Humanities & Society

The social media giant Twitter began five years ago this month. While millions of people are using it to let their friends know about good places to go for lunch and what their kids are up to, it’s impact on business may be just beginning.

The Max Kade Center on Contemporary German Literature will celebrate its 25th anniversary by hosting the 20th St. Louis Symposium on German Literature, “The Ethics of Literature: Contemporary German Writers,” Friday through Sunday, March 26-28, in Room 276 of the Danforth University Center.

“If the House passes the latest version of legislation this weekend and sends it to the Senate, that will be the key legislative event in the long health care debate, because both chambers have already passed the legislation,” says Timothy McBride, Ph.D., health economist and associate dean of public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.  “I believe the House will pass the legislation, but the vote will be very close, probably within one vote or two. The House probably has not had a vote this close since the vote on Medicare prescription drugs.”

Congressional expert Steven S. Smith says Congress has plenty of parliamentary tactics for stalling and pushing through legislation. The fate of the health care reform bill could be determined by a process of reconciliation, filibusters, deeming or something Smith calls a “vote-a-rama”.

As one of the “generic geologists” on a dig called the Dakhleh Oasis Project, Jennifer Smith, PhD, associate professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, was asked to sample the alum from ancient mines and to determine whether it could be the source of the blue in the “blue painted pottery” found at sites dating from the New Kingdom.

In an effort to engage individuals outside of Washington University in St. Louis, the Institute for Public Health is offering affiliation to those working in public health or related disciplines worldwide. Scientists, physicians or employees in a county health department are examples of individuals who would qualify.

David Frankfurter, PhD, professor of religious studies and history at the University of New Hampshire, will give the Weltin Lecture in Religious Studies at 4 p.m. Monday, March 22, in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge.

Glenn Stone, a professor of anthropology and environmental studies at Washington University, joins National Public Radio host Ira Flatow for a broadcast of NPR’s Science Friday live from St. Louis. The show will focus on the pros and cons of genetically modified crops.

The annual WUSTL Relay For Life will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 20 and 21, at Francis Field’s Bushyhead Track. The relay is a 12-hour family-friendly event that raises funds for the American Cancer Society. Last year, the event attracted more than 2,000 volunteers who helped to generate more than $150,000 for cancer research, advocacy, patient services and education.

The Tyson Living Learning Center at Washington University in St. Louis has been called one of the greenest buildings in the U.S. Green technologies behind the building are the focus of a National Public Radio Science Friday news video and an NPR radio discussion broadcast live from St. Louis March 12.