Arts & Sciences

Presolar grains — tiny bits of solid interstellar material formed before the sun was born — are sometimes found in primitive meteorites. But a noble gas analysis from physicists in Arts & Sciences reveals evidence of presolar grains in part of a meteorite where they are not expected to be found.

Singer. Writer. Performer. Visual artist. Over the course of her 45-year career, Patti Smith has established herself as one of the most prolific and influential artists of her generation. In fall 2020, Smith will receive the International Humanities Prize from Washington University in St. Louis.

Richard A. “Red” Watson, professor emeritus of philosophy in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died Sept. 18, 2019, in Wellesley, Mass. He was 88. 

Wouter Kool in Arts & Sciences was named a “Rising Star” by the Association for Psychological Science, an honor given to outstanding psychological scientists in the early stages of their postdoctoral research careers.

In the debut of The Record’s new series, “I Made This,” senior J.T. Bridges shares the story behind his song “Discord,” which he recorded at the Harvey Media Center with the help of student group High Note Music Industry Collective. Like contemporary stars Daniel Caesar and Khalid, Bridges specializes in chill R&B with earnest lyrics and acoustic rhythms. 

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting Dec. 6, several faculty members were appointed or promoted with tenure, with most becoming effective Jan. 1.

Nancy Berg, professor of Hebrew language and literature in the Department of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies in Arts & Sciences, has won a National Jewish Book Award for best anthology for the 2018 book “What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew (and What It Means to Amer­i­cans).”

Photographer Jennifer Colten, senior lecturer in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, and Paul Tran, a senior poetry fellow in the Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, both at Washington University in St. Louis, have won 2019 Artist Fellowships from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.

The Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis recently announced its 2020-21 cohort of faculty fellows.

Hard plant foods like seeds and nuts may have made up a larger part of early human ancestors’ diet than currently presumed, according to a new experimental study of modern tooth enamel from anthropologists in Arts & Sciences.