Humanities & Society

The Law School’s Public Interest Law and Policy Speakers Series, in conjunction with the Federalist Society and the Assembly Series, will present Richard Epstein at 3 p.m. Tuesday, October 31, in the Anheuser Busch Moot Courtroom (Room 310). The lecture is free and open to the public. The well-known libertarian and influential legal scholar will discuss the question, “Has Modern Complex Litigation Outgrown the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures? The Case of Antitrust.”

Richard Epstein and bell hooks will speak Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, respectively.

Scientists have identified a naturally occurring enzyme that can break down a key component of the brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. The finding may provide researchers with new opportunities to understand what goes wrong in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and could one day help them seek new therapies.

The School of Medicine, a research leader in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and schizophrenia, will be among the first recipients of a major new National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to facilitate study of nervous system disorders. The NIH Blueprint for the Neurosciences Grant will provide $8 million to the University over five years.

The fourth week of October will feature an actor, a graphic novelist, and a mathematician.

The fourth week of October features three diverse and exciting speakers in the Assembly Series: Tony award-winner B.D. Wong will speak on breaking down cultural barriers in “All the World’s a Stage: From Exclusion to Inclusion” at 4 p.m., Monday, October 23 in Graham Chapel. Iranian born graphic novelist, Marjane Satrapi will discuss her work at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, October 25 in Graham Chapel. Cornell mathematician Steven Strogatz will speak on “Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order” at 4 p.m., Thursday, October 26 in Rebstock Hall, Room 215.

In his book, the three-term former Republican senator from Missouri and ordained Episcopal priest calls for moderation and tolerance in religious and political life, and a return to the separation of church and state.

University of Minnesota professors Robert L. and Rosalie A. Kane will present “Long-Term Care Shouldn’t Be This Way: Two Perspectives” from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the 2nd-floor Lounge of Brown Hall at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work on WUSTL’s campus.

According to a 2005 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, nursing homes in the United States in 1999 cost an average of $47,000 per year, with costs rising each year. Choosing a course of care for an elderly family member is both a financial decision and an emotional one. A business and economics professor at Washington University in St. Louis is using game theory to understand these long-term care decisions. More…

Photo by David Kilper / WUSTL PhotoHimadri Pakrasi explains the photobioreactor in his Rebstock Hall laboratory.The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has devoted $1.6 million to sequencing the DNA of six photosynthetic bacteria that Washington University in St. Louis biologists will examine for their potential as one of the nextgreat sources of biofuel that can run our cars and warm our houses. That’s a lot of power potential from microscopic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) that capture sunlight and then do a variety of biochemical processes. One potential process, the clean production of ethanol, is a high priority for DOE. Himadri Pakrasi, Ph.D., Washington University Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences, and Professor of Energy in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will head a team of biologists at Washington University and elsewhere in the analysis of the genomes of six related strains of Cyanothece bacteria. More…