Applications open for 2011-12 Diversity and Inclusion Grant proposals

Faculty and administrators are invited to submit proposals for program initiatives that strengthen and promote diversity and inclusion at Washington University. Projects aimed at improving the university environment for women and members of underrepresented minority groups can receive up to $30,000 through Washington University’s Diversity and Inclusion Grant program. The deadline for submission of 2011-12 proposals is Saturday, Nov. 5.

Stahl, Fields to lead College of Arts & Sciences on interim basis

Following the Sept. 6 death of James E. McLeod, vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has announced a transitional leadership plan for the College of Arts & Sciences. Sharon Stahl, PhD, associate vice chancellor for students and dean of the First Year Center, and Wayne Fields, PhD, the Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Professor of English in Arts & Sciences, have agreed to take on the additional responsibilities of leading the College of Arts & Sciences on an interim basis.
Paradise Sought

Paradise Sought

Art historian Elizabeth Childs reveals how expectations of an idyllic place informed artists’ work of the late 19th century, and how these works in turn framed perceptions of place thereafter.
A Rare & Notable Find

A Rare & Notable Find

After lying unidentified for more than 130 years, 74 books from Thomas Jefferson’s “Retirement Library” were discovered recently in the University Libraries. Some feature handwritten notes from Jefferson himself — notes that reveal a remarkable mind.

Federal funding cut leads to layoffs at WUSTL’s Genome Institute

p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:’Times New Roman’;} .MsoChpDefault {;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in;margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} The university’s Genome Institute is laying off 54 employees due to a reduction in funding from the National Human Genome Research Institute for large-scale genome centers.

WUSTL professor of Italian to discuss ‘Boethius in the Renaissance’ at Olin Library

Washington University Libraries present a book talk by Michael Sherberg, PhD, associate professor of Italian in Arts & Sciences, at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in Olin Library, Ginkgo Reading Room, Level 1. Sherberg’s lecture — titled “Boethius in the Renaissance: What Recent Acquisitions Teach Us” — will discuss three 16th-century translations of Boethius’s influential 6th-century work, Consolation of Philosophy, and what the translations tell modern scholars about the politics and poetics of translation in the Renaissance.

New departments, department heads in Arts & Sciences

Arts & Sciences starts the fall semester with a new program director and four new departmental chairs, two of whom are heading newly created and reorganized departments.The Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures (ANELL) and the programs in East Asian Studies (EAS) and Jewish and Islamic Studies (JINES) have been reorganized into two full-fledged departments.

Elizabeth Bishop poetry event Oct. 23

Washington University Libraries and the St. Louis Poetry Center will present a program featuring the works of renowned American poet Elizabeth Bishop at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, in Wilson Hall, Room 214, on Washington University’s Danforth Campus. A reception will follow in the Ginkgo Reading Room in the nearby Olin Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Freshmen explore St. Louis via faculty-led field trips

A new program coordinated through the First Year Center encourages faculty members to share outside interests as a way of introducing freshmen to the city of St. Louis.As part of “St. Louis by the Dozen,” faculty members lead groups of 12 in an off-campus weekend adventure.
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