Humanities & Society

The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation has selected Sowande’ Mustakeem, associate professor of history and of African and African-American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, as a recipient of its 2020 Dred Scott Freedom Award.

The United States needs a “Defender General” — a public official charged with representing the collective interests of criminal defendants before the Supreme Court of the United States, argues a new article co-authored by Daniel Epps, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

Nancy Berg, professor of Hebrew language and literature in the Department of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies in Arts & Sciences, has won a National Jewish Book Award for best anthology for the 2018 book “What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew (and What It Means to Amer­i­cans).”

Hard plant foods like seeds and nuts may have made up a larger part of early human ancestors’ diet than currently presumed, according to a new experimental study of modern tooth enamel from anthropologists in Arts & Sciences.

The spring session of the Public Interest Law & Policy Speakers Series kicks off at 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, in Anheuser-Busch Hall, with a chat with constitutional experts Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the School of Law at University of California, Berkeley, and Lyrissa Lidsky, dean of the University of Missouri School of Law, discussing the future of free speech.

Based on 60 in-depth interviews with black medical doctors, nurses and technicians in the health care industry, a new study from Washington University in St. Louis finds that wherever black workers are positioned in an organization — top, middle or bottom — informs and shapes their impressions about workplace racial discrimination.

While closely held ownership isn’t necessarily bad, research co-authored by a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School suggests some African firms may miss 21st century growth opportunities without the ability to raise capital through shared ownership.

Including the insights of more than 35 leading social work scholars from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and beyond, a new book grapples with 13 key areas in the profession in an effort to identify innovative solutions toward achieving a “livable life — a life in which individuals are able to thrive and reach their full potential.”

Many questions remain following the Jan. 3 death of Qassem Soleimani and Iran’s potential retaliation. Chief among them: Was the strike legal? “Unless there is much more to the story than meets the eye, the answer seems to be no,” said Leila Sadat, director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute and an expert on international criminal law.

Political scientist David Carter co-authored a study of more than 50 barriers erected around the world, most of which have emerged since 2001. He and his co-author at the University of Chicago found that legal trade plummets up to 31% as a result of constructing a wall between two neighboring countries.