Humanities & Society

“Christmas Creep,” the “technical” term for the pre-holiday appearance of retail decorations and promotions, crept into stores and marketing in October this year. Major department stores are even pre-empting Black Friday by opening on Thanksgiving Day. Is starting the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier a good marketing move or could it backfire? Four marketing professors at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School discuss this phenomenon.

Volunteers gathered at the Danforth University Center for a Give Thanks Give Back wrapping party. Sophomores Cherisse Onuigbo (left) and Shawnee Gao helped wrap. WUSTL student groups, departments and residential floors donated money and presents for the “100 Neediest Cases” campaign.

Reducing barriers to breast-feeding and providing a welcoming and accessible space for students and staff to pump milk or feed their babies is the focus of a new initiative at the School of Medicine. Shown is Assistant Vice Chancellor Melissa Hopkins, who is leading the effort.

Tours of the MySci Investigation Station housed at the MySci Resource Center were in full force Nov. 19 at the latest event of the STL PREP (Perception, Reality, Engagement and Partnership) orientation series. The MySci Resource Center hosted a learning session for WUSTL faculty and staff called “Impacting K-12 Education.”

WUSTL’s “Courtesy is Contagious” campaign reminds cyclists to give pedestrians the right-of-way.

Washington University in St. Louis law students have begun offering privacy and Internet safety education to local middle school students. Students, under the supervision of WUSTL law professor Neil Richards, JD, are adapting an original middle school curriculum for privacy education developed by Fordham law school’s Center on Law and Information Policy.

The Department of Anthropology is widely recognized as a gem, with a reputation for excellence among top institutions. Yet housed in one of Washington University in St. Louis’ oldest and most revered buildings — McMillan Hall — the Arts & Sciences department had been challenged by an infrastructure ill equipped to support the research and teaching needs of the highly regarded department, with its growing numbers of undergraduate and graduate students. Until now, that is.

Gerald Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences, has been appointed to the National Council on the Humanities, the 26-member advisory board to the National Endowment for the Humanities. Early is one of five new members nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Nick Offerman, who plays Ron Swanson on the television show Parks and Recreation, offered Washington University in St. Louis students “tips for a prosperous life” during a free comedy show Nov. 10 at Edison Theatre. Tips included “Eat red meat” and “Go outside … remain there.” Student Union’s Social Programming Board hosted the show.

WUSTL students danced for 12 hours to raise funds for St. Louis Children’s Hospital and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center.