Perspectives

Attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions’ distrust of those who don’t believe in God is a perspective with a long history in the U.S., writes Leigh Schmidt, the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities, for The Conversation.

Presidential historian Peter Kastor, of Arts & Sciences, writes in The Conversation about how President Donald Trump ushered in a new era for the American presidency, and how Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama had more in common than you might think.

Pannill Camp, of the Performing Arts Department, discusses the Masons and the significance of secret rituals in the context of 18th-century drama for a “Hold That Thought” podcast from Arts & Sciences.

Mark Halstead, MD, of the School of Medicine, offers his perspective in the journal Pediatrics about safety and concussion risk in high school football. The bottom line: He’d let his kids play in a well-run program.

Daniel Epps, of the School of Law, has launched “First Mondays,” a seasonal podcast about the Supreme Court, with Ian Samuel of Harvard Law School. They’ll discuss upcoming cases, arguments and analysis of court rulings.

Immigration law expert Stephen Legomsky, of the School of Law, wrote on The Huffington Post’s blog that President Obama should grant pardons to certain immigrants who committed minor crimes, a move Congress and others could not undo.

Nancy Staudt, dean of the School of Law, writes a column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reflecting on alumnus Andrew Puzder, the nominee for secretary of labor, arguing he’d be a good voice to lead the agency.

David Van Essen, of the School of Medicine, talks about how he came to study the cerebral cortex, the Human Connectome Project and more in a Q&A on the Cognitive Neuroscience Society website.

Sociologist Caitlyn Collins, of Arts & Sciences, writes an article in The Atlantic about different countries’ approaches to child care and the effect its availability has on women’s employment and earnings.

John Inazu, of the School of Law, writes a column in USA Today about how people can move forward and get along in such politically divisive times. He writes that we should see “other” people as more complex than labels and that we can be civil to one another even while holding disparate viewpoints.