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Mormon church explains polygamy in early days

December 17, 2013

A new essay by the Mormon church about the practice of plural marriage published days after a judge struck down key parts of Utah’s polygamy law is something of a revelation to millions of Mormons worldwide, says Armand Mauss, retired professor of sociology and religious studies at WSU. Mauss estimates that less than 10 percent of rank-and-file Mormons would previously have known everything in the article.

The acknowledgement that as many as one-third of Mormons lived in polygamous households by 1870 contradicts a widely held belief that polygamy was practiced by only 2 or 3 percent of Mormons, Mauss said. The new article and previous scholarly research show that polygamy was a formative institution among Mormons during that time, Mauss said.

Research looks at impact of graphic cigarette labels

December 13, 2013

An change in cigarette warning labels could give researchers insight to changing the behavior of smokers and giving them motivation to quit.

Renee Magnan, assistant professor of psychology at WSU Vancouver, recently received a grant to research the effectiveness of graphic warning labels, rather than those with text only, on cigarette packages. “There is currently a big need for research in this area to help inform policy,” she said.

WSU research projects focus on memory problems

December 3, 2013

By volunteering as a memory research subject, Johnnie Bosworth of Spokane is helping WSU researchers develop strategies for people with age-related memory loss or cognitive impairment to live safely in their own homes.

We really want to keep people “functioning as independently as possible for as long as possible,” said Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe, a clinical neuropsychologist in the Department of Psychology who’s leading the research with faculty in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Considering that nearly one in five U.S. residents will be 65 and older in 2030, “There’s some concern about how we’re going to handle this aging population,” Schmitter-Edgecombe said.

Hispanic population helps redefine New Orleans region

December 2, 2013

New Orleans—which sometimes bills itself as the Gateway to the Americas—has deep ties to Latin America that stretch back to the turn of the 20th century. But New Orleans never became a teeming hub of Hispanic immigration like its fellow port cities of Houston, Miami and Los Angeles. And for most of the 20th century, the metropolitan region’s Hispanic population grew slowly. A small but diverse population of Cubans, Salvadorans, Hondurans and Brazilians eventually took root.

Elizabeth Fussell, associate professor of sociology, has done extensive research on the city’s post-Katrina influx of Hispanic people.

Read more in the New Orleans Advocate.

Exploring citizenship in Asian American women’s lit

November 16, 2013

Pamela Thoma, Critical Cultures, Gender, and Race Studies — Pamela Thoma

Pamela Thoma, associate professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies, published a new book exploring the conditions of cultural and political belonging for Asian American women depicted in popular fiction.

Asian American Women’s Popular Literature; Feminizing Genres and Neoliberal Belonging examines the ways Asian American female writers address various family and financial pressures on women to reconcile the demands of work, motherhood, and consumer culture.