the ampersand

The latest news and updates from Arts & Sciences

The Litter of Political Wastelands: ‘Fake News’ and the Politics of Truth in Contemporary Syria

4.11.18 |

The proliferation of junk-knowledge about Syria — in the form of memes, websites, videos and biased news reporting — makes it an apt site to question the physical and metaphorical litter of contemporary politics. Anne-Marie McManus and Nancy Reynolds write about the toxic consequences of the visible and invisible “stuff” that flows and distorts landscapes.

3.28.18

Science Research Roundup: February and March 2018

3.26.18

Food Culture Along the Silk Road

Compared to nomadic communities, Silk Road cities were urban food deserts, study finds.

3.26.18 |

Like passionate foodies who know the best places to eat in every town, Silk Road nomads may have been the gastronomic elites of the Medieval Ages, enjoying diets much more diverse than their sedentary urban counterparts, suggests a new study in Scientific Reports.

3.19.18

Bono debut book tackles strategies for happiness

3.19.18 |

How can we be happier? In a world where stress, anxiety and bad days can easily overtake the good, Washington University happiness expert Tim Bono strives to answer that question in his book, “When Likes Aren’t Enough: A Crash Course in the Science of Happiness.”

3.19.18

Americans prefer economic inequality to playing Robin Hood, study finds

3.19.18 |

Given the chance to play Robin Hood, most Americans show little interest in taking from the rich and giving to the poor. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may explain why it’s so hard for voters in modern democracies to erase the economic inequalities that separate most citizens from the nation’s super-wealthy elites.

3.7.18

Psychology student McDarby wins gerontology award

3.7.18 |

Meghan McDarby, a graduate student in psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been selected for a James McKenney Student Travel Award from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.

3.1.18

Q&A with Hedy Lee

2.19.18

‘And All Our Past Decades Have Seen Revolutions’: The Long Decolonization of Black Panther

2.19.18 |

After its creation 50 years ago at the hands of white writers and artists, the Black Panther has been guided by a short list of influential figures, most recently writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and film director Ryan Coogler. Comics scholar Rebecca Wanzo scrutinizes the intervening years and finds an evolution in the character’s representation of blackness.

the ampersand

The Litter of Political Wastelands: ‘Fake News’ and the Politics of Truth in Contemporary Syria

Science Research Roundup: February and March 2018

Food Culture Along the Silk Road

Bono debut book tackles strategies for happiness

Americans prefer economic inequality to playing Robin Hood, study finds

Psychology student McDarby wins gerontology award

Q&A with Hedy Lee

‘And All Our Past Decades Have Seen Revolutions’: The Long Decolonization of Black Panther

Frog love and the decoy effect

follow the ampersand