Arts & Sciences

Paul Dowkontt (left) of the Department of Physics in Arts & Sciences is congratulated by Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton April 11 as he receives a wrapped silver platter in recognition of his 25 years of service to Washington University at the 2012 25th Anniversary Reception.

What is the American Dream’s role in today’s society? Experts from Washington University in St. Louis will explore this question in a panel discussion at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, in Brown Hall Lounge on the Danforth Campus. Panelists are Steven Fazzari, PhD, professor of economics in Arts & Sciences; Carter W. Lewis, playwright-in-residence in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences; and Mark R. Rank, PhD, the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at the Brown School.

In an article published in the advance online edition of Genes, Brain and Behavior on April 6, 2012, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis and his colleagues demonstrate that the division of labor among honeybees is correlated with the presence in their brains of tiny snippets of noncoding RNA, called micro-RNAs, or miRNAs, that suppress the expression of genes.

John R. Bowen, PhD, a sociocultural anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis, has been selected for a prestigious fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Bowen, the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor in Arts & Sciences, was among the 181 Guggenheim Fellows chosen in 2012 from nearly 3,000 scholars, artists and scientists in the United States and Canada.

President Barack Obama lately has been arguing for increased taxes on the rich through his proposed “Buffett Rule,” which would ensure that millionaires and billionaires pay a minimum effective tax rate of 30 percent on their income. Most Americans, including supporters of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, support such a move, finds The American Panel Survey (TAPS), a new Washington University in St. Louis survey.

It is a moment of rising inequality. The widening gap between aristocratic haves and discontented have-nots threatens to replace the social contract with a powder keg. As You Like It is among Shakespeare’s most popular works, but it is more than just a pastoral romance. So says Annamaria Pileggi, senior lecturer in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, who will direct the show April 20-29 in Edison Theatre.

Mara MacMahon has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 Harrison D. Stalker Award from the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. The award is given annually to a graduating biology major whose undergraduate career has been marked by outstanding scientific scholarship as well as contributions to the university in the areas of artistic expression or community service.

Nearly 850 area high school students and their teachers will be on campus Thursday, April 12, for the 36th annual German Day. Students will compete in a variety of activities, including a Declamation Contest (poetry recitation), spelling bees, skits, student videos, poster contests and a Schnitzeljagd (scavenger hunt) before enjoying lunch on campus.

As the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic draws near, Gaylyn Studlar, PhD, director of Film and Media Studies in Arts & Sciences, discusses film adaptations of the event and why James Cameron’s Titanic has become the iconic version of the tragedy, as well as the changing tastes of movie-goers and how they may impact the 3D re-release of Cameron’s film.

At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she’d lost everything. Her mother died of cancer, her family scattered in grief and her marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, Strayed made an impulsive decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail alone. The story of that journey, from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State, is told in Wild, Strayed’s New York Times bestselling memoir. On April 12, Strayed will read from her work for The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences.