New Feature, “VCU OnTopic,” Showcases Professors’ Views on Current Events

By Tom Gresham

Virginia Commonwealth University has debuted a new online feature, “VCU OnTopic,” which features VCU professors’ commentary on current events and trends in the news.

VCU OnTopic will highlight the expertise of professors throughout VCU, showcasing the professors’ research and teaching interests in an analysis of real-world events. Each OnTopic segment includes video clips of an individual professor discussing a topic and a short article summarizing the professor’s view on the subject.

Initial OnTopic interviews have focused on various angles of the economic downturn, including Micah McCreary, associate professor of psychology, on job loss jitters; George Hoffer, professor of economics, on the U.S. auto industry’s struggles; Kelly O’Keefe, professor and executive education director of the VCU Brandcenter, on brand strategy in difficult economic times; Etti Baranoff, associate professor of insurance and finance, on how poor risk management played a role in the economic downturn; and David Urban, chair of marketing, on retailing in a recession. In addition, Richard Wenzel, chair of internal medicine, discussed the swine flu outbreak.

VCU OnTopic will be updated on a regular basis. It can be found on the VCU web site at http://www.news.vcu.edu/OnTopic/.