Perspectives

Laura Jean Bierut, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, writes in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about efforts to fight opioid addiction, the “medication first” approach and the need for sound data to inform future treatment.

Phillip Maciak, lecturer in Arts & Sciences, writes an article published in The Week about online cultural criticism and how quickly it has changed — for the worse.

As the world marks the 30th anniversary this weekend of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Anika Walke, associate professor of history in Arts & Sciences, writes that it wasn’t inevitable, explaining East German demonstrators’ forgotten visions for the future of the German Democratic Republic.

We can only know our interventions are working, or not working, through evaluation of data properly generated by the different agencies involved. The data must be shared with evidence-minded professionals intent on saving lives and stemming this heartbreaking public health crisis, writes Laura Jean Bierut.

The internet, notoriously, is the mechanism by which all our most embarrassing and evil deeds live on forever, but it’s also a fragile, immaterial place, writes Phillip Maciak.

Chancellor Andrew D. Martin reflects on his inauguration in a blog post, sharing highlights and expressing gratitude. “It’s all of you who made the day truly special and all of you who continue to make Washington University a place of distinction through your work, support, leadership and service,” he wrote.

Looking ahead to the Nov. 7-8 conference “What is the Word”: Celebrating Samuel Beckett,” one of the organizers, English and drama scholar Julia Walker, in Arts & Sciences, writes about Beckett’s minimalism and the challenges and opportunities that arise when translating his works.

Chancellor Andrew D. Martin shares on his blog an update with the WashU community about the path ahead for the strategic planning process.

Beyond the 50th anniversary of the historic moon landing, several key events and discoveries related to meteoritics, astronomy, cosmochemistry and nuclear sciences can be commemorated this year, writes Katharina Lodders in Arts & Sciences for the The Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society.

As organizations who feel privileged to call St. Louis and the state of Missouri home, we each commit to doing our part — including working with our local, state and federally elected officials — to ensure the stranglehold of violence in our cities and counties is eradicated, writes Chancellor Andrew Martin.