Arts & Sciences

​​St. Louis may seem a bit too far away from Mexico to have had a serious impact on the outcome of the Mexican Revolution, but the city actually played an important role in the events that shaped the nation, according to Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, PhD, associate professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University.​

Brittany Packnett’s commitment to social justice has taken her from the streets of Ferguson all the way to the White House, where she helped shape policy to make policing less racially biased.

Elizabeth Gentry Sayad, AB ’55, MA ’03, preserves the St. Louis region’s French history.

“[Improvisation] is much more difficult than reading music. You don’t have to be very gifted to read a novel. You do to write a novel,” says Rich O’Donnell, director of the Electronic Music Studio in the Department of Music.

Two alumni couples from very different decades share their stories of coming to Washington University and finding their perfect matches — life partners and an ideal hometown.

Though he studies chemistry, graduate student Cole Pruitt has been interested in the game of Go since he was 6 years old. After playing Go in college, he decided to create a documentary about the popular Asian game. Working on it taught him new appreciation for the game.

Ashley Wilson, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, received a U.S. Department of Education Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad award to continue her research on long-term conjugal cohabitation relationships that are a common alternative to formal marriage among poor residents of the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya.

Washington University in St. Louis mathematician Blake Thornton, PhD, came in first in the paddleboard division of the MR340, an endurance race on the Missouri River. Before signing up for next year’s race, you might want to read this article as well as watch the video.

The Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University in St. Louis has announced the inaugural recipients of its Achievement in Community Engagement Awards. They are Brian D. Carpenter, PhD (right), associate professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis; Leroy D. Nunery II, EdD, educational leader and founder of PlūsUltré LLC; and the United Way of Greater St. Louis.

Isabel Trautwein, violinist for the Cleveland Orchestra, will launch the Danforth University Center Chamber Music Series at Washington University in St. Louis with a free concert Sept. 21. Also featured this fall will be early music ensemble The Newberry Consort; a world premier by Washington University composer Christopher Stark; and the Songs of Africa Ensemble.