Humanities & Society

A new project from the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis shows, among other findings, that girls in developing countries, given equal opportunities, will save as much or more in formal financial institutions than boys. The project was aimed at examining the attitudes and practices of young people in developing economies toward saving money. It has led to new findings that confirm and challenge assumptions about youth saving at formal financial institutions.

Appearing March 12 before the U.S. Senate Special Committe on Aging, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, associate director of the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis, urged U.S. senators to create long-term asset-building policies and to use such “golden moments” as tax time to urge Americans to save.

Colorism, the practice of discrimination based on skin tone, even among people of color, is rarely addressed publicly and is uniquely different from racism. The Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law will address this growing international issue in what organizers believe is the first international colorism conference on U.S. soil. The conference, “Global Perspectives on Colorism,” will be held Thursday and Friday, April 2 and 3, in Anheuser-Busch Hall.

With the “Right to Work” movement growing in Wisconsin and other states, a majority of states may soon bar employees and unions from negotiating agreements that require non-members to contribute to the costs of representing them. For unions to survive and thrive, at least two significant changes are necessary, argues Marion Crain, JD, vice provost and the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis.

While many Americans took a big financial hit during the Great Recession, homeowners were less likely than renters to lose very large proportions of their wealth, finds a new study from Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, associate director of the Center for Social Development in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

The stigma surrounding people with severe mental illness in India leads to increased poverty among them, especially women, according to new research led by Jean-Francois Trani, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Center for the Humanities and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts have announced the first recipients of Faculty Collaborative Grants. Presented under the auspices of The Divided City, a new urban humanities initiative, the awards are funded in part by a four-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Higher education reduces recidivism rates by as much as half. Yet today, only a small fraction of U.S. prisoners have access to such programs. In the fall of 2014, University College launched the Washington University Prison Education Project, a three-year pilot program supported by a grant from the Bard Prison Initiative.

For the Sake of All, the mulitdisciplinary project aimed at improving the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis, has partnered with the St. Louis County Library system to help further promote its recommendations.

Two new laws in St. Louis will expand housing options for Section 8 renters in the city. Christine Ingrassia of the Board of Aldermen sponsored the measures, which were influenced by recent research from Molly Metzger, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.