Common Book Keynote Address
Common Book Keynote Address
Wednesday, October 23 | 6 p.m. | Singleton Center (922 Park Ave.) | View the keynote recording
The flagship event for the Common Book each year is our author keynote address! "Memory Wars" authors, Michael Paul Williams and Mallory Noe-Payne, will discuss memory, memorialization and reconciliation with a heavy emphasis on Richmond's past and future.
This event is free and open to all students, faculty, staff and the general public.
Common Book Speaker Series
Richmond Museums and the Possibilities of Repair
Wednesday, September 18 | 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. | Cabell Library Room 250
For generations, Richmond's many historical museums championed the Confederacy and the accomplishments of white Virginians. These museums collected and exhibited key historical artifacts, but they told an incomplete and harmful story of the region's past. For the past several decades, however, those same institutions have made efforts to pivot toward repair and revision, exploring such themes raised in Memory Wars. Participants in this panel have first-hand experience in this process, including curator Christina Vida, who led the design team for the Valentine's new Sculpting History exhibit to reframe the sculpture studio of Edward Valentine, creator of so many Lost Cause icons. Panelists will reflect on the challenges of this new approach to the past for more diverse audiences.
Moderator: Christopher Graham, former curator at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond
Panelists: Ana Edwards, Assistant Professor of African-American Studies at VCU; Christina Vida, Elise A. Wright Curator of Special Collections, Valentine Museum; Ryan Smith, Professor of History at VCU
Surviving Memories: Safeguarding Lessons from the Holocaust
Wednesday, September 25 | 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. | Cabell Library Room 250 | View the recording from this session
This panel discussion features three speakers who bring important, unique, and local perspectives to our education about the Holocaust. With thoughtfulness and depth, Sam Asher, the executive director of the Virginia Holocaust Museum, Ben Ipson, the grandson of the founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum, and Halina Zimm, a Holocaust survivor will add further knowledge and understanding to the Memory Wars podcast.
Moderator: Leslie Cohen-Gee, Assistant Professor in Focused Inquiry, VCU
Panelists: Halina Zimm: Holocaust survivor; Ben Ipson, grandson of the founder of Virginia Holocaust Museum; Sam Asher, Executive Director of Virginia Holocaust Museum
Memory and Memorials
Wednesday, October 2 | 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. | Cabell Library Room 250 | View the recording of this session
There are many sites in Richmond and in Virginia as a whole whose past important events have not been properly memorialized. This panel’s experts will discuss several of these sites and their experiences with bringing them to public attention.
Moderator: Ana Edwards, Assistant Professor of African-American Studies at VCU
Panelists: Phil Wilayto, editor of The Virginia Defender; Shawn Utsey, Professor of Psychology, VCU; Michael Blakey, professor of anthropology at William and Mary
The Division of Inclusive Excellence and Project Gabriel Presents: Restoration and DEI: Where are we now?
Wednesday, October 15 | 6 p.m. | 817 W. Franklin St. Room 202
Join VCU's Division of Inclusive Excellence and Project Gabriel for a conversation with Dr. Sesha Moon, Dr. Shawn Utsey and Hon. Chuck Richardson.
Common Book Film Festival
Come join us for three nights of FREE films in the historic Grace Street Theater, curated and introduced by the experts in VCU’s Cinema Department! Each film is chosen for its relationship to topics discussed in this year’s Common Book, the podcast Memory Wars, and there will be a Q&A session with the film’s presenter after each showing.
Wednesday, October 9 | 5 p.m.-7 p.m. | Grace St. Theatre
Dr. Oliver Speck will present Labyrinth of Lies (Original title: Im Labyrinth des Schweigens) from 2014,directed by Giulio Ricciarelli.
Set in West Germany during the late nineteen-fifties, the so-called “economic miracle,” the movie tells the true story ofvFrankfurt's attorney general Fritz Bauer and three of his prosecutors who were instrumental for the holding of the important “Auschwitz trials” in 1963. During the course of their investigations into former Nazi criminals now serving in German institutions and government branches, they face strong opposition and an outright conspiracy to cover up the crimes of Nazis during World War II.
Thursday, October 10 | 5 p.m.-7 p.m. | Grace St. Theatre
Sheree Chen will present 3 short films that represent Past, Present and Future: "Four Women" by Julie Dash, 1975 (6 minutes); "Locks" by Ryan Coogler, 2009 (6 minutes); "La Jetée" by Chris Marker, 1962 (28 minutes)
Friday, October 11 | 5 p.m.-7 p.m. | Grace St. Theatre
Olivia Landry will present Masel Tov Cocktail, A film about a Jewish teenager living in Germany, Masel Tov Cocktail challenges institutionalized memory culture and its ability to fight hate. It demonstrates the continued existence of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and racism in Germany and urges us to think about modes of resistance rather than reconciliation.
Massey Dialogues
Massey Dialogues is a series designed to foster open discussions about social identity, centered around the 2024-2025 VCU Common Book- the "Memory Wars" podcast.
Join them for one (or multiple!) of our discussion sessions on the podcast’s themes of reconciling past wrongs and improving the present, with each session featuring a guest speaker from the History and Health: Racial Equity program to contextualize the discussion within VCU and MCV's history.
Participants who attend all four sessions or complete related online modules can earn a digital History and Health: Racial Equity badge.