Ladelle McWhorter, Stephanie Bennett-Smith, Chair of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, Emerita, published Unbecoming Persons: The Rise and Demise of the Modern Moral Self. The book challenges our contemporary focus on personal identity and self-improvement, advocating instead for a greater emphasis on communal living and relational well-being.
Nathan Snaza was promoted to associate professor of English. His work explores how ideas about what it means to be human have been put to work in educational institutions, especially those that engage language, literacy, and literature. He draws on work in the fields of affect theory, new materialisms, queer and feminist theory, and Black and decolonial studies.
Alicia Díaz, associate professor of dance, and Patricia Herrera, professor of theatre, presented two new short films at New Spiritualities: Film as Ritual at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU. The program recognized their collaborative project, ruinas/ruins, developed through long-term artistic research at the abandoned sugar mill in Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico. Díaz and Herrera collaborated previously on an award-winning dance film.
Rhiannon Graybill, Marcus M. and Carole M. Weinstein & Gilbert M. and Fannie S. Rosenthal Chair of Jewish Studies, published the book Ruth: Themes and Issues in Biblical Studies. The volume explores a balanced approach to understanding gender dynamics in biblical narratives, emphasizing that women like Naomi and Ruth possess agency and power despite existing within patriarchal systems.
Sydney Watts, associate professor of history and gender & sexuality studies presented a paper on the transatlantic migration of the Dupont household (1797-1830) at the "Stay or Leave: Family Survival Tactics during the Age of Emigrations, 1770-1830s" workshop at Goethe University.
Rhiannon Graybill, Marcus M. and Carole M. Weinstein & Gilbert M. and Fannie S. Rosenthal Chair of Jewish Studies, was tapped as founding co-editor for a new Bloomsbury book series called Sexing Scripture. The series publishes cutting edge research on gender, sex, sexuality, and religious texts.
Julietta Singh, professor of English and women, gender, & sexuality studies, directed The Nest, a feature-length documentary, which will make its world premiere at the upcoming Hot Docs Festival in Toronto, Canada.
Julietta Singh, professor of English and women, gender, & sexuality studies, was interviewed in special issue on "Reckoning, Repairing, Reworlding" in Studies in Social Justice.