Faculty Research News

In her new book, “Deprived of Sense and Intellect,” VCU professor Leigh Ann Craig asks both what medieval thinkers understood a mind to be — and what signified its loss. (Contributed photo)

What do the Middle Ages tell us about mental health then and now? VCU historian Leigh Ann Craig has answers

July 6, 2026

In her new book, ‘Deprived of Sense and Intellect,’ she examines sanity, demons, the complexity of medieval diagnostics and modern tie-ins.

Latino Virginia project captures untold oral history

June 25, 2026

The project, led by sociology professor Gabriela León-Pérez and history professor Daniel Morales, has collected over 140 interviews with Virginians who share a background or heritage in Latin America.

John Jones, who is pictured stocking a Ram Fridge, is the principal investigator for a $1.04 million grant to launch a coordinated initiative to reduce food waste across VCU and VCU Health. (Thomas Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

New initiative to reduce food waste, increase composting at VCU and VCU Health

June 18, 2026

The Food Rescue and Composting initiative aims to reduce an estimated more than 120,000 pounds of food waste.

Award recipients of the VCU AHSS Fund are identified through a peer review process with an emphasis on projects that expand imagination, innovation, self-reflection and society as well as cultural identity. (File photo)

VCU drives societal change with 10 new Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Fund awards

June 3, 2026

Nearly $100,000 is being awarded to fund projects on teacher education, AI, environmental governance, the history of Black dentistry and more.

Seeing double: VCU anthropologist Bernard K. Means’ latest project includes 3D-printing his own skull. (Jonathan Haff, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Hit by a cyclist, VCU professor has a 3D brainstorm

May 22, 2026

Bernard K. Means, director of the Virtual Curation Lab, turned his CT scan into a skull model that could offer lots of creative opportunities.

Evolution may alter or improve the long-term effectiveness of nature-based solutions for urban resilience, new VCU research finds. (Getty Images)

VCU researcher examines nature-based solutions for changing cities – by taking evolution into account

May 14, 2026

Evolutionary geneticist Brian Verrelli usually studies the past. Now, he’s looking to the future as cities adapt to climate change.

Serpentine forests damaged by Hurricane Maria, like this one in Puerto Rico’s Isabela region, recovered faster than expected after the storm. (contributed photo)

Puerto Rico’s forests recovered in unexpected ways post-Hurricane Maria, VCU research finds

April 29, 2026

Biology professor Catherine Hulshof studies extreme environments, like Puerto Rico’s forests, to find out how they may react as the climate changes.

An analysis of 16 studies found that the scientific literature does not support claims that 60-90% of youth identifying as transgender ultimately desist from that identity. (Getty Images)

Common claim that most transgender youth renounce that identity is not supported by statistics, VCU research finds

April 27, 2026

The argument that studies show transgender youth desist from that identity on average has been used to support anti-gender-affirming care legislation nationwide.

Celebrating the famous French philosopher in ‘Badiou’

April 13, 2026

VCU professor Rohan Kalyan brought a creative, “open-ended imagery” approach to his film about Alain Badiou.

Latino Virginia oral history project to get wider audience

March 26, 2026

VCU weekend symposium will offer a preview ahead of a broader launch in the fall.