Arts & Culture

Visions of the future shape how we see the present. On April 27 and 28, Washington University’s Divided City initiative will co-sponsor “Dwell in Other Futures,” a two-day event exploring how collisions of race, urbanism and futurism might spark fresh ideas about the city that is and the city that is to come.

Neighbors can be feet away and worlds apart. For the class “Segregation by Design,” Sam Fox School students Cierra Higgins and Tianna Williams explore strategies for mitigating social segregation in two historic St. Louis neighborhoods.

Over the last four decades, Island Press, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, has earned a national reputation for publishing complex, large-scale prints and multiples that explore new materials and innovative techniques.

News is for fools. Kindness is a lie. Killing, to our animal nature, is simply enjoyable. Wallace Shawn’s “Aunt Dan and Lemon,” which the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will stage April 13-22, explores the fragility of civilized society, and how easily cultured masks slip before the face of power.

The second annual Shakespeare at Olin event April 15 will bring together jugglers, magicians and musicians evoking the Renaissance era, along with performances of the Bard’s works by community players and a reappearance of The Dean’s Players.

The Calidore String Quartet, one of the most acclaimed chamber ensembles of its generation, will perform music of Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Beethoven April 22 as part of the Great Artists Series at Washington University in St. Louis.

One of the many skilled artisans behind the enchanting visuals in Pixar movies is alumnus Chris Bernardi. On the Oscar Award–winning “Coco,” Bernardi served as set supervisor, leading a team of designers who beautifully bring to life a boy’s dream against the backdrop of Mexico’s Day of the Dead.

What can we learn from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein 200 years after it was published? A lot, insofar as the book’s central conflicts — between science and ethics, society and the other — still resonate today.

Paul Pariser, AB ’76, is reshaping Manhattan with his real estate development and investment firm, Taconic Investment Partners.

John and Penelope Biggs met in Latin class. Six decades later, their love for classics is still going strong. In April, leading scholars from around the country will present their work as part of the Biggs Family Residency Reunion.