Faculty Research News

Santa Muerte's visage, typically depicted in symbolic votive candles (red for love, gold for prosperity, purple for healing), has been in such high demand as a symbol of healing during the pandemic that sellers in religious goods stores in Mexico have created candles like this one (left, next to a small statue of Santa Muerte) in a new color — a deep shade of mauve — specifically for coronavirus healing.

Scholar says Santa Muerte, 'the newest plague saint,' has been a beacon of hope during COVID-19

Aug. 26, 2022

Santa Muerte, ‘the fastest-growing new religious movement in the Americas’ with an estimated 12 million followers, has grown in popularity during the pandemic, says VCU professor and author of ‘Devoted to Death.’

VCU research centers and institutes "serve as enterprisewide engines driving transdisciplinary innovation," said P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., vice president of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation. (Allen Jones, University Marketing)

Research office creates new institutes, centers to enrich VCU innovation, scholarship and creativity

Aug. 25, 2022

Six hubs attain university-level status, receive VCU research funding.

Victor Chen, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, hopes to spread "awareness of the important work that people are doing around the world to create businesses more in line with their values." (Tom Kojcsich, University Marketing)

Sociologist’s book earns award for contributions to advancing economic democracy

July 11, 2022

Worker cooperatives and alternative organizations where workers or consumers own all or part of the company are the focus of the book.

Brooke Newman, Ph.D., an associate professor of history at VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences, speaks to Sky News about the British monarchy's involvement in the slave trade and public sentiment on the royal family's actions around race and colonialism today. (Sky News)

VCU professor featured in Sky News documentary on British monarchy’s links to slavery

July 1, 2022

History professor, who studies slavery and the British royal family, shares details of its involvement in the slave trade and the impact in former colonies today.

Getting to know Q

June 24, 2022

VCU’s Q Collective provides opportunities for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Populism has played a role in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline. (Getty Images)

Exploring strategic connections between populism and the debate on pipelines

June 9, 2022

In his new book, VCU assistant professor Kai Bosworth looks at the theory of populism and how it relates to the world today.

(Getty Images)

Professor says war crimes investigation in Ukraine could take years

June 3, 2022

“It’s critical to find both the physical, testimonial, and the documentary evidence of war crimes,” said Tal Simmons, who has examined evidence at multiple scenes, including in Sri Lanka and the former Yugoslavia.

(University of Virginia Press)

New book on captivity in literature offers ‘a very different picture of England’ in 1600-1700s

June 1, 2022

Catherine Ingrassia, a VCU English professor, is the author of ‘Domestic Captivity and the British Subject, 1660-1750.’

Researchers have created a computational and experimental demonstration of a theory that's been explored by VCU Department of Physics researchers since the 1990s. This illustration shows the new superatom cluster that VCU, Columbia and Harvard researchers developed, produced in a lab and tested. (Courtesy of Arthur Reber)

From theory to practice: New stable, magnetic superatom could power innovations in nanomaterials

May 18, 2022

Developed by VCU, Columbia and Harvard researchers, the structure of this superatom could serve as a building block for the creation of new materials for semiconductors, microchips, cellphones and more.

Mignonne Guy, Ph.D., said the FDA’s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes would save lives, particularly those of Black Americans. (Getty Images)

VCU expert: FDA proposed ban on menthol cigarettes ‘historic and long overdue’

April 29, 2022

Mignonne Guy, Ph.D., was recently appointed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.