School of Arts & Sciences

The Heart of the University

The School of Arts & Sciences is the heart of the University of Richmond’s offerings. You can choose from or combine majors from 24 departments and 13 interdisciplinary programs. In the School of Arts & Sciences, you will learn to integrate your classroom experience with your true interests — your calling.

It’s the chance to explore a topic you’ve always been curious about, whether that’s Russian, modern dance, or environmental ethics. It’s getting a different perspective on your favorite subject — thinking through concepts and problems in a way you never have before. It’s satisfying your curiosity and love for learning, and then working to translate that into a career path.

Support A&S

School of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Annual Report

2024-25 Now Available!
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2025-2026 Tucker Boatwright Festival of Literature & the Arts

Reconstruction

Hosted by the Department of Art & Art History in partnership with The Harnett Museum.

The 2025–2026 Tucker-Boatwright festival dissects and expands the idea of Reconstruction to highlight the complex relationship to ongoing cultural movements and revolutions that we study, experience, and manifest through the visual arts. Reconstruction considers the many social, environmental, and political crises that we are experiencing today, and encourages us to look back at the histories that frame the urgent questions of our present for answers towards our future.

The Department of Art & Art History in partnership with The Harnett Museum, has invited two world renowned artists to campus, Cauleen Smith and Abigail DeVille, to interpret this theme through two new immersive installations that engage with local histories to create a space for community dialogue.

 2025 Beckman Scholars

Meet the 2025-26 Beckman Scholars

A&S students Brice Di Carlo, ’27, and Eric Zhou, ’27, have each been awarded a prestigious Beckman Foundation Scholarship to support faculty-mentored student research in the sciences.

Beckman Scholars are selected among undergraduate biology and chemistry students based on commitment to research, strong academics, and potential to become scientific leaders. UR has had 28 Beckman Scholars since 2006.

Chemistry major Brice Di Carlo is studying chemical bonding using various computational methods. This work of studying chemical structures and reactions has implications in developing new medicines and improving existing ones. His faculty mentor is chemistry professor Kelling Donald. Di Carlo plans to pursue a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry and aspires to research drug development, including treatments for cardiovascular disease. 

Eric Zhou is majoring in chemistry and minoring in physics. Under the mentorship of chemistry professor Wade Downey, he is studying organic chemistry — specifically indole synthesis, which has implications in the pharmaceutical industry. Zhou aspires to become a physician-scientist at an academic institution and hopes to open a lab researching targeted drug treatments for cancer.

Meet the Deans

Meet the Deans During Family Weekend

Saturday, September 27, 2024 | 11 a.m. to noon
Alice Haynes Room, Tyler Haynes Commons

Join the School of Arts & Sciences Dean Jennifer Cavenaugh and A&S associate deans for a discussion and Q&A about the School of Arts & Sciences. Learn about the wide range of academic programs, international and experiential learning opportunities, services, professional development, career planning, and unique experiences the School of Arts & Sciences provides our students in preparation for a meaningful life and productive career. 

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Faculty & Staff Research Mini Symposia

The Faculty & Staff Research Symposium brings together colleagues from multiple disciplines, programs, and all five schools to present their research, work, and creative projects. All faculty and staff are invited to present their current work as part of interdisciplinary panels, roundtables, short-format sessions, or poster presentations. 

The 2025-2026 academic year will feature the Mini Symposia on the following dates:

  • Friday, September 26, 2025
  • Friday, November 7, 2025
  • Friday, January 30, 2026
  • Friday, February 20, 2026

Events

Faculty Expertise

Do you envision college as a place where your professor’s office hours are spent in deep conversation about topics beyond this week’s assignment? Where you can work side-by-side with a faculty member on cutting-edge research that is published in a professional journal?

In A&S, our faculty are experts on the cutting edge of their fields. While they could work in some of the top research institutions in the world, our faculty chose Richmond because they believe in educating tomorrow's leaders and are passionate about mentoring and sharing their knowledge with students.

A&S Faculty Highlights

Erickson, post-baccs, and students publish on invasive species evolution

Priscilla Erickson, assistant professor of biology, along with Weston Gray and Logan M Rakes, post baccalaureate research assistants, and students Christine Cole, ’24, Ansleigh Gunter, ’24, Guanting He, ’26, Samantha Morgan, ’23, Camille R Walsh-Antzak, ’24, and Jillian A Yates, ’24, published “Rapid Wing Size Evolution in African Fig Flies (Zaprionus Indianus) Following Temperate Colonization” in Evolution.