Arts & Sciences

Botanists have organized to try to stem the frightening loss of plant species across the globe. How well are they doing? They recently met in St. Louis to exchange stories from the botanical front lines.

Seth Carlin, an internationally renowned pianist who taught at Washington University for 37 years, died Thursday, July 28, following a swimming accident in France. He was 71.

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carl Wieman will discuss how to transform undergraduate science education at a lecture Monday, Aug. 22, launching a new initiative of the Office of the Provost. The effort will focus on methods of teaching science, technology, engineering and math.

“Village Atheists: How America’s Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation,” the most recent book by Leigh Eric Schmidt, the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities, has been named by Publishers Weekly to its list of most anticipated books of fall 2016.

Washington University in St. Louis and Capital Normal University (CNU) in Beijing have established a research cooperation program that aims to enhance and make more broadly available knowledge about the history, society and culture of China.

Autophagy (self eating) has long been considered a kind of indiscriminate Pac Man-like process of waste disposal. Now, scientists at Washington University have shown that apart from conditions of cell starvation, it is carefully regulated: both in plants and yeast — and most likely in people. The finding is relevant to aggregation-prone pathologies such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

As Democrats gather in Philadelphia, and Hillary Clinton accepts her party’s nomination for the presidency, it is worth pausing to consider the history of previous female presidential candidates. “Women have been running for president since before they had the right to vote,” said Andrea Friedman, professor of history and of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “This has been a very long time coming.”

The Center for the Humanities announced more than three dozen new and renewed grants in a variety of categories for faculty members and graduate students during the 2015-16 year.

University College — the professional and continuing education division in Arts & Sciences — will hold a preview night at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21, in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge.

Four Washington University in St. Louis alumni have been selected to conduct research or teach English this year as participants in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The program recognizes talented students who are committed to promoting global collaboration and understanding through research and teaching.