Humanities & Society Archives

Halvorsen named co-director of Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

Cal J. Halvorsen, a gerontological social work scholar and an associate professor at the WashU Brown School, will step into a new leadership role this summer as co-director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging.

Politics

Political Polarization and the Future of Democracy

Is polarization a threat to democracy or one of its inherent features? WashU’s Sandro Galea sits down with Johns Hopkins University’s Lilliana Mason to discuss the deep divides that define today’s political landscape.

Lilliana Mason

Climate & Environment

New initiative launches to save primates, transform global conservation approaches

A $1.5 million pledge from Distinguished Trustee Andy Newman for the Living Earth Collaborative will support critically endangered primates. The new project aims to transform how biodiversity is documented, modeled and protected worldwide.

Awards & Notables

Public Scholarship names faculty fellows

Salma Abdalla, at WashU Public Health, and Liz Chiarello, in WashU Arts & Sciences, have been named 2026 Public Scholarship faculty fellows in recognition of their work that connects rigorous research with public audiences.

Business & Entrepreneurship

Cross-Border Commerce

How is e-commerce shaping our global economy? And what role will it play in the future of U.S.-China relations? Professor Lizhi (Liz) Liu, of Georgetown University, joins WashU’s Sandro Galea to discuss the booming political economy surrounding e-commerce in China.

Lizhi (Liz) Liu

Law

WashU Law to host Model Constitutional Convention

The Washington University in St. Louis School of Law will host a national Model Constitutional Convention May 21–24.

Law

SCOTUS decision could prove catastrophic for minority political power

The Supreme Court on April 29 struck down a voting map in Louisiana, creating a path for other states to redraw congressional maps that could affect elections for years. The result may be disastrous for racial minority political power in the United States, says an expert on voting rights law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Students

Class Acts: GP Worley

GP Worley applied to the WashU Brown School because they were inspired by the work of the Sexuality, Health and Gender (SHAG) Center. Today, Worley is one of the center’s most committed contributors, pursuing multiple projects that explore the role of sexuality and gender in health.

Health & Society

Power, Knowledge, and COVID-19

Did the scientific community’s response to the pandemic fall short of the reasoned pursuit of truth? Alex Broadbent of Durham University and Pieter Streicher of the University of Johannesburg—authors of a new book on science during the COVID moment—join WashU’s Sandro Galea to discuss what is still to be learned from the pandemic.

Alex Broadbent and Pieter Streicher

Students

Class Acts: Cela Lopez

WashU senior Cela Lopez is studying political science so, of course, she’s interested in politics and policy. But what she really cares about is how we think about those topics.

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