Humanities & Society

New research from Washington University in St. Louis finds early evidence that the pandemic has exacerbated — not improved — the gender gap in work hours, which could have enduring consequences for working mothers.

President Trump’s recent announcement to suspend funding to the World Health Organization is “counter to our interests in addressing our needs to save the lives and further the health of Americans, as well as an abandonment of America’s position as a global leader,” says the director of Washington University’s Institute for Public Health.

President Donald Trump announced July 7 that the United States has officially begun to withdraw from the World Health Organization. Trump may or may not have the authority to do so, says an expert on health law at Washington University in St. Louis.

While the Supreme Court decision limits the independence of electors and prevents a potential source of uncertainty in the upcoming presidential election, it contradicts the Constitution framers’ intentions for the Electoral College, according to a political science expert at Washington University in St. Louis. 

While COVID-19 has impacted all individuals, the impact has not been equal. In a new national Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 survey, the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis found that liquid assets increased the likelihood that an individual could practice social distancing.

Americans across the nation are documenting today’s protests through photography and video, often posting their content on Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms. But is that the safest way to preserve these historic images? Miranda Rectenwald, curator of local history at University Libraries at Washington University in St. Louis, created a list of resources to help protest participants preserve their content for the long term. 

Soumendra Lahiri has been installed as the inaugural Stanley A. Sawyer Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University. Lahiri’s research interests lie in theoretical statistics and data science.

As the nation struggles with police violence, a new report from HomeGrown StL in the Race and Opportunity Lab at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis recommends reforms to build an equitable, transparent and accountable public safety approach that will include lawsuit liability, a police misconduct database and federal funding mandates.

The U.S. House and Senate are at a stalemate over enacting sweeping police reforms in the wake of the death of George Floyd and other Black Americans. The gulf between the Democratic and Republican proposed solutions is wide and neither side seems willing to bend, says an expert on criminal legal reform at Washington University in St. Louis.

Adia Harvey Wingfield, a leading sociology expert in gender equity and racial inequality, has been installed as the Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Wingfield was installed by Barbara Schaal, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences.