Under climate stress, human innovation set stage for population surge
Anthropologist T.R. Kidder in Arts & Sciences published new research that shows that aridification in the central plains of China during the early Bronze Age did not cause population collapse. The results highlight the importance of social resilience to climate change.
Trust your gut: A healthy sense of disgust can prevent sickness
New research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb. 15, suggests that disgust could be the body’s way of helping people avoid infection.
Kastor featured on C-SPAN’s ‘Lectures in History’
Peter Kastor, the Samuel K. Eddy Professor and chair of history in Arts & Sciences, was featured on C-SPAN’s “Lectures in History.”
New course studies the business of politics
With the specter of COVID-19 and daily twists and turns, last fall’s unusual presidential election served as an exciting live case study for a new Washington University course.
Gun violence and human rights: Seeking a comprehensive solution
America’s insistence on gun rights is violating its citizens international human rights. Law experts talk about what the United States can do about the gun violence crisis.
What’s in a name?
Find out how Washington University got its name, and learn more about its founding, its mission and some of its pivotal leaders over the years.
You’re Paid What You’re Worth
And Other Myths of the Modern Economy
Your pay depends on your productivity and occupation. If you earn roughly the same as others in your job, with the precise level determined by your performance, then you’re paid market value. And who can question something as objective and impersonal as the market? That, at least, is how many of us tend to think. […]
What we don’t understand about poverty in America
“Poorly Understood: What America Gets Wrong About Poverty,” a new book by Mark Rank, a leading academic expert on poverty at Washington University in St. Louis, explores the idealized image of American society.
New podcast explores democracy
Now more than ever, it’s important to understand issues from different perspectives. The American Democracy Lab podcast aims to do just that.
Romney’s plan to alleviate childhood poverty would save tax dollars in the future
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has proposed providing at least $3,000 per child to millions of American families. The move could actually provide enormous future savings for the country, says one of the country’s foremost experts on poverty. “In earlier work, I’ve estimated that for every dollar we spend on reducing childhood poverty, we save anywhere […]
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