Humanities & Society

Sadat”In arguing that the Saddam Hussein trial is a ‘Trial of the Century,’ some experts appear to be suggesting that media interest is tantamount to success, importance and legitimacy. This is a mistake,” says Leila N. Sadat, expert on international law and international war crimes tribunals and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Criminal trials, whether of important and notorious individuals, or of small-time offenders accused of petty crimes, are nothing more than show trials, unless three criteria are met: The judges must be independent, well-qualified and impartial; the accused must be properly and effectively represented; and the proceedings must be fair. Using these criteria, it is difficult not to be skeptical about the fairness, and therefore the ultimate significance, of the trial of Saddam Hussein.”

The Association for Political Theory’s conference Oct. 21-22 is designed to foster “intellectual sociability” among scholars.

Addressing poverty, famine, infectious diseases, international conflict and other world problems is the mission of a new global education and research initiative announced today by Washington University in St. Louis and a partnership of top foreign universities and multinational corporations. Launched with a $10 million endowment commitment from John F. McDonnell and the JSM Charitable Trust, the McDonnell International Scholars Academy creates a growing worldwide network of scholars, researchers and business and governmental leaders.

Richard Burkhardt will examine the scientific, social and political aspects in the development of ethology as a modern science in his Thomas Hall Lecture at 4 p.m. on October 25. He teaches history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and specializes in the history of evolutionary theory and ethology, which is the study of animal behavior by means of comparative zoological methods.

Based upon research done in northeastern Louisiana, anthropology’s T.R. Kidder thinks the traditional viewpoint could be completely wrong.

Religion and pluralism, natural law, feminist ethics, responding to terrorism, deliberative democracy, race and reparations, American conservatism, identities and borders, and classical critiques of democracy will be among topics explored Oct. 21-22 as the Association for Political Theory holds its 2005 meeting at Washington University.

In vitro fertilization can cost anywhere from $10,000 – $15,000 for each round of treatments. This means access to assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is generally limited to a relatively small portion of couples that seek it. Several state governments have turned to public policy in an attempt to make access to ART more widely available. But two professors from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis find that market competition can be as effective at expanding access as requiring insurance companies to cover infertility treatments. At the same time, competition appears to lower the rate of high-risk births and encourages the use of new technologies.

Communities exposed to toxic lead emissions recently won an important victory in federal court through a case filed by the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic (IEC) at Washington University in St. Louis. “The court chastised the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for long-neglecting its duty to review the lead standard every five years, and placed the agency on a firm schedule for conducting the review,” says Maxine I. Lipeles, IEC director and professor of law and engineering. “Because the lead standard must be revised to protect public health, and the existing standard is out of date, we believe that the EPA is virtually required to revise the standard downward. That would help protect children in communities across the country where smelters and other facilities emit significant amounts of lead into the air. The decision should also caution the EPA to act more promptly in reviewing the other five national ambient air quality standards * for nitrogen oxides, ozone, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter.”

In the 21st century, the key to remaining competitive with China, India, and the rest of the world will be innovation, a national core competency that will play a critical role in the battle to preserve the American Dream. This view is the subject of a forthcoming book, written by Kenneth Harrington, managing director of the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, and Robert Skandalaris, founder and chairman of Noble International Ltd. While America was built by entrepreneurs, and continues its stronghold on innovation, the co-authors contend that it is no longer a forgone conclusion that America will lead the world in innovation.

Anthropologists uncover new theory on hunter-gatherer communities at one of North America’s largest, oldest earthen mounds, in northeastern Louisiana.The typical picture of the hunter-gatherer community is that of a small number of people wandering across the landscape, hunting for food and gathering nuts and berries. They were not complex in their political and social organization and were thought of as very simple people. But could that traditional viewpoint be completely wrong? An anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis thinks it may be, especially for hunter-gatherer communities in Southern and Eastern parts of the United States.