Arts & Sciences

In her Hotchner-winning drama “Son of Soil,” which debuts March 30, senior Andie Berry examines the ways tragedy and grief echo across generations.

Timothy A. Wencewicz, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been selected as a Cottrell Scholar by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement.

The St. Louis Walk of Fame will posthumously induct Nobel Prize-winning neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 6, on the Delmar Loop. Levi-Montalcini conducted much of her research at Washington University in St. Louis and is recognized for breakthroughs in the study of cell growth and development. She died at the age of 103 in her native Italy.

Long before the advent of agriculture, hunter gatherers began putting down roots in the Middle East, building more permanent homes and altering the ecological balance in ways that allowed the common house mouse to flourish, suggest new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of 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.