"Small Talk"

Even though there’s a lot of distrust of the mainstream news media right now, this is a fun time to be a reporter.

Zoe Chace, producer of NPR’s This American Life, presentation sponsored by Office of Alumni and Career Services, February 2017

Animators are always showing a dance of gravity. We choreograph movement, using spacing and timing.

Ken Fountain, animator, Longwood Animation Film Festival, March 2017

The principle behind compound interest doesn’t just apply to finance. It can be applied to business, relationships and many facets of life.

Joe Bartholomew ’96, managing director at BB&T Scott & Stringfellow, College of Business and Economics senior banquet, April 2017

With some survivors, I entered into their personal space, which is not a photographer thing. It’s a human thing.

Dean Whitbeck, photographer, Remembering the Holocaust exhibit presentation, April 2017

Those who have never experienced poverty should be careful not to assume that misbehavior by a child they see in public is a choice. Often it’s a response to a stressful situation like hunger or violence or homelessness.

Marie Ireland, Virginia Department of Education speech-language pathologist, Agee Lecture Series, May 2017

Be careful of the toe you step on at work today because it may be connected to the ankle of the butt you kiss tomorrow.

Allen Mack ’83, retired chief of operations for mission operations for the National Reconnaissance Office, Department of History & Political Science

I draw at bars a lot, but I’m not one of those annoying people who takes a sketch book. I draw on the back of a menu or a placemat.

John Cuneo, illustrator, visiting artist presentation, March 2017

When Hitler came to power, the government took control of what the people were told. There was no Internet, no television, no other methods for people to get information.

Dr. Roger Loria, Holocaust survivor and VCU medical researcher, Remembering the Holocaust presentation, April 2017

Good science is asking the same question in different ways.

Dr. Jeremy Hoffman, climate and earth science specialist at the Science Museum of Virginia, Chichester Colloquium, April 2017

We’ve been taught that the most popular song is human, but we have to stop thinking like that. We humans are not the only ones on this planet.

Scott Frazier, environmental activist and member of the Crow and Santee tribes, Earth Week, April 2017

We can’t prepare students for what we know now. We have to prepare them for what’s not there.

Dr. Paul Hanstedt, professor of English at Roanoke College and consultant on general education, Longwood Teaching and Learning Institute, May 2017