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WSU professor explores use of missionaries and religious leaders as spies in World War II

If the name John Birch sounds familiar, it’s probably because of the John Birch Society, a far-right group founded more than a decade after his death in 1945. Less has been written about the man himself: a missionary-turned-spy who built a formidable intelligence network in China during World War II.

Matthew Sutton
Matthew Sutton

“He actually flew with the bombers so he could visually point out where to drop the bombs,” said Matthew Sutton, a history professor at Washington State University. “He hated the Japanese. They had destroyed the churches he had built. They were punishing the Chinese Christians. So he was doing everything he could to support the war.”

According to Sutton, Birch was one in “a small army” of Christian missionaries who were aggressively recruited to conduct clandestine operations during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency. This little-known practice, Sutton said, “made Americans aware of the importance of religion” in gathering intelligence.

The professor recently won a $50,000 federal grant to research and write a book on the topic, tentatively titled “(Un)Holy Spies: Religion and Espionage in World War II.”

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Spokesman-Review

 

Grad student finds research, speaking success

With 10 national speaking engagements scheduled between June and February, doctoral student Amber Morczek is earning distinction for discussing difficult topics in an honest and nonthreatening manner.

Amber Morczek
Amber Morczek

Her criminal justice and criminology dissertation at Washington State University examines the elements of rape culture within Internet pornography and its relationship to violence toward women. The connection between pornography and violence toward women is a topic most find thought-provoking, but few know how to approach.

Morczek wants to help by creating a safe space for dialog to make change. Her engaging and educational presentations are delivered with passion and humor.

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WSU News

Unknown sponsors behind one-third of U.S. Senate campaign ads

A study by the campaign finance watchdog Center for Responsive Politics and Wesleyan University’s Media Project finds that a type of political group that does not have to disclose its donors is responsible for $80 million in ads nationally—35.8 percent of all advertising in Senate races.

Travis Ridout
Travis Ridout

Without knowing who is paying for the ads, voters are robbed of “an important clue” that allows them “to take a claim made in an ad with a grain of salt,” said Travis Ridout, a Washington State University political science professor who works with the Wesleyan University project that analyzes campaign donations.

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McLeansboro Times Leader

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Art, ecology exhibit a call to community action

Stream and native plant restoration along Missouri Flat Creek in Pullman is the subject of an exhibit of Washington State University student art and an opening talk 2-4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at Thomas Hammer coffee shop downtown.

The art will be on display through Oct. 13. Paintings, either done at the stream or inspired by visits to it, will be available for sale; half of the proceeds will help restore the creek.

Kayla Wakulich
Kayla Wakulich

WSU graduate student Kayla Wakulich, School of the Environment, will talk briefly about her work protecting and restoring Missouri Flat Creek. The little known stream enters Pullman from the north, continues along north Grand Avenue and joins the south fork of the Palouse River just northwest of downtown. » More …

WSU Writing Program ranks among top in nation

The Writing Program at Washington State University again has been named among the 21 best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. WSU is the only institution in the Northwest to “typically make the writing process a priority at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum,” according to the rankings criteria.

Victor Villanueva
Victor Villanueva

“It is a great honor to be recognized publicly for the positive affect we have on students and their academic programs,” said Victor Villanueva, Writing Program director and WSU Regents professor of English. “To be on this list of top programs means we are on the radar of university officers and administrators across the U.S.”

Of the seven institutions on the list west of the Mississippi River, those closest to WSU are Stanford and the University of California-Davis. Other top schools across the nation include Brown, Cornell, Duke, Harvard and Princeton.

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WSU News