Author: Liam Otten

Listening is a talent but also a skill. This spring, Andrew Raimist and Bob Hansman, both architecture faculty in Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, will lead “Community Building II: Ferguson,” a community studies class that explores the complex economic, political and racial landscape of north St. Louis.

Does the recent decision by President Barack Obama to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba truly represent fresh opportunity? Or is it merely the latest chapter in a long, tortuous narrative of manipulation and misunderstanding? At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, Cuban novelist Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo will discuss “U.S.-Cuba: A New Era or a New Ire?” in the Danforth University Center.

Jeigh Singleton, associate professor emeritus of fashion design in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, died Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015, following a long battle with cancer. He was 70.

​A dance may begin with a thought or gesture but making art requires more than mere inspiration. On Jan. 23 and 24, Doug Varone and Dancers, one of today’s most celebrated companies, will visit Edison Theatre on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis for an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the creative process.

“Sam Durant: Proposal for White and Indian Dead Monument Transpositions, Washington, D.C.” opens Friday, Jan. 23, at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. The large-scale installation consists of 30 minimalist sculptures, each appropriating the form of an existing monument to white and Indian victims killed between the 17th century and the end of the so-called Indian Wars in 1890.

Before Twitter and Facebook, message boards and the Internet, the backyard clothesline was a universal destination for news, gossip, work and socializing. On Friday, Jan. 16, Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon will bring “The Clothesline Muse,” a multidisciplinary performance celebrating domestic labor and community empowerment, to Edison Theatre as part of the Edison Ovations Series.

It’s one of the most recognizable buildings in St. Louis, a former department store once known for lush holiday displays. Today, the Railway Exchange sits empty, but architecture students from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis have spent much of the last semester exploring adaptive reuse alternatives for the 1.2 million-square-foot structure.

​The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis will present its annual sing-along to “Messiah” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14. The performance, which will include the Christmas portion of “Messiah” as well as the “Hallelujah Chorus,” will take place in Graham Chapel.

Smart writing on timely topics for the widest possible audience. This is the mission of The Common Reader, a new journal launched this fall by Gerald Early. Early and Managing Editor Ben Fulton discuss The Common Reader, online journalism and the continuing value of ink and paper.

Jean Allman, director of the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, discusses The Divided City, the nature of the humanities and the health of the field today.