Humanities & Society Archives

Power, Knowledge, and COVID-19

Did the scientific community’s response to the pandemic fall short of the reasoned pursuit of truth? Alex Broadbent of Durham University and Pieter Streicher of the University of Johannesburg—authors of a new book on science during the COVID moment—join WashU’s Sandro Galea to discuss what is still to be learned from the pandemic.

Alex Broadbent and Pieter Streicher

Students

Class Acts: Cela Lopez

WashU senior Cela Lopez is studying political science so, of course, she’s interested in politics and policy. But what she really cares about is how we think about those topics.

Students

Class Acts: Beverly Lobo and Jaden Lanza

WashU Law students Beverly Lobo and Jaden Lanza are conducting a large-scale empirical research project that sits at the intersection of law and data science and could impact imprisonment in America.

St. Louis Region

Mock digs to global stage: WashU archaeologist Patania mentors Lego League teams

In August, global robotics competition First Lego League challenged children to design a robot to help archaeologists. The task demands skills in engineering, design and, first and foremost, archaeology. Enter WashU environmental archaeologist Ilaria Patania, who helped dozens of middle school competitors.

Sociology

Policing Patients

Treatment and Surveillance on the Frontlines of the Opioid Crisis

Faced with a drug crisis that has claimed more than a million lives, legislatures, courts and policymakers have enlisted the help of technology in the hopes of curtailing prescriptions and preventing deaths. This book reveals how “Trojan horse” technology embeds the logics of surveillance in the practice of medicine.

Politics

Stolen Representation

Black Disfranchisement and State Legislative Politics in the American South

In the decades after Reconstruction, African Americans were systematically removed from the electorate in the American South using tools such as poll taxes and literacy tests. “Stolen Representation” draws on significant amounts of new historical data to explore how these tools of Black disfranchisement shaped state legislative politics.

Disparity

Separating fact from fiction in housing affordability and corporate investors

The rise of institutional investors in the housing market is a symptom, rather than the cause, of an extremely tight housing market and the overall housing affordability crisis, according to Carol Camp Yeakey, the Marshall S. Snow Professor of Arts & Sciences at WashU.

St. Louis Region

Building math minds in pre‑K: Hazelwood and WashU make numbers count

Pre-K isn’t just for story time — it’s also when children learn important math concepts. The WashU Institute for School Partnership is partnering with the Hazelwood School District to boost kindergarten readiness through coaching, lesson planning and professional development to meet the needs of pre-K educators.

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

Economy

Trade, Tariffs, and Globalization

What role do tariffs play in today’s global economy and how could tariffs shape the future of international trade? The University of Chicago’s Robert Gulotty, an expert in international relations and political economy, joins WashU’s Sandro Galea to discuss how systems of trade could contribute to global cooperation in the 21st century.

Robert Gulotty

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