Humanities & Society

WashU’s John Inazu argues that the ability to gather with others is essential to a healthy democracy — particularly at a time of deep social and political division. He was among the faculty presenting as part of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics course “1776: Then and Now.”

Nicole Spangler, a rising senior studying classics and history in WashU Arts & Sciences, received a prestigious Beinecke Scholarship, becoming the first WashU student to win that honor since 2014.

Tazeen Ali, an assistant professor of religion and politics at Washington University in St. Louis, says Thomas Jefferson’s Quran confronts us with the question of what the founders themselves knew they couldn’t avoid: Will the promises of 1776 stop at the edge of our own religion, or will they extend to Muslims and beyond?

The WashU Institute for School Partnership has received a grant to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance the efficiency, reach and quality of instructional coaching while preserving human expertise and teacher agency. 

Research by Daniel Butler, a professor of political science in WashU Arts & Sciences, suggests that candidates aligned with President Trump are advancing, in part, because disappointed 2024 Republican voters are opting out of this year’s intraparty contests.

As voters are increasingly asked to decide complex health policy questions at the ballot box, new research from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis finds that healthcare-related ballot measures draw more voters to the polls and are more likely to pass than other initiatives — but they’re also especially sensitive to opposition spending by special interest groups.

WashU Law’s national moot court team finished among the top four teams at the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition, the largest and most competitive moot court competition in the country.

A new paper published in the Harvard Data Science Review outlines complementary models for rethinking how data is used in the social sector, emphasizing that technical expertise alone is not enough to ensure fair and effective outcomes.