Today is the last day of classes on the Monroe Park campus, but you still have the opportunity to meet with a FILL Peer Mentor. Mentors are here to assist with your final assignments in UNIV 111, 112, and 200. A handful of our mentors will be available for online and in-person consultations for another week—up until Tuesday, May 9. To see the times that mentors can meet with you, view their schedules in Navigate.
 

Need a place to study for finals? Escape the commotion of the library or your dorm room and get stuff done! Take advantage of our computer lab or secluded study nooks. The Focused Inquiry Learning Lounge (The FILL) in Harris 5116 will be open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through Friday, May 12.
 

 

Are you a fan of zines? Have you noticed a major rise in independent zines around Richmond or on Instagram? Me too! In this episode, I break down the history and evolution of zines—tracing back to the first zine released in 1930—and give ideas for creating your own at home.

Here's an excerpt from the episode: “I feel as if we’ve seen a massive trend in returning to older, more simplistic, or what I keep referring to as ‘analog‘ forms of media and technology. We see this with the romanticization and aestheticization of things like physical books, typewriters, record players and vinyls, cassettes, 2000s-era digital cameras or even earlier film cameras. This could also be associated with a collective feeling of nostalgia, but I argue that it is also a resistance against the pervasiveness of the modern digital space.”

Find this episode and access all past episodes of the ReFILL Podcast here.
 

 

Summer 2023

Looking to take a Focused Inquiry course over the summer? Visit the VCU Schedule of Classes and search for sections of UNIV 111, 112, or 200 during the Summer 2023 term to see if any seats are still available. Nearly all Summer 2023 FI courses are taught online and are asynchronous.

FILL Support Staff Position. This position serves as an office assistant for University College (UC) and works on-site in the Focused Inquiry Learning Lounge (The FILL) in Harris Hall Room 5116. This is a temporary summer position with a negotiable start date and end date of August 11. Must be enrolled in VCU courses in Summer and/or Fall 2023 to be eligible for this student worker position, and must be able to work between 9 and 12 hours per week on weekdays. Friendly, professional, positive attitude and dedicated, detail-oriented work ethic required. Students with a Federal Work Study award who demonstrate excellence in this role may reapply for this same position for the 2023–2024 academic year. For more information, email ucfill@vcu.edu.


Fall 2023

FILL Peer Mentor Position. Peer Mentors serve as ambassadors for the Focused Inquiry Learning Lounge (Harris 5116) by contributing to the design and implementation of resources and programming for University College students. They also hold online/in-person consultations with students to help them with their Focused Inquiry assignments. This is an hourly paid position for students with a Federal Work Study award. Candidates must have taken at least 2 Focused Inquiry courses (UNIV 111, 112, 200, 299, 391) and received at least a grade of a B in each. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/FPMnomint or email ucfill@vcu.edu.


UNIV 299-004 | What’s the Big Idea: Death
Professor Amy Tudor
CRN 42035 (3 credits) • Online Asynchronous instruction

How does a house become haunted? Why do we embalm our dead when many other cultures do not, and what is a green burial? What do we mean when we discuss “quality of life” or talk about a “good death,” and do we know anything about what happens after death? And why are we so obsessed with True Crime as entertainment? If you’ve ever expressed an interest in subjects like these, you may have been dissuaded from studying or even talking about them because they’re “morbid” or “depressing.” Not so! True, many people find issues around death and dying difficult, but being able to openly discuss them is both personally and culturally important. In fact, research shows that avoiding talking about death makes dying more difficult, while learning about it allows us to approach both our deaths and our lives in richer and more fulfilling ways.


UNIV 299-006 | What’s the Big Idea: The Culture of Complexion
Professor Kiara Lee
CRN 45395 (3 credits) • Online Asynchronous instruction

Where do our thoughts and biases about skin complexion come from? How do we digest mainstream culture and its perpetuation of colorism, discrimination where one’s value is based on the shade of their skin? In what ways are seemingly different facets of complexion, like skin bleaching and sun tanning, so wildly different, yet, similar? Can the power that comes with complexion, something that is out of our own control, ever be taken away? Students will investigate these questions and more with local, global and racialized lenses while making sense of the culture of complexion in their own lives and in their own skin.

IDST 391-002 | Special Topics: Engaging RVA
Professor Michael Rackett
CRN 45512 (3 credits) • TR 3:30 - 4:45 p.m. (Face-to-Face instruction)

Engaging RVA is a service-learning course exploring significant events in Richmond’s history and how those events are related to contemporary issues of race, education, housing, and health. Learn about enslavement and the Richmond Slave Market, MCV and the Marshall Street Well, red lining, school desegregation, and the impacts of urban renewal on black neighborhoods. Explore Carver, Jackson Ward, Oregon Hill, Fulton, and other Richmond neighborhoods. Investigate current educational inequities, health disparities, and issues of housing insecurity and homelessness. Discover ways to become engaged in the Richmond community. Volunteer with local nonprofit organizations and visit historical sites in Richmond and get outside of the VCU Bubble!


UNIV 391-003 | Special Topics: Peer Mentoring in Higher Education
Professor Matthew James Vechinski
CRN 45961 (2 credits) • T 2:00–3:15 p.m. (Hybrid Asynchronous instruction)

Do you wonder why some students—maybe even yourself or your friends—find it difficult to thrive in college? Are you interested in exploring how students can assist one another so that all feel included and are successful? Join this course on peer support to learn how peer mentoring can build campus community and foster student success. Your coursework will focus on designing your own peer support project intended to improve the lives of VCU undergraduates.
 

Good luck on finals!
Have a relaxing summer break!