Humanities & Society

Frustration, friendship, struggle, joy, anguish and love are among the emotions explored by some of Japan’s most talented young actresses as the Young Starlets in Japanese Cinema film festival debuts at Washington University in St. Louis Sept. 24 through Nov. 5. Among the films being shown is Kamikaze Girls, the 2004 film from director Nakashima Tetsuya.

German artist and photographer Thomas Demand will discuss his work Wednesday, Sept. 14, as part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ fall Public Lecture Series. The talk is held in conjunction with the exhibition Precarious Worlds: Contemporary Art from Germany, which opens at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Sept. 9. Also opening Sept. 9 is Tomás Saraceno: Cloud-Specific. Additional museum events this fall will include a talk by Saraceno as well as film screenings, panel discussions and an all-ages Community Day.

Because the Sept. 11 attacks happened on U.S. soil, it makes sense that they might have had a more profound impact in the United States than in Western Europe. But key differences in how Muslims were perceived before 9/11 in the United States and Western Europe also played a key role in how much — or how little — attitudes on Muslims changed after 9/11, says John R. Bowen, PhD, an anthropology and religious studies professor, both in Arts & Sciences, at WUSTL.

Labor Day may celebrate the historical contributions of the American labor movement, but the future of the movement is in question. “Unions are under siege,” says labor and employment law expert Marion Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. “In the public sector, governors seeking to slash budgets are de-authorizing state labor laws that govern the organizing and bargaining rights of state employees. In the private sector, both the federal legislation that supports union action and the administrative body that enforces the law are under attack. Union density is on a dramatic downswing.” At the same time, wage inequality has not been higher since the Great Depression.

Mounting casualities in America’s nearly 10-year-old wars in Iraq and Afghanistan might seem to serve as a catalyst for people to denounce the war and demand a way out. But a Washington University in St. Louis study into the psychology of “sunk-costs” finds that highlighting casualties before asking for opinions on these wars actually sways people toward a more pro-war attitude. This sunk-cost mindset may also expain why losers stay in the stock market.

State-sponsored college savings plans, often called 529 plans, offer tax incentives to facilitate saving for postsecondary education. Low- and moderate-income families are less likely to have college savings than higher-income families. To address this inequity, a number of states have launched 529 savings match incentive programs. A recently released CSD report examines the program design of all state 529 savings match programs and offers recommendations aimed to facilitate access, increase program participation and perhaps reduce administrative costs.

A quick glance through history books and today’s news headlines seems to support the idea that humans by nature are aggressive, selfish and antagonistic. But this view simply doesn’t fit with scientific facts, write researchers featured in the new book Origins of Altruism and Cooperation, edited by WUSTL professors Robert W. Sussman, PhD, and C. Robert Cloninger, MD. The book’s authors argue that humans are naturally cooperative, altruistic and social, only reverting to violence when stressed, abused, neglected or mentally ill.

Donations collected by check boxes on state income tax forms, fees from license plates and revenue from state lottery tickets have raised millions for breast cancer research and prevention programs, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found.

The violence against peaceful protesters in Libya and Syria drives home the need for an international convention for the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity, says Leila Nadya Sadat, JD, international law expert and director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law. “The concerted efforts of the international community have helped to bring about a resolution of the Libyan situation, but the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate,” she says. “Reports of civilian roundups in Syria are reminiscent of Nazi roundups of the Jews during WWII. History shows that widespread human rights abuses lead to ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and even genocide.”

Every day we make thousands of tiny predictions — when the bus will arrive, who is knocking on the door, whether the dropped glass will break. Now, in one of the first studies of its kind, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are beginning to unravel the process by which the brain makes these everyday prognostications.