VCU news

By VCU News staff

Cristina Stanciu, Ph.D., director of the Humanities Research Center at Virginia Commonwealth University, has been elected to the advisory board of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes. The prestigious international forum strengthens humanities centers through advocacy, grant-making and inclusive collaboration.

The CHCI advisory board provides intellectual leadership that propels collaborations on scholarship and conversation related to issues of modern public concern. Stanciu was elected this month to a four-year term, along with new members from Yale University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Minnesota and Canada’s Simon Fraser University.

VCU’s Humanities Research Center marks its 10th anniversary in 2024, with a mission of promoting multidisciplinary intellectual exchange across VCU and the broader region. Under Stanciu’s leadership since 2020, the HRC has become a universitywide research center, including through seven humanities labs focused on topics ranging from the environment and health to memory and artificial intelligence. The center also offers a robust speaker series, workshops, residential fellowships, support for faculty research and community-engaged projects, and cross-campus collaborations.

Stanciu, an associate professor in the Department of English, is a scholar of Indigenous and multiethnic literatures of the United States. In April 2023, the College of Humanities and Sciences honored her with the Distinguished Service Award.

Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D., dean of the college, praised Stanciu’s impact at VCU and beyond.

“Dr. Stanciu has increased the visibility of the humanities and humanistic work at our institution. She has grown the HRC into a vibrant center that engages with world-class scholars, supports faculty exploration and nurtures intellectual exchange,” Ingrassia said. “This work, like the presence of the HRC, is critical to the future of the humanities, and Dr. Stanciu will bring valuable insight and ideas as a board member of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes.”

Stanciu has taught at VCU since 2011. In the current spring semester, she is serving as Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Justice and Reconciliation.