College of Humanities and Sciences

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Graduate Studies

The College of Humanities and Sciences offers a breadth of graduate degrees and certificates that originate from the sciences, social sciences and humanities disciplines.

Graduate programs in the College play a critical role in supporting VCU’s mission to advance our status as an urban public research university. Our programs directly or indirectly address society’s 21st century challenges with a focus on the development of knowledge through scientific investigations, scholarly contributions and creative works.

Graduate students have access to all the resources necessary for academic success, including technology and equipment, office and research space, and graduate assistantship support (contact specific program for information regarding stipend and tuition support).

Most importantly, our programs are committed to:

  • providing a supportive positive mentoring relationship between faculty and students
  • developing programs for graduate students that bridge graduate degrees to professional opportunities
  • enhancing an appreciation for the critical importance of the cross fertilization of ideas and interdisciplinary approaches

Our Grad Students in the News

For her Ph.D. in Media, Art, and Text dissertation at VCU, Allison Bennett Dyche, Ph.D., who graduates this month, focused on the lessons she learned in creating an Audio Storytelling & Podcasting course for college students - and how courses like hers would be a beneficial part of the curriculum for mass communication students nationwide. (Samuel Cooke, The Appalachian photographer, Appalachian State University)

May 11, 2023

Class of 2023: Allison Bennett Dyche found few resources on how to teach podcasting to college students. So she created her own.

Dyche, who is earning a Ph.D. in Media, Art and Text, is “at the forefront of a growing conversation about how universities can help prepare students for careers in this growing industry,” her dissertation director says.

Students in the Curating Exhibitions graduate seminar, Nana Ferdnance (left) and Jenah Creecy (right), discuss objects during the set up of the art exhibition, “(Kin)dred Ties,” featuring MFA students' work. Seminar students Mary McLean and Kathryn Long are seen in the background. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

May 5, 2023

Students curate fellow students’ work in new VCUarts exhibition

The exhibition offers history and museum studies graduate students some hands-on experience in spotlighting the work of their studio-based peers.

Otis Fulton said, “I tell people I got slowed down on my dissertation because of COVID. But if I’m being honest, I think I stretched it out because I enjoy being a student." (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

April 6, 2023

Class of 2023: Otis Fulton, who played basketball at UVA, has a lifelong passion for understanding why people behave the way they do

In May, the 65-year-old VCU alum will receive his Ph.D. in social psychology from the College of Humanities and Sciences.