Arts & Sciences

Star-shaped cells called astrocytes, long considered boring, “support cells,” are finally coming into their own. To everyone’s surprise they even play an important role in the body’s master clock, which schedules everything from the release of hormones to the onset of sleepiness.

Is Tom Sawyer a clever entrepreneur, or did his friends paint that fence under false pretenses? U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. decides, with a little help from Washington University students, in an event celebrating the School of Law’s 150th anniversary.

Thi Nguyen has been named associate dean for graduate career and professional development in the Graduate School at Washington University in St. Louis. She is responsible for developing and leading professional and career development initiatives to promote career readiness for graduate students.

The African Film Festival returns to campus March 31-April 2. Screenings are free and will be in Brown Hall. The festival sets time aside Saturday for its special “Eye on Youth” programming.

Poet Phillip B. Williams, a 2014 graduate of The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, is among 10 recipients of the 2017 Whiting Award.

A four-year study of one rare and one common lupine growing in coastal dunes showed that a native mouse steals most of the rare lupines seeds while they are still attached to the plant. The mouse is a “subsidized species,” given cover for nocturnal forays by European beachgrass, originally planted to stabilize the dunes.

Chuck Berry, who died March 18, embodied the sound, attitude and mythology that defined the early days of rock and roll, says Patrick Burke, head of musicology in Arts & Sciences.

Proposed federal budget cuts to two major programs could translate into fewer treatments, fewer cures, fewer drug findings, fewer researchers and fewer breakthroughs in areas where the United States is a world leader, say science and health experts at Washington University in St. Louis.

William B. McKinnon, professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, will deliver the McDonnell Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday, March 29, on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

This summer, Ena Selimovic, a doctoral candidate in comparative literature in Arts & Sciences, will join 30 predoctoral students from around the country in Chicago for a three-week workshop that explores careers outside of the academy or tenure-track system.