Arts & Sciences

With Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on the way out of power, Italian debt has risen to record levels with few solutions in sight. An economist at Washington University in St. Louis who was born and raised in Italy warns that the Italian troubles may foreshadow what’s at stake for the United States as well, no matter how much more reliable its public debt may appear today.

Last January two amateur meteorite hunters dropped by Randy Korotev’s office at Washington University in St. Louis to show him their latest purchase, a 17-kilogram pallasite meteorite found in 2006 near Conception Junction (population 202) in northwest Missouri.Korotev, an expert in lunar meteorites, identified the stone as a piece of an asteroid. His lab also analyzed crystals within the rock to help identify its body of origin, eventually referring the meteorite hunters to UCLA for analysis of the metal in which the crystals are embedded.

Two engineering faculty have been chosen for I-CARES career development awards: John Fortner, PhD, and Brent Williams, PhD, both assistant professors in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering. I-CARES, the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability, was established in 2007 to encourage interdisciplinary research on problems in the fields of energy, environment and sustainability.

The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis has appointed two new deans, according to Richard J. Smith, PhD, dean of the graduate school and the Ralph E. Morrow Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology. Rafia Zafar, PhD, has been named associate dean for diversity and inclusiveness, and Jacaranda van Rheenen, PhD, is assistant dean for graduate student affairs.

The following are among the new faculty members at Washington University in St. Louis: Parag Banerjee, PhD; Danielle Dutton, PhD; Josh Jackson, PhD; Kristina Kleutghen, PhD; Charlie Kurth, PhD; Zhao Ma, PhD; Paulo Natenzon, PhD; Jay Ponder, PhD; Elizabeth Quinn, PhD; and Lucia Strader, PhD. Others will be introduced periodically.

Is it a comic book? A radio play? A conquering sludge monster from outer space? Yes! The Intergalactic Nemesis: Live-Action Graphic Novel is all that and more. Follow intrepid reporter Molly Sloan, her trusty assistant Timmy Mendez and mysterious librarian Ben Wilcott as they race against time and fight to save humanity from impending invasion. The resistance begins at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, as part of the Edison Ovations Series at Washington University.

Washington University in St. Louis recently was named one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright students, based on outcomes of the 2011-2012 competition. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, recently announced the complete list of top-producing colleges and universities in the Oct. 24 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

“Well, Anatol,” says Max, “I envy you.” And what’s not to envy? Anatol is young, rich and good-looking, blessed with charm and taste and a hedonistic nature, unencumbered by family, scruple or employment. Later this month, Washington University’s Performing Arts Department will present an original adaptation of Anatol, Arthur Schnitzler’s strikingly modern deconstruction of a dapper but self-deluding would-be Don Juan.

In American Romances, her 13th book and first collection of essays, Rebecca Brown bobs and weaves though 300 years of American history, mixing social and literary critique with pop culture, autobiography, playful fantasy and misremembered movie plots, riffing on the stories we tell and the stories we don’t. At 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, Brown will read from her work as part of The Writing Program’s fall Reading Series.

Greece’s government is teetering on the brink of collapse, backing away Nov. 3 from a referendum on staying in the Euro. While events continue to evolve and change rapidly, Greece is likely to default on its entire debt, says an economist at Washington University in St. Louis.