Humanities & Society

The Master of Public Health Program at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work is accepting applications for its first class.

Speakers covering such diverse subjects as science, entrepreneurship, film and mathematics will take center stage during the Spring 2009 Assembly Series.

Many older adults worry — a lot. Almost one in 10 Americans over age 60 suffer from an anxiety disorder that causes them to worry excessively about normal things — like health, finances, disability and family. Although antidepressant drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can improve anxiety symptoms in younger adults, little has been known about their effects in older people. In the largest study of SSRIs in older people with anxiety disorders, a team of psychiatric researchers found the drug escitalopram (Lexapro®) improved anxiety symptoms and quality of life.

WilsonWilliam Julius Wilson, one of the nation’s leading scholars on race and urban poverty, will deliver this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration lecture at 4 p.m. Jan. 19 in the Eric P. Newman Education Center, 320 S. Euclid, on the School of Medicine campus.

McBrideLosing a job usually comes with the double whammy of losing any employer-sponsored health insurance. Timothy McBride, Ph.D., leading health economist and associate dean for public health at WUSTL’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work, is available to discuss current coverage options and the future of health insurance for low-income people. “Health reform, if it is considered in Congress, may provide relief for low-income persons,” he says. “In the short run, there are unfortunately few options for the unemployed unless they are relatively healthy and can buy cheap policies, or have significant savings. It is one of the sad aspects of our broken health-care system.”

Gerald EarlyThose looking to learn more about president Barack Obama and gain an introduction to African-American writing in the process are advised to check out two new books — “Best African American Fiction: 2009” and “Best African American Essays: 2009.” Edited by Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, the two volumes are the first in the “Best of…” series to exclusively showcase African-American writing. They include writing by and about Obama.

Marcia Munk, Universidade Federal de São PauloWhat if free exercise classes were offered in public spaces such as parks, beaches and recreation centers? When a city government in Brazil tried such a program, it greatly increased physical activity among community members. A group of health researchers who studied the program believes it could also work in U.S. cities with warm climates.

Marcia Munk, Universidade Federal de São PauloWhat if free exercise classes were offered in public spaces such as parks, beaches and recreation centers? When a city government in Brazil tried such a program, it greatly increased physical activity among community members. A group of health researchers who studied the program believes it could also work in U.S. cities with warm climates.

The inauguration of the first African-American president on January 20, held in such close proximity to the annual commemoration of the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. on January 19, as well as the “Big Read” community book discussion on “To Kill a Mockingbird,” provided the impetus for the Assembly Series to take on a project featuring the Human Race Machine (HRM).

An expert on the Second Amendment says that gun owners and sellers should not be sweating bullets over Barack Obama’s election as president. Despite Obama’s record on gun control, David T. Konig, Ph.D., a professor of history in Arts & Sciences and a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, says that the right of the people to keep and bear arms will not be an issue that Obama will address as president early in his term — if at all.