Arts & Sciences

Washington University in St Louis chemist Timothy Wencewicz says we’ll stay ahead of antibiotic resistance only if we find drugs with new scaffolds, or core chemical structures. One promising candidate, an antibiotic made by a bacterium than infects plants, caught his attention because it contains an “enchanted ring,” the beta-lactam ring that is found in penicillin. In this drug candidate, however, it acts against a different target than the penicillins.

Eric Lundgren’s debut novel, “The Facades,” has been praised by The New Yorker as “hardboiled existentialism.” Marni Ludwig’s debut collection of poetry, “Pinwheel,” was chosen by Jean Valentine for the 2012 New Issues Poetry Prize. On Thursday, March 6, these two recent alumni will return to campus for a free public reading.

In Brave Genius, biologist Sean Carroll, PhD, AB ’79, moves beyond science and into World War II history, the French Resistance, philosophy and Cold War politics to tell the story of two Nobel Prize winners, biologist Jacques Monod and writer Albert Camus.

Members of the Washington University community follow their research goals to the corners of the world.

Experts weigh in on the definition and context of a popular term.

Jean Allman, PhD, the J.H. Hexter Professor in the Humanities in Arts & Sciences and chair of the Department of History, recently was named director of WUSTL’s Center for the Humanities. Allman shares some thoughts on the center’s ever-growing importance and role in highlighting the rich diversity of the humanities.

Schubert borrowed from Beethoven. Public Enemy sampled Isaac Hayes. Ice Cube quoted Kool and the Gang while Brahms let drop with “Variations on a Theme from Haydn.” Hip-hop and classical music: perhaps not as different as you think. Old news to Wilner “Wil-B” Baptiste and Kevin “Kev Marcus” Sylvester, a.k.a. Black Violin.

WUSTL High School Summer Experiences offers students from the United States and around the world a chance to experience all facets of college life in both for-credit and noncredit options. Programs range from one to five weeks, with both residential and commuter options.

The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is today among the most recognized cancer programs in the U.S. The longstanding support of Alvin Siteman (left) and his wife, Ruth, whose $35 million gift named the center in 1999, has been critical. Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, director of the Siteman Cancer Center, is on the right.

The McDonnell Distinguished Lecture this year will describe current understanding of the formation of the solar system, particularly its mix of rocky planets, gas giants and icy planets. The part of the story we have not nailed down, says speaker Alex N. Halliday, PhD, of Oxford University, is the origin of Earth’s moon. The lecture, which takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in Whitaker Hall, Room 100, is free and open to the public.