The legality, let alone the wisdom, of closing the southern border amid a partial government shutdown is called into question by Stephen Legomsky, an immigration-law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

There is no secret to happiness, but there is a science to it, says Tim Bono, a psychology lecturer in Arts & Sciences who teaches courses on happiness at  Washington University in St. Louis.

While many historians have explored the bitter court-ordered desegregation of public schools following the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, the equally dramatic story of the voluntary desegregation of prestigious, traditionally white, private schools remains largely untold. A new book, “Transforming The Elite,” sets out to fill that void by telling the firsthand stories of the young black students who broke the color barrier at the South’s most prestigious private schools in the fall of 1967.

Leopoldo J. Cabassa, associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, is part of a team that has received a five-year $2.9 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study interventions for people suffering from mental health issues in Chile.

Bills passed by Republican-controlled legislatures in Wisconsin and two years ago in North Carolina to limit the power in incoming Democratic governors may be the new normal, says a constitutional law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Fifty years after the passage of the Fair Housing and Civil Rights Acts, a new book, “Facing Segregation: Housing Policy Solutions for a Stronger Society,” brings together influential scholars, practitioners and policy analysts to reflect on how to use public policy to reduce segregation.

Drastic climate changes shaped the timeline for rich deposits of early human ancestor fossils found in a network of South African caves known as the “Cradle of Humankind,” suggests a new study co-authored by paleoanthropologists at Washington University in St. Louis.

Climate change is likely to exacerbate food insecurity among the most vulnerable populations globally, says an expert on malnutrition at Washington University in St. Louis.

The National Climate Assessment, released the day after Thanksgiving, highlights the risks to which federal policymakers are exposing the country — including very pointedly the Midwest — by attempting to roll back limits on greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, says an expert on environmental policy at Washington University in St. Louis.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week it plans to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in the United States. While the move could take years to implement, it would be a boon to reducing health disparities, says an expert at Washington University in St. Louis.