The Center for the Study of Global Religions and Spiritualities is dedicated to the academic and transdisciplinary exploration of religion, spirituality, culture, history and identity.

It brings together faculty members from across VCU to foster collaboration, engage students and promote community dialogue, research and engagement. The center provides a space for both intellectual and communal exploration of religious topics, welcoming diverse perspectives and encouraging a broader understanding of global religious practices and spiritual expressions.

To support these goals, the center organizes public lectures throughout the academic year, centered around the shared focus of its four endowed chairs in the College of Humanities and Sciences. It also seeks to offer community-based education in the areas of religion, religious studies and spirituality. The center provides opportunities for student engagement and public education, with an emphasis on religious tolerance, inclusivity in religious practice, the history of religion, and the exploration of spiritualities in various forms. 

News

The Faith & Health Campus Grant will support two projects at VCU – one focused on undergraduate and graduate teaching and mentoring, and a second focused on research collaborations among humanities researchers and clinicians. (File photo)

Dec. 17, 2025

VCU receives $60k grant to support integration of religious pluralism in health professions learning

The two-year award from Interfaith America will support projects related to teaching, mentoring and research collaborations.

Pope Francis, pictured here in 2014, was the first Latin American pope elected in the Catholic Church’s history. (Getty Images)

April 21, 2025

Pope Francis’ legacy may be a ‘bridge between tradition and modernity’

Religious studies professor Andrew Chesnut outlines the history-making pontiff’s impact – and where the Catholic Church may turn next.

Peter W. Marty, a retired pastor and editor/publisher of The Christian Century magazine, delivered the VCU Department of History’s 30th annual William E. and Miriam S. Blake Lecture in the History of Christianity. (Andrea Wight, Department of History)

April 10, 2025

The voice of Lincoln offers compelling counterpoint to today’s zero-sum thinking, pastor and publisher says at Blake Lecture

Speaking three decades after his father kicked off the annual series, Peter Marty uses the past, the present and Christianity to reflect on the winners-and-losers mindset.

Events

Collaboration and sharing are at the core of our mission.

O Hebr 33,3 ed. Great Parchment

Lunch and Learn: Enigmas of The Great Parchment and the Origins of the Ilanot Genre

Date: Monday, Feb 16, 2026

Join us for lunch to learn about the enigmatic texts known as Iggeret sippurim (Epistle of Stories) that appeared on a long-lost medieval kabbalistic iconotext called "The Great Parchment" featuring J.H. (Yossi) Chajes.