PAD examines dance and ethnic identity

On Sept. 12, the Dance Program in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will explore the role of ethnicity in contemporary dance with “Dancing Who I Am,” a panel discussion and informal concert featuring faculty performers and leading critics and choreographers from around the country.

My Happy Life

Fiction writer Lydia Millet will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, for Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences Millet is the author of six novels, beginning with the subversive coming-of-age tale Omnivores (1996), which centers on a young woman whose megalomaniac father turns their home into an armed camp after seceding from the United States. Her third novel, My Happy Life (2002), won the 2003 PEN-USA Award for Fiction. Her latest book is the forthcoming story collection Love in Infant Monkeys.

David Dorfman Dance at Edison Theatre Sept. 25-26

Gary NoelDavid Dorfman Dance”Does what you do make a difference?” “Is violence ever justified?” “When can activism become terrorism, or vice versa?” Such provocative questions lie at the heart of underground, an ambitious evening-length multimedia dance piece by acclaimed choreographer David Dorfman. On Sept. 25 and 26 Dorfman — a Washington University alumnus — will return to Edison Theatre with his company, David Dorfman Dance, to launch the 2009-10 OVATIONS Series.

Kiva microfinancer Jessica Jackley to deliver talk on entrepreneurship; kick off competitions

Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva, the Internet-driven microfinance organization that connects lenders with budding entrepreneurs, will deliver the Assembly Series/Skandalaris Lecture at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 17 in Simon Hall’s May Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. This is the kickoff event for the Skandalaris Center’s annual business plan competitions: the Olin Cup, and the YouthBridge Social Entrepreneur and Innovation Competition.

University steps up preparations for H1N1

Photo by David KilperAs students, faculty and staff return to campus this fall from all corners of the world, WUSTL administrators and health officials are monitoring the spread of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus and ensuring the University is prepared should an outbreak occur on campus.

WUSTL students give back during Service First​

The 11th annual Service First will be held Saturday, Sept. 5, at 12 St. Louis area schools. Approximately 90 students will head to each school, helping paint indoor and outdoor murals and activities and maps on the playground and creating bulletin boards and preparing classrooms.

Chimpanzees develop specialized tool kits to catch army ants, finds WUSTL expert

Juvenile male chimpanzee in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo. Chimpanzees in the Congo have developed specialized “tool kits” to forage for army ants, reveals new research published Sept. 3 in the American Journal of Primatology. This not only provides the first direct evidence of multiple tool use in this context, but suggests that chimpanzees have developed a sustainable way of harvesting food. A team from the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project, led by Crickette Sanz, Ph.D., assistant professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences, studied several communities of chimpanzee throughout the Nouabalé-Ndoki national park in the Republic of Congo.