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Cannabis use both helps and hurts entrepreneurial creativity

When entrepreneurs dream up ideas for new businesses, cannabis use might help, and hinder, their creativity, according to a new study in the Journal of Business Venturing by Washington State University researchers.

The study found that cannabis-using entrepreneurs generated new business ideas such as a weightless, gravity-free virtual reality workout, that were more original, but less feasible, compared to those who do not use cannabis.

Emily LaFance smiling while holding a cute puppy.
LaFrance
Carrie Cuttler.
Cuttler

The study was conducted by a team of WSU researchers, including Carrie Cuttler, assistant professor of psychology, and Emily LaFrance, recent WSU psychology Ph.D. graduate.

As legalization of cannabis continues across the country and the stigma of the drug fades, the researchers hope their work will help paint a clearer picture of the implications of cannabis use among entrepreneurs.

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Crisis in constitutional democracy focus of WSU Foley Institute distinguished lecture series

Four of the nation’s leading experts on constitutional democracy will discuss current crises in the U.S. and abroad in a series of free, online events beginning Wednesday, Feb. 16.

The noon-hour events are hosted by the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public and Public Service at Washington State University, whose mission is to educate the public about American government and democratic institutions, encourage public service and to promote scholarly research on public policy and political institutions.

Cornell Clayton.
Clayton

“In recent years hyper-partisanship and polarization has severely tested America’s constitutional structures and democratic norms. In the past year alone, we witnessed two impeachments of a sitting president and an insurrection that desecrated the nation’s Capitol,” said Cornell Clayton, C.O. Johnson distinguished professor of political science and director of the Foley Institute. “We are living in a time of almost unparalleled threat to democratic governance here and elsewhere in the world.”

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How White Evangelicals Came to Lead the Insurrection

Matthew Avery Sutton.
Sutton

Last spring, WORT Radio talked with WSU historian Matthew Sutton on the show about the apocalyptic politics of the American evangelical right.

Today, we’ve invited him back to discuss his latest article in the New Republic, “The Capitol Riot Revealed the Darkest Nightmares of White Evangelical America” and do a deep dive into the recent history of white evangelicalism and its host of seeming contradictions, how “evangelical” has evolved to be more of a political identity than a religious one, and what we might see from this group in the future now that Trump is out of office.

Matthew A. Sutton is a history professor at Washington State University, where he teaches courses in 20th century United States history, cultural history, and religious history. He is the author of several books, including American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism (Belknap Press, 2014) and, most recently, Double Crossed: The Missionaries Who Spied for the United States During the Second World War (Basic Books, 2019).

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Jennifer Lopez bridges gap between Puerto Rico and Washington

Jennifer Lopez finished her performance of Woody Guthrie’s protest anthem “This Land is Your Land” Wednesday morning by paying homage to her Hispanic identity. “One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all,” Lopez said in Spanish to the small crowd gathered on the west side of the Capitol to witness President Joe Biden take the oath of office.

Carmen Lugo-Lugo.
Lugo-Lugo

Many politicians in Washington still need to be educated on Puerto Rican demands, said Carmen Lugo-Lugo, a professor of comparative ethnic studies at Washington State University who is Puerto Rican. After years of researching congressional hearings on Puerto Rico, she found that the island “was invisible to those who were directly and indirectly making decisions about it and on its behalf.”

“If people in Congress have no idea what Puerto Rico is in relation to them, or the U.S., we can’t expect the general population to know any better,” Lugo-Lugo said. “So any time anyone raises awareness about Puerto Rico… it is a good thing. The medium is irrelevant.”

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Art for Social Change Competition welcomes community’s creative work

Recognizing the important role of art in advancing social justice, the School of Languages, Cultures, and Race (SLCR) in the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University is seeking submissions for its annual Art for Social Change Competition.

Carmen Lugo-Lugo.
Lugo-Lugo

The competition and later exhibition encourage creation and sharing of art that provokes, challenges and inspires, said SLCR director Carmen Lugo-Lugo. “Art can simultaneously expose and contest social inequalities while compelling those who are looking at, experiencing and/or enjoying it to reflect on and even work on changing those conditions,” she said.

Art for Social Change organizers welcome work from WSU students, faculty and staff as well as students and educators in the broader community before midnight on Friday, Jan. 29. “It is a significant way for people within WSU and the surrounding community to talk to each other about these difficult topics,” Lugo-Lugo said.

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