Research

Economics: Mortality Rising

Case-Deaton study reveals a sharp rise in death rates for middle-aged whites Americans

Faculty Book: Eddie S. Glaude Jr. *97

How Race Still Enslaves, And What Must Be Done

Excerpt: Democracy in Black

In Short

Tracy K. Smith, who won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for Life on Mars, has written a memoir about her early life.

Creative Writing: Poetry in Prose

Tracy K. Smith wrestles with race and religion in a memoir of her childhood

Faculty Book: Harry Frankfurt

Eliminate Poverty, or Achieve Equality?

Abigail Doyle

Chemistry: Producing a New Molecular Bond

Professor Lisa Boulanger says studies suggest “that at least for some individuals, certain features of autism may result from the brain’s inability to prune its network of connections.”

Neuroscience: Brain Teaser

Understanding how an immune response may increase the risk of autism

Professor Marina Rustow studies centuries-old Jewish documents preserved by the dry Egyptian climate.

Near Eastern Studies: Unearthing Ordinary Life

MacArthur winner puts together the pieces of the lives of Jews in medieval Egypt

Faculty Book: Stephen Kotkin

Tracking Stalin’s Rise to Murderous Tyrant

In Short

Professor Stacey Sinclair’s research on the nature of prejudice helps explain why some people’s social networks tend to be racially homogenous.

African American Studies: Science of Racial Bias

Prejudices can shift, thanks to subtle social cues from others, according to Sinclair

In Short

Lowering the shades while working or tidying one’s workspace can lead to more productivity, says Professor Sabine Kastner.

Psychology: Your Attention, Please

Distractions in our visual environment can impede our brains’ ability to function

In Short

Faculty Book: Samuel Hynes

Capturing the Allure of Flying in the Great War

Faculty Book: Stephen Macedo

Love and Marriage

Distracting elements have been automatically removed from these photos using an app developed by graduate student Ohad Fried and professor Adam Finkelstein.

Computer Science: Bombs Away!

An app may automatically eliminate the passing car that ruined your photograph

“For the last 30-odd years, I’ve tried to figure out what creates success.” — Professor Derek Lidow ’73

Q&A: Derek Lidow ’73

Leadership Savvy Trumps Inventive Ideas, Says Tech Entrepreneur

Todorov has found that faces with more feminine features (top left) are perceived as more trustworthy, while faces seen as untrustworthy tend to have more masculine features (top right). Faces with more mature features (bottom left) are perceived as more

Psychology: First Impressions

How much can we learn by judging other people from their faces?

Professor Sheldon Garon studies postal savings banks, which offer banking services at the post office for working people in financially underserved areas.

History: America the Profligate

Why we save so little, spend so much, and borrow like crazy

“The poor are seen as guilty victims, needy but responsible for their own afflictions.” — Sociology professor Patricia Fernandez-Kelly

Q&A: Patricia Fernandez-Kelly — Among the Poor

A study of inner-city Baltimore analyzes how the government treats poor people

New Releases

Metaphors engage the parts of the brain associated with emotion and taste, psychology professor Adele Goldberg has found.

Psychology: Sweet Discovery

Brain research by linguist Adele Goldberg explains why metaphors are so appetizing