Cultural Studies Archives

Rural America Beyond the Caricature

How can we transcend politics and economics when thinking about rural America? How might policymakers better focus on rural aspirations rather than on rural decline? WashU’s Sandro Galea and USC’s Elizabeth Currid-Halkett discuss the very construct of the urban–rural divide.

Elizabeth Currid-Halkett

Cultural Studies

Sawyer Seminar Lecture Series to launch Sept. 10

The Center for the Humanities and the Department of African and African American Studies, both in WashU Arts & Sciences, will launch a yearlong Sawyer Seminar on “Black Studies and the Future of the American University” Sept. 10.

Students

Finding ‘your people’ in college: A philosopher’s perspective

Countless incoming college students are wondering if they will find “their people” at college. Fannie Bialek, a WashU philosopher and friendship expert, tells students they might not know yet who “their people” are — and that’s a good thing.

Literature

99 Problems Finding the 1

a love story (sort of)

Part cultural criticism, part roguish adventure, professor and punk musician G’Ra Asim tackles chronic lovelessness in the post-covid era with heft and humor.

Cultural Studies

How to live a more gratifying life

In “The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life,” WashU’s Ian Bogost explores the real but often unremarked delights to be found in ordinary encounters with the physical world. “While you are waiting for the supposedly important stuff to arrive,” Bogost writes, “a million cases of the small stuff come and go.”

Cultural Studies

Early nominated for Jenkins sportswriting medal

Gerald Early, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in WashU Arts & Sciences, has been nominated for a 2026 Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportwriting.

Humanities & Society

Caste: A Global Story

Caste is a prominent feature of India’s society, but are its principles endemic to today’s global society as well? WashU’s Sandro Galea sits down with Penn scholar Suraj Yengde to discuss how a better understanding of caste can inform our efforts to address racism and injustice across the world.

Suraj Yengde

Cultural Studies

Challenging the American narrative

This semester, students took a deep-dive into the celebrated and complicated history of the U.S., through lectures from scholars at WashU and throughout the country.

Art & Design

AI and Creativity

What does AI mean for the future of human creativity? Janet Rafner of the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, an expert in hybrid intelligence and human–AI co-creativity, joins Sandro Galea to discuss AI’s role in the creative space.

Janet Rafner

Cultural Studies

Sports betting is ‘all around us, all the time’

Sports betting is “all around us, all the time,” says WashU’s Noah Cohan, who studies sports and fan cultures. In this Q&A, Cohan discusses the rise of online gambling, the formative impact of fantasy sports and how structural changes are reshaping the fan experience.

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