Why is Saint Jude the Most Popular Catholic Saint in Mexico?

Date: Tuesday, Apr 8, 2025

Professor Andrew Chesnut explains how the Patron of Lost Causes, Saint Jude, went from obscurity on the Mexican religious landscape to become the rock star of Catholic saints in the country.

The Kabbalistic Tree: Visual Interface of Jewish Mysticism

Date: Monday, Feb 16, 2026

J. H. Chajes, Ph.D. will be speaking on kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, framed around his magisterial book "The Kabbalistic Tree." 

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.

Powell-Edwards Lecture Series for Religion and the Arts presents "Art, Research, and Afro-diasporic Spirituality"

Date: Monday, Mar 2, 2026

Join us March 2 for the annual Powell-Edwards Lecture Series for Religion and the Arts featuring a conversation between Marina Magloire, Ph.D., of Emory University and E. Gaynell Sherrod, Ph.D., of VCUarts. The conversation will address how artistic, spiritual and scholarly practices influence one another in the work of the scholar-artists they have studied, and in their own work.

History's Double-Edge: Lunch and Learn

Date: Friday, Feb 20, 2026

Join us for a lunch and learn with Rabbi Shai Held. We'll explore the double-edge of memory: we'll see how it can sustain worshippers in hope and how, sometimes, it can deepen their despair. Rabbi Held is president and dean at the Hadar Institute.

Lunch and Learn: Dr. Marina Magloire

Date: Tuesday, Mar 3, 2026

Join the Center for the Study of Global Religions and Spiritualities for a Lunch and Learn with Marina Magloire, Ph.D.

A Conversation with Axios Senior Religion Reporter, Russell Contreras

Date: Tuesday, Sep 22, 2026

Russell Contreras, Senior Race and Justice reporter for Axios will be coming to VCU to talk about his career in journalism as a Hispanic Catholic.

Oy vey, King George!: Judaism and the War for Independence

Date: Monday, Nov 9, 2026

In his visit to the VCU campus, Adam Jortner will talk about the main points he writes about in his book, "A Promised Land: Jewish Patriots, the American Revolution, and the Birth of Religious Freedom."