Author: Liam Otten

More than three dozen alumni of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts have contributed works to “Ontology of Influence,” an exhibition paying homage to sculptor Ron Leax, the Halsey C. Ives Professor of Art.

Founded in 1969, the African and African-American Studies program at Washington University in St. Louis was among the nation’s first. This spring, the university will mark a new chapter when the program becomes a full department within Arts & Sciences.

William J. Maxwell, professor of English and of African and African-American studies in Arts & Sciences, has won a 2016 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for “F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature” (2015).

Carl Phillips, professor of English in Arts & Sciences, has won the 2016 poetry award from PEN Center USA for “Reconnaissance,” his latest collection.

New conductor Horst Buchholz and new director of strings Amy Greenhalgh will make their debuts with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra Oct. 30. The concert will take place at The E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall in the 560 Music Center.

Matt Erlin, professor and chair of Germanic languages and literatures in Arts & Sciences, has won the 2016 prize for best book in “Germanistik,” or cultural studies, from the German Academic Exchange Service.

Cakes typically evoke birthday parties and celebrations. But a recent project by Ebony G. Patterson — a 2006 alumna of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts — transformed the idea of the cake into something entirely more serious.

South Central Los Angeles, 1976. The lawns are manicured, the palm trees sway, the savings bonds are tucked optimistically away. But the Youth is restless. In “Passing Strange,” the singer and playwright Stew offers a semi-autobiographical account of his journey to artistic self-discovery. The Performing Arts Department will present the Tony Award-winning rock musical Oct. 21-30 in Edison Theatre.

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum is a Washington University treasure and one of the oldest teaching museums in the country. Now, to help secure the museum’s future, the William T. Kemper Foundation has pledged $5 million to fund long-range capital needs, including a major expansion.

It is a staple of the political season: “The founders wanted this,” a candidate confidently declares. “The founders wanted that.” But not so fast, says Peter Kastor, principal investigator for the digital archive “Creating a Federal Government.”