Grateful for the great collaboration with my fellow organizers @alrector.bsky.social and Josh Smith and the strong support from CHS Dean Catherine Ingrassia. We look forward to building on this great collective experience and expanding the AI literacy offerings for our students in our curriculum.

Thanks also to our CHS faculty and staff presenters and moderators Caddie Alford, Andrew Massa, Kamilia Rahmouni, John Skaritza, James Fritz, Scott Sherman, Allison Moore, Frank Faries and Jenny Rhee as well as our collaborators from VCU Libraries, the CTLE, and LED Studio.

The course examines the history of American democracy, the role of institutions, civic participation, political polarization, media influence, and issues of representation. Students will assess the current state of democracy and areas of unity and division through readings and discussions.

VCU students can register for HUMS 291-002 (as well as cross-listed courses in the CHS majors AMST, ANTH, ENGL, GSWS, HIST, INTL, MASC, PHIL, POLI, RELS, SOCY, WRLD). There are no prerequisites for the courses and it is open to all majors at VCU.

As the US anticipates the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, this special topics course brings together faculty experts from a variety of disciplines in the College of Humanities and Sciences to lecture on topics relating to democracy.

Excited that we will be offering the class again this fall for 200 students, which is made possible by the lectures of more than 30 of our faculty experts in the College of Humanities and Sciences.

Thanks to my colleagues Dr. Amy Rector and Dr. Krista Scott for their partnership in developing and running our class and our Dean Dr. Catherine Ingrassia Ingrassia for her unwavering support!

We had invited both Democrats and Republicans this semester and were grateful for the congresswoman’s time. I was honored to ask our students’ questions during the one-hour session in our STEM Building at VCU.