (2014) and named Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor (2013-14) for this work.

Goddu was awarded the Jeffrey Nordhaus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in the Humanities in 2016. Kudos and thank you Dr. Goddu!

Six Faculty Members were recognized for their teaching, research, and service. 

Congratulations to the following award winners!   

Have you ever wondered about your spiritual health? Have you wondered about the difference between your spiritual health and your emotional health? We covered emotional health in the last two Engage Newsletters and this month and next month we will cover spiritual health.

When defining spiritual health, we must think of expanding health into our spirituality. But what is spirituality? Is it religious practices or is it something bigger than yourself? Below are definitions of spirituality and spiritual wellness.

• "Spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred." "The concept of spirituality is found in all cultures and societies. It is expressed in an individual's search for ultimate meaning through participation in religion and/or belief in God, family, naturalism, rationalism, humanism, and the arts." ~ Christina Puchalski, MD, Director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health at: https://smhs.gwu.edu/gwish/about/message.

• "Spiritual Wellness is a personal matter involving values and beliefs that provide a purpose in our lives." (https://wellness.ucr.edu/spiritual_wellness.html)