2009-2010 VCU STS Initiative (Science, Technology, and Society)

Please contact: Wanda Clary 828-1635 (wpclary@vcu.edu) for more information on upcoming lectures. All events are free and open to the public.

Upcoming events:

10/28/2009. History Faculty Brown Bag series. Speaker, Ibrahim Hamza, Assistant Professor of History. Identifying the African Diaspora in Brazil after the Male Rebellion of the 1830s. Dr. Hamza will focus on Hausa people in 19th century Brazil and their role in the so-called Male Rebellion of 1830s. He argues that the Hausa slaves in Brazil were not from the West African coast but rather from the hinterland of the Savanna region of West Africa. This makes the study of their presence in Brazil interesting, since Hausa language and vocabulary, culture and religious beliefs became lost after the slave rebellion. He will discuss his study (with Jao Reis) of a Muslim prayer book found during the rebellion. 12:30-2pm, History Department Conference Room (201), 811 S. Cathedral Place. Questions: 804 828-1635. Bring your lunch, and hear about the research of our new colleague.

11/16/2009. Alexandrian Society Fall Lecture. Lord Cornwallis vs Anopheles Quadrimaculatus: How Malaria and Mosquitoes Helped Win the American Revolution. Speaker, John R. McNeill (Interim Director and Professor, University Professor, Mortara Center for International Studies at Georgetown University), Commons Theater, 907 Floyd Avenue. 4:30-5 p.m. Questions: alexsociety@vcu.edu. The lecture is free and open to the public.

11/19/2009. History Faculty Lecture. From Holy Matrons to the Sine Sensu: Nine Medieval Women, Pilgrimage, and the Negotiation of Boundaries in Later Middle Ages, Speaker, Leigh Ann Craig, Assistant Professor of History. This talk will explore some of the conclusions of Dr. Craig's recent book, Wandering Women and Holy Matrons: Women as Pilgrims in the Later Middle Ages, as well as her newer questions about the history of insanity and demonic possession in medieval culture. Despite the tremendous reservations about the mobility of women which were integral to the culture of Latin Christendom in the later Middle Ages, women both fictional and real were able to undertake pilgrimages to the shrines of the saints. The circumstances under which they were able to do so, however, were specific both to their gender and to their ability to negotiate their roles within their communities. This talk will explore ways in which women negotiated sacred journeys, transforming them from something potentially scandalous into a mark of high spiritual status. Similar negotiations were central to the diagnosis of, and response to, those who were sine sensu, or "out of their senses." A medieval community's decision to label and treat such individuals as either mentally ill or as demoniacs was laden with implications about that person's gender, social clout, and potential usefulness to others. Forum Room, University Student Commons, 907 Floyd Avenue, 6-8 p.m. Questions? Contact Kathleen Murphy, kmmurphy@vcu.edu or the History Department office at 828-1635. The lecture is free and open to the public.

4/14-15/2010. Alexandrian Society Spring Symposium. Commons Theatre, 807 Floyd Avenue. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Program TBA

The William E. and Miriam S. Blake Lecture in the History of Christianity is presented annually by a renowned scholar.  The lecture this year was held on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at the VCU Student Commons, Richmond Salons.

The speaker was Andrew Crislip, newly appointed Blake Chair in the History of Christianity and Associate Professor in the Department of History. Dr. Crislip's lecture is entitled: "Rediscovering the Live and Works of Shenoute of Atribe: Prospects for the History of Late Ancient Christianity."

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The 2010 lecture will be given by Diane Apostolos-Cappodona, Ph.D.. on April 15, 2010. The title of her lecture will be: “The DaVinci Code: Is there a woman in that painting.

Apostolos-Cappodona Curriculum Vitae