Author: Liam Otten

The game’s history and traditions are rich, but they threaten to suffocate its future. The “unwritten rules” and the game’s entrenched conservatism are standing in the way of fun. It will take more than bat flips and a backwards ballcap to let it through.

Jeffrey Q. McCune Jr., associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies and of African and African-American studies, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, will be inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars during a ceremony April 4 at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

This fall, one of the top programs for art, architecture and design at a U.S. university — the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis — will unveil two major new capital projects that will transform the campus, reshape the visitor experience and firmly establish the prominence of its art museum on campus. The newly constructed Anabeth and John Weil Hall will house state-of-the-art graduate studios, classrooms and digital fabrication spaces. A major expansion and renovation of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will strengthen visibility, better showcase the renowned permanent collection and accommodate larger and more varied special exhibitions.

“Few chefs of African descent work at the pinnacle of our national haute cuisine today, yet their contributions to American kitchens and dining rooms have been definitive.” So argues Rafia Zafar, professor of English and of African-American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, in her new book “Recipes for Respect: African American Meals and Meaning.”

Choreographers Harrison Parker and Rachael Servello will present a pair of new works March 23 in Edison Theatre as part of “Reel2Real,” the 2019 MFA Student Dance Concert.

Art schools are places of innovation and expression, of studio skills and critical analysis. But for many young artists, the transition to professional practice can be fraught. How do you start building a career? Opportunities for students like The MFA Fair this November help.

Junior Ruoyi Gan and senior Madeline Halpern are representing the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts in Varsity Art XXIII. Hosted by Art St. Louis, the annual exhibition features work by undergraduate and graduate students from St. Louis college and university-level art programs.

The German Academy for Language and Literature will award its 2019 Friedrich Gundolf Prizeto Paul Michael Lützeler, the Rosa May Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Amy Hauft, the Leslie Waggener Professor in Sculpture at the University of Texas at Austin, has been appointed director of the College & Graduate School of Art in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Also joining the Sam Fox School faculty will be sculptor Jack Risley, the Meredith and Cornelia long Chair of Art and Art History at UT Austin.

A light flashes. A wing rustles. A feather floats gently to the floor. Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America” features some of the most indelible images in American theater. From Feb. 22 to March 3, the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will stage Kushner’s epic drama for six performances in Edison Theatre.