Arts & Sciences

Washington University in St. Louis political scientists Christopher Lucas (right), Jacob Montgomery, and Margit Tavits won a $571,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the rise of populist rhetoric on social media and its effects on democracies.

Geo-resolution 2022, hosted by the Taylor Geospatial Institute, will bring together experts and students to use geospatial tech to predict and mitigate climate change.

People who lived in neighborhoods with ready access to civic and social organizations displayed higher cognitive scores than those who lived in neighborhoods with no immediate access to such organizations, finds a new study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and University of Michigan.

Sociocultural anthropologist Pascal Boyer, in Arts & Sciences, received a $2 million grant from the Templeton Religion Trust to examine historical and modern religious customs that fall outside of institutionalized religion.

Biologist Susanne S. Renner in Arts & Sciences explains why trees might actually be starting to turn red and yellow earlier, not later. Brilliant fall color might become a casualty of a warming world.

Zachary Stern’s frenetic comedy “Democratic Airlines” and Melia Van Hecke’s contemporary folktale “The Fern” will receive world premiere staged readings as part of the 2022 A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Festival. The festival is named for alumnus A.E. Hotchner, who famously bested Tennessee Williams in a campus playwriting competition.

Most presidents have 100 years until they fade from Americans’ memory. Henry L. “Roddy” Roediger in Arts & Sciences will discuss his research into this and the broader national collective memory on Sept. 29.

In a study conducted by Dan Butler, professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, voters were more likely to contact their female representatives and asked them to do more on a variety of issues including education, health, immigration, the economy and more.

Arpita Bose, in Arts & Sciences, attended a White House summit on biotechnology, along with representatives from government and the private sector. In her research at Washington University, Bose harnesses the power of microbes to create new biofuels and bioplastics.

Ari Stern, associate professor of mathematics and statistics in Arts & Sciences, won a $237,648 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Structure-Preserving Hybrid Finite Element Methods.”