Work-in-Progress Seminar

The HRC Work-in-Progress Seminar welcomes VCU faculty in the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences who would like to share their research in progress. The seminar will devote 35-40 minutes to a project presentation, followed by 15-20 minutes of Q&A. Authors are welcome to pre-circulate papers at least a week before the seminar. We are currently accepting paper applications for Spring 2025. If interested, please fill out this form.

2024-25

UFO Studies in Realms of the Indigenous and the Aesthetic

September 17, 2024

A woman in white kneels in front of a black sky with several lights twinkling in the distance
Photo by David Handforth

J. Molina-Garcia is a Salvadoran-American media artist, writer, and educator. A citizen of the Global South and an American Dreamer, J’s research engages mystical and esoteric traditions of ancient Mesoamerica, South and Southeast Asia, and Pan-African spirituality. In this pursuit, she synthesizes marginalized realms of knowledge alongside science, science-fiction, non-western philosophy, and leftist political theory.


Nasty Girls and Bastard Killers: Abortion Folklore Contesting Purity Culture

September 27, 2024

Paulina Guerrero
Paulina Guerrero

Paulina Guerrero is an artist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research interests and writing center on folklore, gender, reproductive health/rights/justice, Latinx feminisms, and feminist ecologies. Her extensive experience in reproductive rights, health, and justice led her to become the National Programs Director of All-Options; a reproductive justice organization that supports folks in all of their pregnancy experiences including parenting, abortion, and adoption.


Plotting Bigamy: Marital Surplus in the Eighteenth-Century Novel

February 28, 2025

Rachel Gevlin
Rachel Gevlin

Rachel Gevlin is a Teaching Assistant Professor of English as well as Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies. She specializes in the literature and culture of England’s long eighteenth century, with a particular focus on the history of the novel, women writers, and legal histories of marriage and divorce. 


The Clap Back: A Look into Digital Misogynoir and Online Harm Reduction Practices

March 21, 2025

Kalyn Coghill
KáLyn Coghill

Dr. KáLyn Coghill (they/them) is a Black, fat, neurodivergent, non-binary femme. They are an award-winning educator, practitioner, and activist with expertise spanning abortion doula work, community organizing, poetry, and interdisciplinary scholarship. They serve as the Director of Digital Engagement at me too. International and as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.


Prior Academic Years