Perspectives

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.

Political scientist David Carter, of Arts & Sciences, co-writes an analysis published in The Washington Post rejecting President Donald Trump’s description of the House impeachment inquiry as a “coup.” He helped compile a dataset of coup attempts around the world.

John Inazu, the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion, writes an article in The Atlantic analyzing presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s comments that he’d support revoking religious organizations’ tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage.

Benjamin Akande, director of the university’s Africa initiative, writes an article in the Ladue News about how people could better learn from failures to avoid future mistakes, rather than simply seeking someone or something to blame.

It wouldn’t be a complete stretch to suggest that public companies should charter government agencies, rather than the other way around, writes Anne Marie Knott.

In impeachment inquiries, constitutionally authorized bodies are using constitutionally granted powers, however politically and potentially partisan their effort. By contrast, coup attempts occur when political actors take extra-constitutional actions — most often using guns — to oust a chief executive, writes David Carter.