Researchers and Mentors Connect at First VCRHM

Researchers and Mentors Connect at First VCRHM

On June 9, Professor Heidi Lawrence and PhD Candidate Elizabeth Ferguson led the first Virginia Colloquium on the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (VCRHM), funded in part by a $16,500 grant from 4-VA. The goal of VCRHM is to connect scholars with similar research interests, needs, and goals, by providing a dedicated space and time to discuss ideas and identify opportunities for collaboration and mentorship.

With this goal of fostering collaboration and mentorship, the VCRHM organizers—Heidi, Elizabeth, PhD Candidates Lourdes Fernandez and Rachael Graham Lussos, and collaborators from Virginia Tech and James Madison University—invited undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty with varying experience to present ongoing research. To further encourage student participation, VCRHM organizers provided an honorarium to each student presenter to offset travel costs. Coming from different universities in and near Virginia, students’ research presentations covered a range of medical- and health-related studies in rhetoric, including an archival study on breastfeeding advocacy, a media analysis on epidemics, and an interview study on Lyme disease treatment.

In addition to research presentations and a keynote address by Dr. Kirk St.Amant, VCRHM offered two semi-structured opportunities for engaging in conversation and expanding networks. Assigned groups met during lunch to make introductions and share observations on topics of professional development. Then a lightning round of informal presentations allowed researchers to briefly pitch current research projects and concerns, which were met with immediate feedback from likeminded scholars.

Before closing, Heidi took suggestions for how to keep the conversations going until the next VCRHM. Until that time, the VCRHM scholars can use their expanded network, toolset, and ideas to see their research from new perspectives and recognize their colleagues as potential collaborators and mentors.

To learn more about VCRHM, visit http://www.vcrhm.org/.

To learn more about 4-VA, visit https://4-va.org/.