Newsletters
The HRC in the News
National Endowment for the Humanities awards two grants to VCU projects
One will establish a health humanities minor, while the other supports a professor’s book project on visual images of African Americans in leisure contexts from slavery through the Jim Crow era.
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![A crowd of students walk past a sign that reads VCU in large 3D letters](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/NEHnews4x3.jpg)
VCU students, faculty document oral history of the East Marshall Street Well Project
The Health Humanities Lab, a research lab at VCU’s Humanities Research Center, is conducting the project in collaboration with the Family Representative Council.
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![Ana Edwards and Joe Jones sitting together in podcast studio](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/AnaEdwards-and-JoeJones4x3.jpg)
First public event from VCU’s Memory Studies Lab features prominent history scholar Edward Ayers
The April 2 symposium highlights the wide-ranging aspects and ramifications of how we interpret the past.
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![Memory Symposium](/media/humanities-research-center/stock-general/Apr2_MemorySymposium4x3.jpg)
She will provide intellectual leadership and nurture collaboration tied to prominent issues of public concern.
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![Cristina Stanciu](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/CStanciu_CHCI4x3.jpg)
CHCI announces new Advisory Board members for 2024
The CHCI Nominations Committee welcomes five new board members to CHCI: Bianet Castellanos, Wendy Chun, Cajetan Iheka, Patricia Parker, and Cristina Stanciu.
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![Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/CHCI4x3.jpg)
‘Racism is destructive to Black bodies’: Lecturer discusses medical inequality
Dr. Anna LaQuawn Hinton presented “Breathing Life into Black Wombs: Ableism, Misogynoir, and the Reproductive Injustice within the Medical Industrial Complex,” a lecture discussing racism and medical inequality, on Feb. 8 at the VCU Humanities Research Center. Photo by Rani Sisavath.
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![Anna Hinton lecturing at VCU](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/AnnaHintonSpeaker4x3.jpg)
Much Ado About Nothing? Local Immigration Policy, and the MS-13 ‘Threat’ Lecture Recap
An “imagined connection between immigration and crime” runs the media, says Paarlberg. The point of his null results paper: to not find a relationship.
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![Gang graffiti in San Miguel El Salvador](/media/humanities-research-center/stock-general/paarlberg-photo.png)
An Interview with Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart is a second-year PhD student in VCU's Media, Art, and Text (MATX) program, and recently started teaching a course on menswear.
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![Kristen Stewart](/media/humanities-research-center/people-4x3/Kristen-Stewart-4x3.jpg)
Professionals from diverse health disciplines explore the historical underpinnings of current health disparities.
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![Jason Glenn presenting at the 2023 History and Health Symposium](/media/humanities-research-center/people-4x3/jason-glenn-at-symposium-2023.jpg)
Black Feminism, Performance and Power: An Interview with Hope Ward
Hope Ward, third year PhD student in the MATX program, defines herself as “an artist emphasizing the synonymic role of Black feminism and universal humanity."
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![Hope Ward](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/hope-ward-4x3.jpg)
Loose Parts connects art and play to the serious work of child development
Building on an overseas tradition, a VCUarts and humanities team is creating engaging local play spaces where children won’t hear the common refrains “Don’t touch” or “Get down.”
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![The Loose Parts project participants transform a portion of Reedy Creek in Forest Hill Park into a temporary adventure playground](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/LooseParts4x3.jpg)
What the life and death of a whale can tell us about our ties to the natural world
In keynote address of Research Weeks at VCU, environmental historian Bathsheba Demuth explores how ethics, species and history continue to intersect and challenge us.
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![Bathsheba Demuth speaking at VCU](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/BDemuthEventNews4x3.jpg)
Experts discuss barriers preventing patients from participating in clinical trials
Health equity panel discussion recommends researchers and doctors address long standing historical wrongs when talking to patients about joining clinical trials.
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![Illustration of a researcher looking at a virus through a microscope](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/clinicaltrialsarticleimg4x3.jpg)
Geisler, an interdisciplinary studies major, hopes to continue to study public health with a focus on immigration after graduation.
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![Emma Geisler](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/emmageisler4x3.jpg)
Keynote speaker Malik Yakini helped start the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates a 7-acre community garden in Detroit.
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![Malik Yakini speaking at the ICA](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/MALIKYAKINI-4x3.jpg)
Transdisciplinary Environmental Research Incubator funds four new research collaborations
“The incubator will soon become a model for future research collaborations across the university,” said Cristina Stanciu, Ph.D., director of the Humanities Research Center.
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![Person tending to plant](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/incubator-news-image.jpg)
Pocahontas Reframed 2022 recap
The annual Native American film festival featured more than 20 films, musical performances, readings and more.
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![Pocahontas Reframed film festival poster at the VMFA](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/pocahontasReframed4x3.jpg)
Conference celebrates Black and Indigenous sound in the early Atlantic world
The event was capped off by a performance from "Mexilachian" band Lua Project.
