WFU in the news: Nov. 28-Dec. 4

FEATURED NEWS

Essential trust: How healthy skepticism builds trust
By Meghna Chakrabarti, Jonathan Chang | On Point (WBUR-FM)
Julia Jordan-Zachery, chair of women, gender, and sexuality studies participated in this program. “In part of my research as a political scientist, I talk about Black women’s hesitant hope, which is this interesting combination of both trust and skepticism. And it’s very grounded in data. But how do we understand data? Data is sometimes understood differently depending on the communities that we’re talking about.” – 12/01/2022

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Resounding success of ‘Black Panther’ franchise says little about the dubious state of Black film
By Phillip Cunningham | The Conversation
When Marvel Studios released “Black Panther” in February 2018, it marked the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to feature a Black superhero and star a predominantly Black cast. Its estimated production budget was US$200 million, making it the first Black film ever to receive that level of financial support. Would it lead to more big-budget Black films? Media studies professor Phillip Lamarr Cunningham explores this question. – 12/01/2022

Where do Americans draw lines when it comes to guns and teens?
By Patrik Jonsson, Noah Robertson | Christian Science Monitor
“Generally, until the rise of the era of the mass shooter with an AR-style rifle, people weren’t really concerned about 18-year-olds owning long guns,” said sociologist David Yamane, author of “Concealed Carry Revolution.” “That distinction … that handguns are really for violence and long guns are for sport – I think that’s broken down in the minds of a lot of people.” – 12/02/2022

Law school revolt against U.S. News rankings gains steam
The Washington Post
Harvard Law School is one of several law schools that have taken a stand recently against rankings from U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News ranks UC-Irvine 34th among national universities for its undergraduate program, and it ranks the law school 37th, in a six-way tie with counterparts at UC-Davis, Boston College, Fordham University, the University of Utah and Wake Forest University. – 12/03/2022

Alabama case over mistaken pregnancy highlights risks in a post-Roe world
By Hassan Kanu | Reuters
Law professor Meghan Boone and Benjamin McMichael, an economist and professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, analyzed the impact of Tennessee’s 2014 fetal endangerment law – which expired two years later – in a 2021 paper. They found “consistent evidence” that outcomes worsened under the law. – 12/01/2022

Fabricating human tissues: How physics can help
By Elham Ghadiri, Ashkan Shafiee | Physics Today
By understanding and applying the physics of cellular self-assembly, scientists aim to predict tissue behaviors and accelerate the regeneration of human tissues and organs. Chemistry professor Elham Ghadiri and Ashkan Shafiee, a researcher in clinical physics in the department of radiation oncology, both at Wake Forest University co-wrote this piece featured in Physics Today. – 12/02/2022

Australian university combines PhD and MBA in national first
By John Ross | Times Higher Education (THE)
Joint PhD-MBA programs were pioneered in the US, with the first example emerging more than 20 years ago at Wake Forest University. – 12/04/2022

REGIONAL & TRADE

For many in the Latino community, Soccer is a unifying force
By Eileen Rodriguez | WFDD-FM (Winston-Salem, NC)
“Soccer is what gives them a sense of their identity, right, like their Latino identity,” explains politics and international affairs professor Betina Cutaia Wilkinson, who specializes in sports activism. “In the United States people don’t care about soccer that much but I mean, in Latin America soccer is life. If you know your soccer team is playing, you are throwing parties. You are excited for weeks on end if they win, or depressed for weeks on end if they lose.” – 12/01/2022