Humanities Research Center at VCU

09/04/2026

Join us for a Humanities Week keynote event with Blair LM Kelley, President and Director of the National Humanities Center, in celebration of her newly published book, "Black Freedom: A Visual History of Juneteenth and Emancipation Days."

During this event, Blair LM Kelley will discuss how Black communities have created counter histories through traditions of commemorations and celebration. Using emancipation celebrations as a lens, she considered how remembrance became acts of renewal and repair, shaping how communities understand the past, create pathways for survival in the future, and crucial models for our present challenges.

Following this event, Kelley will sign copies of her book, sold by the Virginia Shop at the Library of Virginia.

📅 Thursday, Sept. 10, 6:00-8:00pm
📍 Library of Virginia (800 E Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219)
🔗 Register here: https://forms.gle/3d5os6rAarFZFtMD7/

Virginia Commonwealth University VCU College of Humanities and Sciences Library of Virginia

09/04/2026

Join us for our first Humanities Week keynote event with Maria Sachiko Cecire, program officer for Higher Learning at the Mellon Foundation!

In a time of overlapping anxieties about AI, climate, inequality, and other crises, the humanities are uniquely positioned to help us understand who we are, the futures we want, and how to get there. Drawing on her experience as a funder at a leading national philanthropy and her background as a scholar of popular culture, fantasy, and media, Prof. Cecire will discuss the reparative and creative potential of the humanities for individuals, institutions, and societies.

Following Dr. Cecire's talk will be a reception at the Scott House! More details on our website.

📅 Tuesday, Sept. 8, 4:00-6:00pm
📍 Cabell Library, room 303 (901 Park Ave, Richmond, VA 23284)
🔗 Register now: https://forms.gle/9jnXxf98qink9QGq8/

Virginia Commonwealth University VCU College of Humanities and Sciences

08/31/2026

Our third annual Humanities Week is just one week away! Join the Humanities Research Center for our Humanities Week event series, this Sept. 8-11. This year's Humanities Week programming engages our annual theme of Repair.

Swipe through to see all of our Humanities Week events, and register at the link in our bio!

Thank you to our co-sponsors: VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, VCU Libraries, The Shockoe Institute (https://www.shockoeinstitute.org/), Library of Virginia, and The Valentine!

Looking forward to seeing you next week!

Making Worlds, Repairing Worlds: What We Do with the Humanities
Maria Sachiko Cecire, Mellon Foundation
Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 4 p.m., followed by a reception at 6 p.m.

Guided Tour of the Shockoe Institute
Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 10:30 a.m.

Filming Screening: 'Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World'
Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 5 p.m.

Black Freedom: Public Celebration and Commemoration as Practices of Remembrance and Repair
Keynote Speaker: Blair LM Kelley, National Humanities Center
Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.

Walking Tour with The Valentine Museum
Friday, Sept. 11 at 10 a.m.

08/28/2026

VCU's 3rd Annual Humanities Week — Sept. 8-11, 2026

This is the time to show up for the Humanities. VCU Colleagues, bring your students! Community friends--bring your neighbor! We've been working hard to set this up and are pretty proud of the lineup. (Some surprise music guests for the Tuesday night reception. shhh..)

You are invited to our 3rd VCU Humanities Week, organized by the Humanities Research Center at VCU, and featuring outstanding keynote speakers Maria Sachiko Cecire (Mellon Foundation) and Blair LM Kelley (President, National Humanities Center), a screening of a documentary on poet Mary Oliver, a guided tour of the Shockoe Institute, and a walking tour with The Valentine. This year we are embarking on a new theme: REPAIR. The events are free and open to the public, space is limited, so register ahead.

https://humanitiescenter.vcu.edu/events/humanities-week/

08/14/2026

The HRC is thrilled to announce we are hiring for a part-time Administrative and Events Assistant! This Assistant will provide day-to-day administrative support for the Humanities Research Center, as well as assisting our Director and Administrative Coordinator with the center’s in-person and online events. Learn more and apply here! https://bit.ly/hrc-hiring

08/07/2026

Next Friday! The HRC Indigenous Humanities Lab is proud to launch the Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Governance series. Our first session will feature Dr. Sarah Montoya, Co-director and Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow of the HRC Indigenous Humanities Lab.

Stay tuned for more events in this series on September 1st and October 1st!

📅 SESSION 1: Friday, August 14th, 12pm-1pm
📍 Online (zoom)
🔗 Register here: https://vcu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E3e5vFhmT6WLaECe3ovX7w

07/10/2026

Thank you to Marketing and Communications at VCU for putting together our Land Acknowledgment in images and sounds from today's Judicial Summit for the Tribal Nations in Virginia!

07/10/2026

Today, the VCU Humanities Research Center had the honor of hosting the 2nd Annual Judicial Summit for the Tribal Nations of Virginia — and what a day it has been.

Thank you to the Upper Mattaponi Tribe for trusting VCU to host this gathering — and to Chief Frank Adams, Chief Stephen Adkins, Chief Anne Richardson, and Chief Kevin Brown for being here. Your presence on our campus means everything. And to Connor Tupponce, Melissa Holds the Enemy, and Reggie Tupponce for working with us.

Thank you to Provost Arturo Saavedra, MD/PHD/MBA Saavedra for opening the summit and for demonstrating, through his presence, what it looks like when a university shows up for its communities. Thank you to Secretary of the Commonwealth Candi Mundon King for supporting this event and for her kind remarks!

Thank you to the tribal members, legal scholars, community partners, and VCU colleagues who made this day possible.

Virginia Commonwealth University VCU College of Humanities and Sciences VCU Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation

04/16/2026

The hardest problems don't fit neatly into a single discipline. Neither does the best research. At VCU's first Humanities Research Symposium next week, students and faculty are crossing the lines between literature and neuroscience, technology and ethics, community memory and public policy — and finding something remarkable on the other side. Come see what's possible when curiosity has no borders.

Thursday, April 23, 9 am-4 pm, Cabell Library.

Keynote speaker: Lauren Tilton, University of Richmond, at 1 pm.
https://humanitiescenter.vcu.edu/events/co-sponsored/humanities-symposium.html

04/16/2026