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![The folk band Lua plays at the Intersections Symposium at VCU](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/IntersectionsLua4x3.jpg)
Pamunkey artist Ethan Brown brings his work, process and expertise to VCU
Brown is serving as the inaugural Karenne Wood Native Artist/Writer in Residence at the Humanities Research Center.
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![Ethan Brown](/media/humanities-research-center/people-4x3/EthanBrown4x3.jpg)
“Intersections: Black and Indigenous Sound in the Early Atlantic World,” an in-person and virtual event taking place on Oct. 15, is free and open to the public.
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![Illustration: Black king, under the usual parasol, participates in the solemnity of his coronation. Note the musical instruments: some of European origin, such as the viola, and others of African origin, such as the atabaque and the marimba.](/media/humanities-research-center/stock-general/CarlosJulio4x3.png)
Humanities Research Center co-leads Indigenous media symposium
The center’s director co-organized the event, an opportunity for Indigenous scholars to discuss news and publications in Native American nations.
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![Cristina Stanciu and Oliver Scheiding at symposium in Germany](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/cristina-and-oliver-4x3.jpg)
Humanities Research Center co-leads international symposium on Indigenous media and literature
The center’s director co-organized the event, an opportunity for scholars to discuss Indigenous publications and print culture as part of the center’s ongoing initiative, “On Native Ground.”
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![Mishuana Goeman, Ph.D. leads a keynote lecture at the Indigenous Print Culture, Media, and Literatures symposium in Germany](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/keynote-4x3.png)
Two Focused Inquiry Faculty Help Lead Research Group That Examines Memory, Historical Narratives
“I hope that the work we’re doing in memory studies and the work that the HRC is doing–as a whole–will be seen as continuing to make VCU a home for really rich humanities work even as it is trying to invest in the sciences in meaningful ways, too.”
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![Hilary Levinson, Ph.D. and Katie Logan, Ph.D.](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/Katie_Hilary.jpg)
The VCU Humanities Research Center fellowship program has broadened its reach with its spring cohort of fellows.
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![Jonathan Molina-Garcia, Michael Dickinson, Kevin Clay, Michael Hall and Indira Sultanić](/media/humanities-research-center/multimedia-center/2022-fellows.jpg)
With a rich menu of more than 20 films, The Pocahontas Film Festival showcased the work of nationally-acclaimed Indigenous filmmakers from the United States and Canada, as well work by emerging local artists.
Humanities Research Center launches Native writer/artist residency program
The program honors the legacy of Karenne Wood, a member of the Monacan Indian tribe and a poet, activist, tribal historian and educator who lectured at VCU on many occasions.
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![karenne wood](/media/humanities-research-center/news/woodKarenne4x3.jpg)
Supporting humanities research and collaboration among scholars
VCU’s Humanities Research Center brings together faculty and graduate students with common research interests.
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![robert e. lee statue painted with protest graffiti](/media/humanities-research-center/stock-general/leeMonument4x3.jpg)
Event Videos
Envisioning Afro-Indigenous Futures [video]
Kyle Mays, Ph.D.
Fundamentals of Race and Racism
A panel discussion moderated by Jason Callahan, MDiv, MS, BCC
Grants in the Humanities: How to Apply and Get Funded
A 'Research Fridays' event
Meet VCU Authors: Ryan Smith, Ph.D
"Death and Rebirth in a Southern City: Richmond's Historic Cemeteries"
Meet VCU's Authors: Aspen Brinton, Ph.D.
"Confronting Totalitarian Minds: Jan Potočka on Politics and Dissidence"
Meet VCU's Authors: Kathleen Graber
"The River Twice"
Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement
Catherine Cahill, Ph.D.
VCU central authentication required
Presumed Criminal: Black Youth and the Justice System in Postwar New York
Carl Suddler, Ph.D., and Michael Dickinson, Ph.D.
Meet VCU's Authors: Carolyn Eastman, Ph.D.
"The Strange Genius of Mr. O"
The N-Word: History, Race and the College Classroom
Elizabeth Stodeur Pryor, Ph.D.
When Art Disrupts Religion
Philip Francis, Ph.D.
Race and Christianity in Early Virginia
Rebecca Goetz, Ph.D.
1619: Rethinking the History of Africans and Slavery in Early America
Michael Guasco, Ph.D.
Transgender Vlogs on Thailand: Transnational Imaginaries of Gender Reassignment Surgery
Aren Aizura, Ph.D.
Rumi’s Poetry and His Vision of Love Among Faith Traditions
Fariba Enteshari, Ph.D.
Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law and Fascination in 19th Century San Francisco
Clare Sears, Ph.D.
Muslim Cool: Race, Religion and Hip Hop in the United States
Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, Ph.D.
Frankenstein Dissected
Susan Lederer, Ph.D., Ed Finn, Ph.D., and Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D.
Podcasts
Vivian Dzokoto, Ph.D.
A discussion of her research in rural Ghana during the summer of 2017, interviewing traditional priests at the shrines of African deities about their roles as diviners, problem-solvers and health care providers in their local communities