Humanities & Society

Fifty-five years ago, on March 7, 1965, the events of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Ala., forever changed the civil rights movement and the life of Rep. John Lewis. He recalled his experience in 1985 for the landmark documentary series “Eyes on the Prize.” Lewis’ interviews, along with those of Sheriff James Clark, Gov. George Wallace and others, are available online through Washington University Libraries’ Film and Media Archive.

The divide between urban and rural voters in the United States is nothing new, but its cause has been less clear. A new study by Washington University in St. Louis political scientists finds that it isn’t personal profiles, but rather proximity to bigger cities that drives the political divide.

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.

In a November wave of The American Social Survey conducted by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, political scientists polled likely primary voters to find that — despite consensus among Democratic candidates and the Trump administration’s actions to repeal environmental regulations — the two parties’ electorates don’t match their candidates’ stances on climate change.

Is music universal? To answer that question, Christopher Lucas, assistant professor of political science, worked with colleagues from Princeton and Harvard to analyze music from 315 societies from across the planet. Their findings are published in the Nov. 21 issue of Science.

Jill Biden (left), wife of former Vice President Joe Biden and a lifelong educator, will deliver the keynote address of “She Leads,” a two-day event organized by the Olin Fellowship featuring female leaders in technology, public service, medicine and other fields. Alumna Brittany Packnett’s talk Oct. 24 in Graham Chapel will kick off the conference.

Whatever impeachment moves the Democratic-majority U.S. House of Representatives makes next, it’s ultimately up to the Republican-controlled and administration-friendly Senate to hold a trial on the matter — and Washington University in St. Louis political scientist Steve Smith anticipates the Senate could make a number of moves to avoid the issue.

Voter turnout among Washington University in St. Louis students leaped to 41.8% in the 2018 midterm elections, more than double the 2014 midterm voting rate of 15.9%, according to a national study of campus voting rates by Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education.

Best-selling author Amy Chua and former U.S. Sen. John Danforth will come together for a public conversation, “Overcoming Political Tribalism and Recovering Our American Democracy,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis.