Arts & Sciences

Meghan McDarby, a graduate student in psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been selected for a James McKenney Student Travel Award from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.

Abram C. Van Engen, associate professor of English in Arts & Sciences, organized a national conference on “Religion and Politics in Early America.” Sponsored by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, the conference took place March 1-4 in St. Louis. 

There’s a new way to look at how electrons interact with each other in graphene, an intriguing material comprised of a single layer of carbon atoms. Washington University in St. Louis researchers, led by Erik Henriksen, assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, are exploring the quantum electronic properties of graphene using infrared light.

Opera star Susan Graham, dubbed “America’s favorite mezzo” by Gramophone magazine, will perform “Frauenliebe und-leben: Variations,” a solo recital pairing Robert Schumann’s beloved song cycle with related works by Edvard Grieg, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Claude Debussy, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and others.

Three researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, Raj Jain, David Kirk and Stuart Kornfeld, are being honored for outstanding contributions to science by the Academy of Science-St. Louis.

Uncle Joe’s, Washington University in St. Louis’ confidential peer counseling and resource center, recorded 44 percent more interactions with students in fall 2017 compared to fall 2016. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Week, Uncle Joe’s co-directors share their mission and how they respond to emerging concerns.

Using new gene sequencing techniques, Washington University biologists are taking a closer look at the behavior of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, or Dicty for short.

Elizabeth S. Haswell, associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, has been elected as a council delegate for biological sciences for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her term began Feb. 20.

Washington University in St. Louis faculty, staff and students are mourning the death of Katrina Banks, administrative coordinator for the Office of Undergraduate Research and a student in University College in Arts & Sciences. She was 31.

Two U.S. retailers made moves this week to regulate their gun sales based on principle — moves that legislators failed to make in recent years despite public outcry following each incident in a line of mass-shooting tragedies. A pair of Washington University in St. Louis experts say that these actions represent “an expansion of corporate social responsibility,” even if the retailers financially may suffer amid something of a consumer backlash.