Perspectives

Benjamin Akande, the university’s assistant vice chancellor for international affairs-Africa, writes a guest column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the lessons that generations of children have learned from “Sesame Street,” which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

We can do better on privacy than a GDPR-lite, or the inadequate Wicker bill, and the Cantwell bill is a good, if imperfect, place to begin, writes Neil Richards.

Akiko Tsuchiya, professor and a faculty fellow with the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, shares a preview of the book she is working on, which explores how Spanish women in the mid-1800s spoke out against slavery in the Spanish colony of Cuba.

But the Rams, the league, and other NFL teams may have an even larger Thanos-like challenge in avoiding a hefty financial settlement with parties from St. Louis. A lawsuit that’s unlikely to evaporate into dust with a click of the fingers, writes Patrick Rishe.

Tabea Linhard, professor in Arts & Sciences, writes on the Center for the Humanities website about constructed and natural borders ahead of anthropologist Jason De León’s delivering the Holocaust Memorial Lecture, “The Land of Open Graves,” on Dec. 4.

Chancellor Andrew D. Martin shares his thoughts on gratitude in his inaugural Thanksgiving letter. “Words cannot begin to express my gratitude for your efforts and commitment to our shared work,” he writes.

Jeannette Cooperman shares a first-person perspective about starting in her new role as a writer for the Common Reader, an online journal published by Washington University.

Swanne Gordon, of Arts & Sciences, is a Canadian evolutionary biologist and behavioral ecologist. In the biology newsletter BIOrhythms, she speaks about her background, career challenges and passionate belief in embracing diversity and broadening horizons.

Henry S. Webber, the university’s executive vice chancellor and chief administrative officer, writes a column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the future of St. Louis city and the need to invest in redeveloping north St. Louis. “St. Louis can’t be economically successful without building on our strengths and challenging the status quo,” he said.

If we work together for growth and equity, St. Louis can become one city of opportunity and inclusion where all of our children have hope for the future and live without fear, writes Henry S. Webber.