Faculty Research News

"CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent David Pogue (right) interviews Alex Keena, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, at Scott House on VCU's Monroe Park Campus. (Mary Kate Brogan, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

VCU professor shares gerrymandering expertise with ‘CBS Sunday Morning’

Nov. 15, 2022

“What’s clear is that when politicians are drawing the line, then we see partisan gerrymandering,” said Alex Keena, an assistant professor of political science and co-author of two books on gerrymandering.

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," in theaters this week, centers the stories of Black women as leaders, something pop culture scholar Grace D. Gipson, Ph.D., says has the power to make a difference in how Black girls and women see themselves - and how others see them. “Representation is essential and important because what we see in pop culture influences and offers us a viewpoint into how we make decisions, how we view things, the way in which things are portrayed and people are portrayed,” says Gipson, an assistant professor of African American Studies at VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences. (Courtesy Walt Disney Studios)

The smartest person in the Marvel universe, how ‘Black Panther’ – and its sequel – changed Hollywood and why representation in pop culture matters

Nov. 10, 2022

“‘Black Panther’ has changed the game of saying what can and does sell. It wasn’t just Black people who went to go see ‘Black Panther;’ everybody — the world — went to see it,” says Grace D. Gipson, Ph.D.

a three-person band giving a performance on stage

Conference celebrates Black and Indigenous sound in the early Atlantic world

Nov. 9, 2022

The event was capped off by a performance from "Mexilachian" band Lua Project.

greg smithers posing near statuettes of the letters v.c.u. on the v.c.u. campus

From Two-Spirits to Long Man, Smithers brings contemporary understanding to Indigenous heritage

Nov. 7, 2022

The professor of history works to provide “intellectual multivitamins” to students and readers, inspiring them to do their own research.

Urban agriculture is among the areas of focus for the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment. (Getty Images)

VCU launches Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment

Nov. 3, 2022

The institute will help faculty from across the university work on projects that address the climate change crisis.

“Despite decades of efforts to reduce racial pain disparities, the pain of Black patients continues to be underdiagnosed and undertreated,” said Nao Hagiwara, Ph.D., co-lead of a new NIH-funded study. (Getty Images)

NIH awards $2.4M grant to VCU psychology professor to study racial disparities in pain management

Oct. 27, 2022

Nao Hagiwara will co-lead the research effort, saying, “There is an urgent need to address this decades-old issue by taking an innovative approach.”

Glover’s work on self-determination is not just theoretical but deeply personal

Oct. 24, 2022

The activist, performer and iCubed scholar studies and celebrates the embodied knowledge of marginalized communities.

Samy El-Shall, Ph.D., who has been appointed a program director at the National Science Foundation, has had research funded by the NSF since 1990. (University Marketing)

VCU chemistry professor appointed to direct a research program at NSF Chemistry Division

Oct. 21, 2022

Among his areas of emphasis, M. Samy El-Shall hopes to create new funding opportunities in the chemistry of sustainable water and energy.

elizabeth canfield in front of a vibrant mural

VCU GSWS professor works to improve the university that she was never meant to attend

Oct. 20, 2022

Deflected from her medical school dreams, Liz Canfield dug into activism and abolitionist thought.

Carolyn Eastman is an historian of early America with special interest in 18th and 19th-century histories of political culture, the media and gender. "The Strange Genius of Mr. O" tells a largely forgotten story about the intersection of political culture and celebrity at a moment when the United States was in the midst of invention.

Carolyn Eastman wins Literary Award from Library of Virginia for ‘The Strange Genius of Mr. O’

Oct. 18, 2022

VCU history professor’s book tells the story of the rise and fall of James Ogilvie, whose oratory performances made him a household name in America’s founding era.