Arts & Sciences

Who is Mónica de la Torre? A disappeared subversive? A funk-dancing cheerleader? In “Doubles,” the poet and visiting Hurst Professor of Creative Writing asks that very question, in the form of a sly email exchange.

Washington University faculty and administrators with ideas for improving the campus environment for women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and other diverse groups are encouraged to apply for a Diversity and Inclusion Grant. The deadline is Oct. 29. Professor Gerald Early (right) speaks at a discussion on the “Delmar Divide,” one of the winning Diversity and Inclusion Grant proposals last year.

The Online College Database has named Washington University in St. Louis one of “50 Colleges Committed to Saving the Planet” in recognition of its new environmental policy major. The College Database called the major “a rigorous journey through the tangled web of politics, bureaucracies, public opinion, regulation, the global political economy, sustainability, global oil battles, climate change, genetically altered foods, air and water quality, and biochemistry.”

Helen Power, PhD, whose career as a lecturer of English and of women’s studies, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, spanned more than 30 years, died Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, after suffering a heart attack at her home in St. Louis. She was 77. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8, in Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall.

Carol Camp Yeakey, PhD, founding director of the interdisciplinary program in Urban Studies and of the Center on Urban Research and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, is one of 23 scholars selected as 2013 fellows by the American Educational Research Association.

The Blues and the Abstract Truth by St. Louis saxophonist Oliver Nelson (1932-1975) is among the most influential jazz albums of the 1960s, a masterpiece of blues structure, modern arrangement and post-bop cool. On Thursday, Sept. 12, Washington University will pay tribute to this distinguished alumnus with a free concert at 8 p.m. in Holmes Lounge as part of the Jazz at Holmes series.

Students captured life on campus and abroad for WUSTL’s first summer photo contest. Winning images will be displayed in January Hall next month.

Growing up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was drawn to the itinerant musicians known as chorões, whose improvised concerts filled the streets and cafes. On Sept. 16, the Danforth University Center will launch its fall Chamber Music Series with Villa-Lobos’ Choros No. 2, as well as works by Emmanuel, Debussy, Schmitt and Saint-Saëns.

The seas have risen and covered the earth. A few soaked survivors cling to mountaintops and tall buildings. So begin The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer, an inventive, heartwarming and visually spectacular tale by Australia’s Tim Watts. On Oct. 5, this acclaimed one-man-show, part environmental parable, part Orpheus and Eurydice, will launch Edison’s ovations for young people series.

A panel discussion, titled “Conversations on Gender and Blackness in the Age of Trayvon Martin,” will open WUSTL’s African and African-American Studies fall colloquium series at 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge. WUSTL faculty will lead the discussion, which includes a coffee reception at 10 a.m.