Humanities & Society

Kevin Washburn, JD, professor and dean of the school of law at the University of New Mexico, will deliver a talk on “Improving Criminal Justice for American Indians,” at noon Thursday, Sept. 23, for the Assembly Series. The program, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall.

Current census figures show that one in seven Americans is living below the poverty level, a rate that nears the record poverty levels of 1960. “The latest rise in the poverty rate illustrates how many more Americans are at risk of poverty and economic insecurity in this country,” says Mark R. Rank, PhD, poverty expert and the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. 

The French senate approved a law Sept. 14 banning any veils that cover the face, making France the first European country to nationally impose such a ban. A WUSTL anthropologist who has written extensively on this subject says that the French government is finding it easier to fight clothing than to fight poverty and violence.

Internationally known human rights attorney and Washington University in St. Louis alumnus Arsalan Iftikhar, JD, also known as “The Muslim Guy,” will address the timely topic of “Islamic Pacifism” as the next speaker in the annual WUSTL School of Law Public Interest Law & Policy Speakers Series, titled “Access to Justice.” This popular series, now in its 13th year, runs from fall 2010 through spring 2011 and includes nationally prominent lawyers, academics, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists with expertise in human rights, environmental justice, death penalty, social justice, and free speech and fair use online. 

In its 15th year, the “Work, Families and Public Policy” series, a schedule of Monday brown-bag seminars presented on campus biweekly through Dec. 6 will give faculty and graduate students of St. Louis-area universities an array of opportunities to lunch and learn. The series features one-hour seminars on research interests including labor, households, health care, law and social welfare by faculty from local and national universities.

Even a few weeks of international volunteer service may result in a long-term relationship between the volunteer and the host country, suggests the research of the Brown School’s Amanda Moore McBride, PhD, assistant professor.

Service First, the university’s largest annual community service project, will be held Saturday, Sept. 4. More than 1,200 freshmen, along with a group of seniors, will help ready 12 St. Louis area schools for the upcoming year.

A delightfully pleasant 80-degree day set the tone for a smooth, efficient freshman move-in day Aug. 26. A record-number 1,633 freshmen moved into the residence halls on the South 40, assisted by students like sophomore Melany Lopez. Classes for the 2010 fall semester begin Tuesday, Aug. 31.

The health care industry needs managers with a strong foundation in business and public policy. A new dual degree from WUSTL is designed to prepare students to meet the challenges of complex companies across the health care spectrum. Details of the new MBA/MPH graduate program offered by the Brown School and Olin Business School are announced today.

The new era of healthcare reform is demanding a new hybrid in leadership: executives who can bridge the worlds of business and public healthcare policy.  To meet the growing needs of an ever more complex health care sector, Washington University in St. Louis is launching a new dual degree program.  The MBA/MPH degree will offer the best in business administration and public health to prepare tomorrow’s leaders in the field of healthcare.