Meet the Class of 2014
VCU News recently profiled seven members of the Class of 2014. Three are Humanities and Sciences grads, one is a Life Sciences student with a minor in Chemistry who also studied with Dean Jim Coleman and Associate Dean Rob Tombes in their Job Creators class. Another is pursuing a Masters in Education after receiving her undergraduate degree in Psychology from VCU. Meet the graduates. |
Community Engagement Grant Awards
 The Council for Community Engagement has awarded grants of up to $20,000 to six university-community programs. A collaboration among the Office of Continuing Studies, the College, Department of Physics and Sacred Heart Center was awarded a grant for their project titled Crossing the River: Bridging the Education Gap – Enhancing the First Spanish GED Preparation Program in Richmond. A Welcoming Richmond, a partnership between the School of World Studies and the Wilder School, also received a grant. In addition, Clark-Hill Institute, a partnership of the College, the Department of Psychology and Richmond Public Schools, received the award for exemplary partnership in research and was honored with the Currents of Change award. Read more at VCU News. |
CTE Summer Workshop Courses
 The Center for Teaching Excellence is holding summer workshops as part of The Teaching and Learning Institute; an opportunity to explore innovative teaching practices, reflect on course design and engage with relevant research on teaching and learning. The next workshop is the Summer Institute on Inclusive Teaching. Learn more here. |
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World Studies Media Center Featured
 The Chronicle of Higher Education featured the World Studies Media Center in a recent article titled Technology Provides Foreign-Language Immersion at a Distance. The article discusses Teletandem, or telecollaboration, using video conferencing to to match foreign students with partners in classes in other countries and to provide authentic language-immersion experiences. Read the article here. |
Summer Research Fellows Announced
 The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) with the Office of Research has announced the 2014 Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Summer Fellows; 30 students and faculty mentors from the College were chosen. The fellowship provides the opportunity for faculty and students to partner together on a funded research project of their choice. View the list of awardees and their research projects at VCU News. |
Pulitzer Prize Author to Give Lecture
 Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, oncologist at Columbia University and Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, will give a lecture titled Illness as Biography: Writing a History of Cancer on May 21 at 7 p.m. in the Singleton Center. This event is sponsored by the Life Sciences and Religion Initiative. Read more about this event here. |
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Discuss the Work of Frances Burney
 The Humanities Research Center has announced another faculty writing group for fall semester: The Work of Frances Burney (1752-1840), led by Catherine Ingrassia, focusing primarily on Burney's four major novels. If you are interested in joining any of the writing groups please contact Richard Godbeer at humanities@vcu.edu. A list of all the writing groups is on our blog. |
Don't Forget VCU Night at the Diamond
 Come out to the Diamond on Thursday, May 15th at 6:35 p.m. to see the Flying Squirrels take on the Bowie Baysox! The Diamond is also holding a Mac and Cheese Food Drive that evening to help “Strike Out Hunger” with Virginia Credit Union and FeedMore by collecting Macaroni & Cheese boxes. View the flyer here. Contact Gail Bartee Canter at 827-3436 or dgbartee@vcu.edu ASAP for tickets. |
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Stanciu Recipient of NEH Fellowship
 Cristina Stanciu, Assistant Professor in the Department of English, is a recipient of the NEH Summer Seminar fellowship, Bridging National Borders in North America, offered by the Dr. William Scholl Center for American History and Culture at Newberry Library. In addition, Cristina has received a fellowship for an NEH Summer Institute at Columbia University which she declined so she could attend the NEH Seminar.
Congratulations, Cristina! |
VCU to Host VAS/VJAS Meeting
 VCU will host the 2014 Virginia Academy of Science (VAS)/ Virginia Junior Academy of Science (VJAS) meeting from Tuesday, May 13 through Friday, May 16. Lesley Bulluck, instructor in the Department of Biology, will deliver a lecture Tuesday evening titled Ecology of Migratory Birds: Using Behavior to Inform Conservation. Jason Merrick, professor in the Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research, will deliver the George W. Jeffers Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, titled Computer Games for CEOs: Preventing the Next Big Oil Spill. View the full program here. |
Keep your colleagues informed
More than half of the faculty and staff of the College consistently read this newsletter. If you have news to share this is a great place to do it! Our news and event forms automatically forward to Gregg Johnson, Shirley McDaniel and to VCU News. We will submit your news and events to the VCU Calendar, Telegram, this newsletter and our social media outlets. Keep your colleagues informed by keeping us informed! |
Dr. Hong Cheng, director and a professor of the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture, recently spoke at the renaming ceremony for the former School of Mass Communications. 
Biology Alumna Jasmine Gore has not only achieved her goal of being a technologist in a genetic sequencing lab, but she is also the Vice Mayor of Hopewell. Karen Kester, associate professor in the Department of Biology , was her mentor at VCU. “I told [Gore] ‘I really believe someday I will have the opportunity to vote for you,’” Karen said. Jasmine has big plans for her future in politics. “I will run for a Virginia state seat and hopefully can be the first female governor for Virginia,” she said. 
Charlene Gaw, a junior majoring in both chemistry and psychology, has received a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Mandarin Chinese in China. Charlene will study Mandarin Chinese at the advanced level at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China from June 11 to Aug. 10. 
