Humanities & Society

An international group of anthropologists offers a new theory about the diffusion of maize to the Southwestern United States and the impact it had. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study, co-authored by Gayle Fritz, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, and colleagues, suggests that maize was passed from group to group of Southwestern hunter-gatherers. These people took advantage of improved moisture conditions by integrating a storable and potentially high-yielding crop into their broad-spectrum subsistence strategy.

In the United States, caring for a child with special health care needs usually means higher medical expenses for a family — particularly for low-income families, who spend a disproportionally large share of their income on their child’s care. Yet the amount of financial burden for these families also depends on their state of residence, says Paul T. Shattuck, Ph.D., professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. “The percentage of low-income families in a given state with out-of-pocket expenses that exceeded 3 percent of their income varied considerably according to state and ranged from 5 percent to 25. 8 percent (District of Columbia and Montana, respectively).” Video available.

College students looking to stay healthy during flu and exam season need to focus on three very important factors, said a nutritionist at Washington University.

In a study published in the journal PLoS ONE, a team of researchers, including Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has found strong evidence that many dinosaur species likely were warm-blooded.

Were dinosaurs “warm-blooded” like present-day mammals and birds, or “cold-blooded” like present day lizards? The implications of this simple-sounding question go beyond deciding whether or not you’d snuggle up to a dinosaur on a cold winter’s evening. In a study published this week in the journal PLoS ONE, a team of researchers, including Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has found strong evidence that many dinosaur species were probably warm-blooded.

Holidays and tables full of delicious food usually go hand-in-hand, but for nearly half of the children in the United States, this is not guaranteed, says Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., poverty expert at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

Washington University has been awarded nearly $80 million in funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Re-investment Act to support research across a broad range of projects, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, renewable energy, diabetes and climate change.

Diekman College students looking to stay healthy during flu and exam season need to focus on three very important factors, says a nutritionist at Washington University in St. Louis. “It’s really pretty simple,” says Connie Diekman, RD, director of University Nutrition and immediate past president of the American Dietetic Association. “There are three key things to think about. No. 1 is hydration. No. 2 is foods and No. 3 is lifestyle issues.” Video available.

An award for the St. Louis Public Schools’ social studies teacher of the year has been named in honor of David T. Konig, Ph.D., professor of history, of African & African American Studies and director of the Legal Studies Program, all in Arts & Sciences, and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Benedict Kiernan, Ph.D., a leading scholar on the history of genocide, will deliver the Holocaust Memorial Lecture for the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, in Graham Chapel.