As a thriving research university, Vanderbilt faculty are at the forefront of innovation and discovery, while also teaching and mentoring undergraduate, graduate and professional students. The university welcomed 61 new faculty to our 10 schools and colleges for the 2024-25 academic year. Here some of the faculty explain their transformative work.
Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens, assistant professor of human-centered technologies, director, Inclusive Digital Education and Analytics IDEA Lab
Peabody College of Education and Human Development
Academic focus: Learning technologies
Arastoopour Irgens is a former middle and high school math and computer science teacher who combines her experience and expertise with emerging technologies to design culturally responsive, student-focused digital learning environments.
"I have a genuine love for learning about new technologies, and the new ways that AI and data science are being used to change our lives are fascinating. My work is basically about figuring out how to bring children into these critical conversations and build developmentally appropriate ways to help them learn and engage," she said. "I am especially interested in working with children from marginalized populations and amplifying their voices in ways that matter to them."
Arastoopour Irgens is a core faculty member at LIVE, the Learning and Innovation Incubator at Vanderbilt. This lab brings together faculty from education, technology, computer science and other fields to think deeply about leveraging new technological advances to transform learning.
Shan Meltzer, assistant professor of pharmacology
School of Medicine Basic Sciences
Academic focus: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of touch
Meltzer leads a lab that focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular science of touch. The skin is a human's largest sensory organ and transmits sensory information, such as touch, pain, temperature and itch, to the central nervous system.
"Touch is one of our basic senses. We rely on touch sensation to interact with the physical world and for social interactions. Touch is the first sense to develop and is critical for fundamental tasks and social exchange. A lack of touch in early childhood has catastrophic effects on brain development. Yet, touch remains the least understood sense at the developmental level. It is an exciting and underexplored area that is incredibly important for human health," Meltzer said.
Meltzer's work is affiliated with the Vanderbilt Brain Institute.
Katherine Shepard, senior lecturer in physics and astronomy
College of Arts and Science
Academic focus: Stellar astronomy
Shepard examines massive stars, rapidly rotating stars and binary stars using spectroscopy and interferometry observation methods.
"Massive stars are responsible for the evolution of our universe. Without the material that massive stars produce the universe would not be what we see today," Shepard said. "Not to mention that there are so many forms of massive stars that we barely understand. I love researching these weird instances and figuring out how they evolved to their current point."
Shepard's great-grandfather was also a professor at Vanderbilt; he taught military strategy. Shepard said she's honored to continue the family legacy.
Alexander Morales, Mellon assistant professor in communication of science and technology
College of Arts and Science
Academic focus: Communication of science
Morales's research looks at how rhetoric or persuasive communication affects the spread of scientific ideas in public culture. His specific research explores how European and Latin American thinkers use public skepticism about political issues to work to change how people think about a scientific idea.
"The rhetoric of science remains a thriving sub-field within communication studies, which demands new attention as skepticism about scientific ideas becomes even more pronounced in public discourse," Morales said. "The opportunity to teach rhetoric courses to students with an advanced understanding of several scientific disciplines is exciting."
Gloria Littlemouse, assistant professor of nursing, Watson Caring Science Fellow
School of Nursing
Academic focus: Caring sciences
Littlemouse researches and teaches caring science through the Ten Caritas Processes to help nurses create stronger caring-healing relationships with patients.
"As a caring science scholar, I am excited to see the many universities and health care systems becoming affiliates with the Watson Caring Science Institute and the alchemy of love now being taught at the bedside," Littlemouse said. "It is exactly what our profession needs."
Sannoy Das, assistant professor of Law
Vanderbilt Law School
Academic focus: International law, law and political economy
Das teaches international law and courses that combine the study of law and the history of political and economic thought. His current research examines how commerce related to peace in the 20th century and how that shaped modern international economic law.
He also studies the role of international law in shaping the modern industrial policy of the neoliberal transformation. Neoliberalism is a political philosophy associated with free market capitalism.
"My research, both in its historical and contemporary dimension, is attuned to this moment; and what I mostly hope to achieve from doing this research is to add a degree of philosophical depth and nuance to what is a rapidly evolving-if at times, too hasty-conversation about the political economy and how law may be transformed to meet this moment," Das said.
Brandon Underwood, senior lecturer in philosophy
College of Arts and Science
Academic focus: Ancient and early medieval Chinese philosophy
Underwood specializes in ancient and early medieval Chinese philosophy and its bearing on modern thought. His research interests include metaphysics, existentialism, hermeneutics, history of ideas, Confucian and Daoist thought, and philosophy of magic.
"For me, the most exciting aspect of philosophy is its practical potential. Too much effort has been and is spent articulating theoria, at the expense of transmitting the original, transformative power of a love of wisdom. Philosophy, well-practiced, makes one a better person," Underwood said.
