Events

Upcoming Events

All events at the HRC are free and open to all.

The Rappahannock Peoples: An Analysis of Modern Tribal History and Social Issues

October 24, 2024

Sequoyah Fortune
Sequoyah Fortune

Join us for an afternoon of Native Virginia history, art and poetry with Sequoyah Fortune, Rappahannock artist and writer, and Karenne Wood Native Artist-in-Residence at the HRC.


Tales of Koehler Hollow: An African American Family in Rural Appalachia

October 28, 2024

Christopher Brooks
Christopher Brooks

Christopher Brooks is Professor of Anthropology in the School of World Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, and author of Tales of Koehler Holler: An African American Family in Rural Appalachia.


"A Thousand Pines" Film Screening and Director Q&A

October 30, 2024

Man walking in field with large bags over shoulders
A Thousand Pines (2023)

A Thousand Pines is an intimate look at the lives of migrants who depend on the controversial guest worker visa program, following a crew of workers from Oaxaca, Mexico over the course of a season planting trees throughout the United States.


Cyborgs, Ethics, and the Matrix: Simulations of Sex and Gender

November 4, 2024

Rebecca Gibson
Rebecca Gibson

Rebecca Gibson is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Anthropology in the School of World Studies at VCU. Dr. Gibson's research spans a multitude of topics, from historical biological anthropology, to whether or not zombies have gender, to cyborgs and robotic technology.


Humanities and AI: Large Language Models and the Returns of Critical Theory

November 7, 2024

Wendy Chun
Wendy Chun

Wendy Hui Kyong Chun is Canada 150 Research Chair in New Media, Professor in the School of Communication, and Director of the Digital Democracies Institute at Simon Fraser University. At the Institute, she leads the Mellon-funded Data Fluencies Project, which combines the interpretative traditions of the arts and humanities with critical work in the data sciences to express, imagine, and create innovative engagements with (and resistances to) our data-filled world.


Denying Blackness: The Enduring Legacy of the "Science" of Racial Purity in the Federal Recognition Process

November 14, 2024

Arica L. Coleman
Arica L. Coleman

Dr. Arica L. Coleman is an award-winning, nationally recognized American historian and independent scholar whose research focuses on comparative ethnic studies and racial formation and identity issues. Her additional research interests include indigeneity, immigration/migration, interracial relations, mixed-race identity, race and gender intersections, sexuality, the politics of race and science, and popular culture.


Empowering the Self through Indigenous Frameworks

November 20, 2024

Ray John
Ray John Jr.

The speaker for this event is Ray John Jr., a member of the Oneida Nation of the Thames, and experienced educator, counselor, and advisor.


What Now? The Future of Immigrant Students and DACA

November 19, 2024

David Morales
David Morales

Join the HRC Migration Studies Lab for a talk and discussion on the future of immigration and DACA, with David Morales, Managing attorney of Farmworkers unit at the Northwest Justice Project and a Trustee of Yakima Valley College.


'1666: A Novel' Reading and Discussion

November 21, 2024

Lora Chilton
Lora Chilton

A member of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia, Lora Chilton tells the story of her people and their unlikely survival due to the courage of three Patawomeck women. As a part of the process, she interviewed tribal elders, researched colonial documents and studied the Patawomeck language. Chilton graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. She has worked as a Registered Nurse, a small business owner, an elected official, a non-profit executive and a writer. Memphis is her home. 1666: A Novel is her second work of historical fiction.


Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival 2024

November 22, 2024

Join us for the 8th Annual Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival, which aims to raise awareness about Native American language, cultures, and societies through films that share Native American perspectives.

Graphic Narratives Lab Student Showcase

December 3, 2024

Cartoon illustration of a young person reading comics with wonder and amazement.
Art by Martie Surasky

Join the Graphic Narratives Lab for a showcase of the comics and zines their undergraduate student fellows are working on!


Dual Pandemics: HIV and the Coronavirus in Several Communities

February 10, 2025

Christopher Brooks
Christopher Brooks

Christopher Brooks is Professor of Anthropology in the School of World Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, and author of Dual Pandemics: HIV and the Coronavirus in Several Communities.


Beyond "Always On" Culture

February 13, 2025

Damien Pfister and Caddie Alford
Damien Pfister and Caddie Alford

Damien Smith Pfister, PhD, is Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park, Director of the Design Cultures + Creativity program, and co-editor of the University of Alabama book series “Rhetoric + Digitality.” Caddie Alford, PhD is Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.


Between Here and There: Creating the Political Economy of Mexican Migration

March 3, 2025

Daniel Morales
Daniel Morales

Daniel Morales is an Assistant Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University specializing in Latino, immigration, and public history. He is from Azusa California and earned his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University in 2016, and B.A. at the University of Chicago in 2008. His research focuses on the social and economic history of migration between Latin America and the United States.


Women, Faith, and Family: Reclaiming Gender Justice through Religious Activism

March 24, 2025

Samaneh Oladi and book cover
Samaneh Oladi Ghadikolaei

Samaneh Olad Ghadikolaei, Ph.D is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, and the author of Women, Faith, and Family: Reclaiming Gender Justice through Religious Activism.


Plotting Bigamy: Marital Surplus in the Eighteenth-Century Novel

February 28, 2025

Rachel Gevlin
Rachel Gevlin

Rachel Gevlin is a Teaching Assistant Professor of English as well as Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies. She specializes in the literature and culture of England’s long eighteenth century, with a particular focus on the history of the novel, women writers, and legal histories of marriage and divorce. 


The Clap Back: A Look into Digital Misogynoir and Online Harm Reduction Practices

March 21, 2025

Kalyn Coghill
KáLyn Coghill

Dr. KáLyn Coghill (they/them) is a Black, fat, neurodivergent, non-binary femme. They are an award-winning educator, practitioner, and activist with expertise spanning abortion doula work, community organizing, poetry, and interdisciplinary scholarship. They serve as the Director of Digital Engagement at me too. International and as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.


Interested in our offerings from prior years?

Each of the following pages offers a section at the bottom that lists topics and speakers from the past: