University of Richmond
Arts and Sciences
Richmond, Virginia
Overview
Founded in 1830, the University of Richmond has developed into the second-largest private university in the state. Currently among the fifty most heavily endowed universities in the nation, the University possesses the financial resources to further enhance its tradition of academic quality and humane values. The Arts and Sciences Graduate School is one of several schools and colleges that constitute the University. Other divisions include the T. C. Williams School of Law; the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business; School of Continuing Studies for summer and continuing education programs; and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies.
The total University enrollment is approximately 4,700, of whom one fifth are graduate and professional students. About 100 students are enrolled in arts and sciences graduate programs each semester. Graduate students vary widely in age and background. Although the majority are from the states along the Atlantic seaboard, other parts of the nation and various other countries are represented. More than 80 percent of the full-time students receive financial aid.
The Location and Community
The University is located at the western edge of Richmond, Virginia, about 15 minutes by automobile from the city’s center. Richmond is the state’s capital and a major financial, business, and industrial center. The Richmond metropolitan area offers a full range of social, religious, cultural, and educational opportunities. Among cultural highlights are the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Opera, and Science Museum of Virginia. Eight other institutions of higher education are located within the metropolitan area. Richmond is only 2 hours’ drive from Washington, D.C., and an hour from the Blue Ridge Mountains and Williamsburg.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Arts and Sciences Graduate School offers programs of study leading to the degrees of Master of Arts (M.A.), Master of Science (M.S.), and Master of Liberal Arts (M.L.A.).
The M.A. degree is offered in English, history, and psychology. Course work requirements range from 27 to 36 semester hours. The psychology program requires a thesis based on original research; students in history and English may choose between thesis and nonthesis tracks.
The M.S. degree is offered in biology. Degree requirements include 28 semester hours of course work and a thesis. The program has a strong research orientation.
The M.L.A. program is cross disciplinary in nature, consisting of courses taught by faculty members from a variety of disciplines, such as art, history, literature, music, philosophy, politics, and religion. Ten courses, a minimum of 30 semester hours, are required.
Students may enroll on either a full-time or part-time basis in all programs except those in biology and psychology, which accept only full-time students.
Facilities & Resources
The libraries of the University contain more than 800,000 volumes and microforms. Collections in various Richmond-area libraries are also available for research and consultation, including those in the Richmond Public Library, Virginia State Library and Archives, Virginia Historical Society, and Virginia Baptist Historical Society Library (located on the campus). The Gottwald Science Center houses well-equipped laboratories and a science library. Computing support for research and instruction is provided by the University Computing Center.
Expenses and Aid
Tuition for full-time students for the two-semester academic year was $27,010 in 2007-08. Part-time students were charged at the reduced rate of $480 per credit hour for the first course taken each semester and at the full rate of $1650 per credit hour for additional courses.
Financial Aid:
The Graduate School offers assistantships and a limited number of service-free scholarships to full-time graduate students who qualify on the basis of academic background and promise. Full-time students from Virginia may apply for a Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant. Various work-study and loan programs are also available to eligible graduate students. A special tuition remission, which results in substantially reduced fees, is provided for part-time students who enroll in one course per semester. Funds to support graduate student research are available through the Graduate Research Program..
Housing/Living Expenses:
The University has no on-campus housing for graduate students; however, accommodations for both single and married students are available within the Richmond community at various costs. Graduate students are welcome to eat in the University dining hall.
How to Apply / Application
Applicants are required to submit a completed application form, a $30 nonrefundable processing fee, official transcripts of all previous college work, three letters of recommendation, GRE scores (for most programs), and a statement of purpose. For most programs, applications must be received by March 15. Psychology applications are due February 10. Those students wishing an assistantship or scholarship in any program should have their applications and supporting documents on file by March 15.
International Students
International students add valuable global perspectives to the University's academic and cultural life. The Office of International Education provides a variety of programming and services for international students, such as immigration assistance, orientation programs, cultural activities, and personal advising. The Arts and Sciences Graduate School offers masters programs in Biology, English, History, Psychology and Liberal Arts. Admission to the Graduate School is based on the applicant's undergraduate record; three letters of recommendation; for most programs, scores on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE); and, for foreign students, scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A TOEFL score of at least 550 (paper based test) or 213 (computer based test) is required for admission.
As regards to financial aid, the Graduate School offers full and partial tuition assistantships to full-time students who qualify on the basis of academic background and promise. Assistantship holders must render service to their major department ranging up to twelve hours per week. Preference in the awarding of assistantships is given to those who have their applications and supporting documents on file by April 1. Although we do not have special assistantships for foreign students, our assistantships are awarded without regard to nationality. However, our assistantships cover only tuition. You will need to make other arrangements to defray living expenses, which we estimate to be about $8,400 for a single student. If you are admitted, you will be asked to submit a declaration of how you will finance your education here as well as a certificate of health insurance coverage.
Who to Contact
Admissions
Arts and Sciences Graduate School
University of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia 23173
Graduate Departments and Research
• Kathy W. Hoke, Director; Ph.D., North Carolina.
Biology
• Valerie M. Kish, Chair, Ph.D., Michigan. Cell biology.
• Rafael de Sá, Graduate Coordinator; Ph.D., Texas. Amphibian systematics.
• W. John Hayden, Ph.D., Maryland. Plant anatomy, plant systematics.
• Roni J. Kingsley, Ph.D., South Carolina. Invertebrate mineralization.
• Gary P. Radice, Ph.D., Yale. Developmental anatomy.
• Laura Runyen-Janecky, Ph.D., Wisconsin. Genetics.
• Peter Smallwood, Ph.D., Arizona. Ecology, evolutionary biology.
• Krista Jane Stenger, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth. Immunology.
• John Warrick, Ph.D., Temple. Genetics.
English
• Raymond F. Hilliard, Chair; Ph.D., Rochester. British novel, eighteenth-century English literature, modern novel.
• Anthony P. Russell, Graduate Coordinator; Ph.D., Yale. Shakespeare, English Renaissance.
• Thomas M. Allen, Ph.D., Wisconsin. Nineteenth-century American literature.
• Abigail Cheever, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins. Film studies.
• Daryl Cumber Dance, Ph.D., Virginia. African-American literature and folklore, Caribbean literature and folklore.
• Terry L. Givens, Ph.D., North Carolina. Romanticism, literary theory.
• Elisabeth R. Gruner, Ph.D., UCLA. The novel, nineteenth- and twentieth-century British literature, women’s literature.
• Kathleen Hewett-Smith, Ph.D., California, Irvine. Medieval English literature, Piers Plowman, allegorical theory.
• Dona J. Hickey, Ph.D., Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Rhetoric and composition, twentieth-century American and British poetry.
• Suzanne W. Jones, Ph.D., Virginia. Southern fiction, women writers, feminist theory, narrative theory, the novel.
• Edward J. Larkin, Ph.D., Stanford. Early American literature, history of the book, political writing and rhetoric.
• Alan S. Loxterman, Ph.D., Ohio State. Literary criticism, seventeenth-century poetry.
• Joyce B. MacAllister, Ph.D., Texas. Rhetoric and composition.
• John B. Marx, Ph.D., Brown. British modernist and post-colonial fiction.
• Robert M. Nelson, Ph.D., Stanford. Post-WWII literature, Native American literature.
• Ilka Saal, Ph.D., Duke. Theater and performance art, American literature.
• Louis Schwartz, Ph.D., Brandeis. Sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century British nondramatic literature, John Milton.
• Louis B. Tremaine, Ph.D., Indiana. African literature, cultural studies.
History
• Hugh A. West, Chair; Ph.D., Stanford. Modern European intellectual.
• Robert C. Kenzer, Graduate Coordinator; Ph.D., Harvard. Civil War and Reconstruction, nineteenth-century America, American South.
• Joan L. Bak, Ph.D., Yale. Latin America, modern Brazil.
• Matthew Basso, Ph.D., Minnesota. Twentieth-century United States.
• Robert Blecher, Ph.D., Stanford. Middle East.
• David Brandenberger, Ph.D., Harvard. Russia and Soviet bloc.
• Joanna H. Drell, Ph.D., Brown. Medieval Europe.
• John L. Gordon Jr., Ph.D., Vanderbilt. Modern Britain and empire, Canada.
• Woody Holton, Ph.D., Duke. Colonial/Revolutionary America.
• Tong Lam, Ph.D., Chicago, East Asia.
• Kibibi Mack-Shelton, Ph.D., SUNY at Binghamton. African-American.
• L. Carol Summers, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins. Africa.
• John D. Treadway, Ph.D., Virginia. European diplomatic, Central and Eastern Europe.
• Sydney Watts, Ph.D., Early modern Europe, eighteenth-century France.
Liberal Arts
• Frank E. Eakin Jr., Graduate Coordinator; Ph.D., Duke.
Psychology
• Craig H. Kinsley, Graduate Coordinator; Ph.D., SUNY at Albany. Behavioral neuroscience.
• Kenneth B. Abrams, Ph.D., Minnesota. Clinical, panic disorder.
• Scott T. Allison, Ph.D., California, Santa Barbara. Social, decision making, social inference.
• Catherine Bagwell, Ph.D., Duke. Psychopathology, aggression and antisocial behavior.
• Jane M. Berry, Ph.D., Washington (St. Louis). Adult development, aging and memory.
• Mary Churchill, Ph.D., Cincinnati. Clinical, ethics.
• Elizabeth Crawford, Ph.D., Chicago. Spatial cognition, categorization, memory, emotion.
• Frederick J. Kozub, Ph.D., Virginia. Biopsychology, history and systems.
• Ping Li, Ph.D., Leiden. Psycholinguistics, cognitive science.
• Andrew F. Newcomb, Ph.D., Minnesota. Child clinical, developmental.
• Barbara K. Sholley, Ph.D., Ohio. Social, psychology of women.
• Elizabeth Stott, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth. Clinical, eating disorders.