Humanities & Society

Washington University in St. Louis once again has strong representation in the prestigious Fulbright program, with 12 current or recent students receiving Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships to teach English or to conduct research abroad during the 2013-14 academic year. The students share their thoughts and plans, in their own words.

The Brown School’s Rebecca Gernes has been chosen as the only student among eight academic partners selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the 2013-14 school year. Gernes, a native of Des Moines, Ia., is studying the relationship between air pollution and asthma in East St. Louis, Ill., and its surrounding areas – including the city of St. Louis.

The website My St. Louis encourages students to get off campus and explore St. Louis’ neigborhoods and attractions. The site also offers a look at St. Louis politics, history and culture.

Washington University faculty and administrators with ideas for improving the campus environment for women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and other diverse groups are encouraged to apply for a Diversity and Inclusion Grant. The deadline is Oct. 29. Professor Gerald Early (right) speaks at a discussion on the “Delmar Divide,” one of the winning Diversity and Inclusion Grant proposals last year.

The Online College Database has named Washington University in St. Louis one of “50 Colleges Committed to Saving the Planet” in recognition of its new environmental policy major. The College Database called the major “a rigorous journey through the tangled web of politics, bureaucracies, public opinion, regulation, the global political economy, sustainability, global oil battles, climate change, genetically altered foods, air and water quality, and biochemistry.”

The Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Work and Social Capital at Washington University School of Law is sponsoring the “Black Sexual Economies: Transforming Black Sexualities Research”conference Sept. 27-28 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall.

Deeply concerned about an “innovation deficit” that is threatening the nation’s economic growth, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and Timothy M. Wolfe, president of the University of Missouri System, sent a joint letter last month to Missouri’s U.S. congressional delegation urging their support in helping close this innovation gap. Wrighton and Wolfe also  joined more than 160 university presidents and chancellors in signing an open letter July 31 to President Obama and the U.S. Congress asking them to restore federal investments in higher education and research.

Students captured life on campus and abroad for WUSTL’s first summer photo contest. Winning images will be displayed in January Hall next month.

The Brown School is launching a new Public Health speaker series titled “Innovative Solutions in State and Local Agencies,” designed to help policy makers grapple with tough public health problems. All lectures are free and open to the public and will take place from noon-1 p.m. in Brown Lounge, Brown Hall. The series kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 11, with “The ‘Long Tail’ and Public Health: New Thinking For Addressing Health Disparities.”

To read the joint letter that WUSTL Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and Timothy M. Wolfe, president of the University of Missouri System, sent last month to the 10 members of Missouri’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Rep. William L. Clay, urging their support in helping close the innovation gap, visit here.