News

The Passing of Nick Sharp

April 15, 2024

Nick Sharp passed earlier this month. Nick was a long time member of our department, coming to the department in 1971, only a couple of years after the founding of the university, and retiring in 2016. Nick was a generous and welcoming colleague to many of our current faculty when we first arrived at VCU and his presence has been sorely missed since his retirement.

“Remembering Paule: A Photo Memoir of Her Richmond Years” chronicles the friendship of Daryl Cumber Dance and Paule Marshall, the first tenured Black professors in the VCU Department of English. The photo on the cover was taken in March 1995 at Howard University when Dance and Marshall attended Toni Morrison’s gala establishing The Sterling A. Brown Chair.

In new book, Daryl Cumber Dance chronicles her ties to revered author and VCU colleague Paule Marshall

March 15, 2024

Photo memoir by retired English professor documents a friendship and legacy that the ‘truth warriors’ nurtured for decades.

Author and VCU alum Jeffrey Blount visited Cabell Library to discuss his new novel, “Mr. Jimmy from Around the Way.” (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

VCU alum Jeffrey Blount shares the inspiration for his new novel – and a life lesson that still resonates

Feb. 29, 2024

Author and 1981 graduate highlights panel discussion about creativity, redemption and the power of connection.

Cristina Stanciu, Ph.D., director of the Humanities Research Center at VCU, will serve a four-year term on the advisory board of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes. (File photo)

Cristina Stanciu, director of VCU’s Humanities Research Center, elected to advisory board of global consortium

Feb. 23, 2024

She will provide intellectual leadership and nurture collaboration tied to prominent issues of public concern.

Meet Christine Haines Greenberg (B.S. ’09): Urban Set Bride and Hive Wedding Co.

Feb. 13, 2024

For Black History Month, we’re shining a spotlight on Black alumni business owners. Meet the many grads of VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences that have tapped into their entrepreneurial spirit.

The couple had their engagement photos taken on VCU’s campus. (Courtesy photo)

Ram romances: Fraternity fine wasn’t too high a price to pay for Brandes S.G. Ash and Terrell Matthews

Feb. 12, 2024

Soon marking 20 years since their first ‘official’ encounter, the VCU alums mix loud and quiet to find the right volume together.

Jamarr and Shakeema Daniels, who married in 2014, returned to Virginia Commonwealth University’s James Branch Cabell Library, where they first met as undergraduate students. (Tom Kojcsich, VCU Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Ram romances: For one VCU couple, everything started with a pencil

Feb. 9, 2024

In 2010, Shakeema and Jamarr Daniels met as students in Cabell Library – and they share a bit of ink to mark the memory.

Kay Coghill’s Ph.D. dissertation explores digital violence and misogynoir, the unique discrimination that Black women experience. (Contributed photo)

Through research and activism, VCU doctoral student explores gender, race, violence and culture – and wins American Society of Criminology award

Feb. 1, 2024

In their studies, in front of a classroom and in digital work, Kay Coghill sheds light on misogynoir and helps survivors of sexual violence.

The new website for the Blackbird literary journal will support more visual art and audio and video projects and help to create space for a conversation between text and visual art.

VCU online literary journal Blackbird launches new website and publishing schedule

Jan. 31, 2024

Digital redesign will highlight writing, visual art and audio/video – with improved search and accessibility – for four issues annually.

Nicholas George said it was rewarding to serve as an expert at a prestigious conference about John Milton “on behalf of all people with disabilities like me.” (Photo by Tom Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Class of 2023: Nicholas George felt like a failure as a child, but now he’s an internationally credentialed expert on John Milton

Jan. 8, 2024

George, who has autism and epilepsy, built on his love of reading to earn an M.A. in English at VCU and to join fellow Milton experts from around the world at a conference in Toronto.