Arts & Sciences

Several “blockbuster” cases — including freedom of speech, religious freedoms in prison, pregnancy discrimination and a possible decision on gay marriage — are on the docket for the Supreme Court, which begins its new session this month. But don’t expect any decisions until next June. New research led by the School of Law finds big cases are disproportionately decided just before the court’s summer recess.

Poetry scholar Marjorie Perloff will receive the 2014 International Humanities Medal from Washington University in St. Louis. Granted biennially, the $25,000 award is largest prize from an American institution to cover the broad spectrum of the humanities.

Douglas Chalker, PhD, associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded $170,000 from the National Science Foundation to continue work on his project, “DNA Elimination Mechanisms in Tetrahymena.”

​In advance of Washington University in St. Louis’ Major-Minor Fair on Monday, Oct. 6, Matthew DeVoll, PhD, assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and dean of sophomores, talks about the choices facing second-year students and the options open to them.

Christopher Stark, assistant professor of music in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded a commission from Chamber Music America, the national network of chamber music professionals, to compose a piece for the New York-based duo New Morse Code.

Over the course of about 24 hours Sept. 22-23, four student athletes from Washington University in St. Louis were tabbed by national coaches’ organizations as “Athlete of the Week.” It’s an unprecedented honor in school history, one in which Athletics Director Josh Whitman calls “inspirational.” To put it into perspective, the university received only six such honors throughout the entire academic sports year in 2013-14.

Arts & Sciences faculty (from left) Jami L. Ake, PhD, John M. Doris, PhD, Mark Rollins, PhD, and Douglas L. Chalker, PhD, were recognized for their teaching and leadership during Arts & Sciences’ annual faculty reception this month. Ake and Chalker both received the Distinguished Teaching Award; Doris received the David Hadas Teaching Award; and Rollins received the Distinguished Leadership Award.

Politicians who take a stance on tax increases, immigration reform, marijuana legalization and other controversial issues have the power to sway voter opinions in their favor and they can do so without fear of backlash, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis and the University of California-Berkeley.

A film crew from NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corp., visited the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis last week to film for a series called “Cosmic Front HOTLINK” about the wonders of the universe. Here, they interview Ernst Zinner, PhD, research professor of physics in Arts & Sciences. He pioneered techniques to study tiny bits of matter from stars that died before the solar system was born.

Steven Fazzari, PhD, a leading scholar on the relationship between rising income inequality and macroeconomic trends in the United States, will be chair of the recently re-established Department of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, Barbara A. Schaal, PhD, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, has announced.