Virginia Humanities

From Mary Booth to Virginia Christian

Child Incarceration and the Making of the New South While many Virginians may be familiar with the story of Virginia Christian, the 17-year-old juvenile executed by the state of Virginia in 1912, few have heard of Mary Booth, a 14-year-old African American girl convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1882. This talk by […]

Tangier Island

The Long Life and Prospective Demise of a Storied Island Community Settled since 1778 and populated by that first family’s descendants, Tangier is one of two inhabited offshore islands in the Chesapeake Bay and a leading center for the pursuit of the bay’s famed blue crab. But throughout its recorded history it has been disappearing. […]

Filipino Traditions in Virginia

Understanding Global Virginia

Approximately one million Filipinos have immigrated to the United States since the 1950s.  In 2010, more than 90,000 Filipinos were living in Virginia. David Bearinger explores Filipino traditions in this installment in VFH’s Global Virginia series.

Caroline Shaw and the Future of Music

Until recently, Caroline Shaw was uncomfortable calling herself a composer–violin, singer, musician, sure. But not a composer.Then in 2013, her composition Partita for 8 Voices made her the youngest recipient ever of the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Now she’s one of the most respected composers on the New Music scene and has been heralded as […]

Death and Dinner: Thoughts and Discussion about the Repatriation of Indigenous Remains and Objects

Karenne Wood, poet and director of VFH’s Virginia Indian Program, and Damien Shen, an Australian Aboriginal artist, will discuss their experiences with the repatriation of indigenous remains and objects to their places of origin. A discussion with Q and A will follow.

History, Dance and Blessings with the Monacan Nation

As part of the festivities for American Indian and Indigenous heritage Month, tribal members and leaders of the Monacan Nation will present their culture in the form of traditional song and dance at the Blacksburg Farmer’s Market.

Can Curly Fries Predict the Future?

Jen Golbeck explores the surprising things that data scientists can learn from your random likes and shares.

Richmond Folk Festival

This year, the Richmond Folk Festival will feature more than thirty performance groups across seven live stages, children’s activities, a folk arts marketplace, regional and ethnic foods, and more.

White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia

Kiki Petrosino, poet, VFH Residential Fellow, and Associate Professor of English at the University of  Louisville, will introduce poems from her latest book-in-progress. With White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia Petrosino contemplates what it means to be a mixed-race Virginian in light of the region’s fraught racial history. Inspired by research into her enslaved ancestors’ […]

We Are All Arlington

For the past 40 years, Arlington County has been a gateway community for thousands of immigrants—not only to the Commonwealth of Virginia, but to the United States in general and all the opportunity it represents. Immigrants from nearly 120 countries have settled in Arlington, creating a multicultural legacy that has changed what it means to […]

Mapping Lambert’s Point Reception

Mapping Lambert’s Point is an ongoing project co-sponsored by the Institute for the Humanities and the Political Science and Geography Department which collects oral histories of the past and present residents of Old Dominion’s neighboring community, Lambert’s Point. The project embeds the stories into a virtual map accessible online. We invite you to come to […]

Polynesian Voyagers Expert Panel Discussion

A panel discussion examining climate change, the traditional ways indigenous groups, including Polynesian and Virginian natives, have interacted with their environments, and how the world’s citizens can build a better future together.