Arts & Sciences

Humorist and author of American culture, Sarah Vowell, will read from her work at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8, in Graham Chapel. Vowell will read from her work, which often explores fundamental questions of American history, politics and cultural identity. A Q&A session and book signing will follow.

Can instrumental music communicate specific information? The question is not only academic, says Michael Beckerman, professor of music at New York University, who has studied music at the Terezin concentration camp. On Oct. 8, Beckerman will discuss “Terezin, Land of Invisible Texts” for the Department of English in Arts & Sciences. The talk is held in memory of Richard Stang, professor emeritus in English, who passed away last year.

Barry Commoner, a biologist at WUSTL from 1947-1981, died Sept. 30, 2012, in Manhattan. He was 95. Commoner was a professor of plant physiology and of environmental studies, both in Arts & Sciences. According to The New York Times, Commoner was “a founder of modern ecology and one of its most provocative thinkers and mobilizers in making environmentalism a people’s political cause.”

“Improvisation isn’t matter of just making any ol’ thing up,” jazz great Wynton Marsalis once observed. “Jazz, like any language, has its own grammar and vocabulary.” On Thursday, Oct. 4, guitarist William Lenihan and poet Eileen G’Sell will put that analogy to the test with “The New Beat Generation,” an evening of improvised music and poetry, presented as part of the Jazz at Holmes Series.

At the turn of the last century, Australian composer Percy Aldridge Grainger developed a fascination with folk music of the British Isles. Among the results was Molly on the Shore, an arrangement of two traditional Irish reels, or dances. On Oct. 7, the Washington University Wind Ensemble will perform Molly on the Shore as part of a free concert marking the public debut of new conductor Chris Becker.

Provost Edward S. Macias, PhD, has announced that Barbara A. Schaal, PhD, the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences, will become the university’s next dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, effective Jan. 1, 2013. Schaal succeeds Gary S. Wihl, the Hortense & Tobias Lewin Distinguished Professor in the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, who will be on leave beginning Jan. 1, 2013.

“Who is this Mr. Head and where can I find more of his beautiful music?” As host of From the Top, NPR’s classical showcase, Christoper O’Riley could not resist a subversive impulse. Amidst the Bach and Brahms, the virtuoso pianist inserted his own Radiohead transcriptions. Curious fans began phoning in. On Oct. 12, O’Riley and fellow classical pioneer Matt Haimovitz will present Shuffle.Play.Listen., their latest genre-busting collaboration, as part of the Edison Ovations Series.​

In 1958, Alvin Ailey and a small group of dancers staged a performance at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. The concert helped revolutionize perceptions of African-American dancers, and led to the founding of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Next week, Sylvia Waters, a former principal dancer with the company, will be on campus as part of the Alvin Ailey Legacy Residency, hosted by the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences.

Chelsea Clinton announced during the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York on Sept. 25 that Washington University in St. Louis will serve as the host of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), April 5-7, 2013, on the Danforth Campus.  President Bill Clinton launched CGI U in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world. Each year, CGI U hosts a meeting where students, youth organizations, topic experts, and celebrities discuss solutions to pressing global issues.

Clara McLeod (right) greets Jane Ervin, the widow of John B. Ervin, after Ervin spoke at the Ervin Scholars Program 25th Anniversary Celebration Banquet, held Sept. 15 at St. Louis Union Station Marriott. McLeod’s husband, the late James E. McLeod, founded the Ervin Scholars Program in 1987 to pay tribute to WUSTL’s first African-American dean, John B. Ervin, PhD.