University of Richmond Professors Awarded Grant to Develop AI Tools for TV and Film Research
University of Richmond professors Taylor Arnold and Lauren Tilton have received a $250,000 grant to support their research.
School of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Annual Report
Italian & French Film Festival
March 27–30, 2026
The festival brings together UR students, faculty, and staff, as well as the wider Richmond community. It will include a screening of Gillo Pontecorvo’s classic The Battle of Algiers (1966) in celebration of the film’s 60th anniversary, followed by a roundtable, a second roundtable on the current state of Italian and French cinema, as well as a screening concluding the festival at the Byrd Theatre — followed by a reception in the sumptuously renovated mezzanine of the iconic theater.
Guest scholars and filmmakers will introduce screenings, lead roundtable discussions, and engage audiences in conversation. Across four days, the festival will bring together French and Italian cuisine, intellectual exchange, and the magic of cinema, making each screening a celebration of culture and community.
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.
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
A&S Honors Convocation
Friday, April 17, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Camp Concert Hall, Booker Hall of Music
Each year, the A&S community comes together to celebrate the academic accomplishments of our students at Honors Convocation.
All A&S faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend this special celebration.
Faculty, staff, students, and guests are invited to lunch in the Heilman Dining Center following Convocation.
A&S Student Symposium
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 1 TO 5:30 P.M.
Modlin Center for the Arts & Campus Buildings
7:30 p.m., Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, Department of Theatre & Dance performance
Each April, we celebrate our diverse community of learners at the A&S Student Symposium, a showcase of student-led research projects from nearly 30 disciplines in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Student researchers share their scholarly work with the campus community and the public through oral presentations, poster sessions, performances, and art exhibits.
This year’s symposium includes the Department of Theatre & Dance’s production of Nevermore – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe on Friday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. Free tickets are available at modlin.richmond.edu.
A&S Feature Stories
University of Richmond Hosts Statewide Applied Ethics Bowl
The University of Richmond will host the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges’ 26th annual statewide collegiate Applied Ethics Bowl on Feb. 13.
Faculty Awards
University of Richmond President Emeritus Ronald Crutcher Honored for Outstanding Contributions to the Liberal Arts
President Emeritus and University Professor Ronald A. Crutcher, a national leader in higher education and a distinguished classical musician, has received the American Association of Colleges and Universities President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Liberal Education.
Harnett Museum of Art at the University of Richmond Opens Spring Season With Immersive Exhibitions and Films
This spring, the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum is showcasing three new exhibitions, including a newly commissioned installation by sculptor Abigail DeVille.
A&S Faculty in the News
Dozens of data center bills moving through Virginia General Assembly
Geography, sustainability, and environment professor Mary Finley-Brook, an expert on the environmental impact of data centers, is interviewed.
How Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime Performance Celebrates America
Music professor Joanna Love is quoted.
US experiencing largest measles outbreak since 2000 – 5 essential reads on the risks, what to do and what’s coming next
An article written by health studies professor Kathryn Jacobsen is featured.
The cultural stakes of the Super Bowl halftime show, from Madonna to Bad Bunny
Research by music professor Joanna Love is featured.
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
Weldon awarded for short film about UR play and its creative design set
Emmy Weldon, assistant professor of theatre & dance, was awarded at the 32nd Annual James River Short Film Showcase for As You Liked It! A Reflection on Waste Culture, a documentary short film about the play performed at University of Richmond and its creative set design.
Immersive film screening event includes Drummond and Eckhart
Jeremy Drummond, associate professor of art, presented his latest film Monument with a live score accompaniment at Studio Two Three. The event also featured Eric Eckhardt, time-based media production studio manager, performing a live score to a screening of Fugue.
Arnold and Tilton awarded grant to develop AI tools for TV and film research
Taylor Arnold, professor of data science and statistics, and Lauren Tilton, professor of digital humanities and director of UR’s Center for Liberal Arts and AI, received a grant to support their research to develop AI models that analyze film and television. The funding is part of a larger award from Schmidt Sciences and includes collaboration with colleagues at UC Berkeley and Bowdoin College.
Díaz and Herrera’s latest film featured in ICA Richmond program
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.
