Arts & Sciences

Carl Phillips, professor of English in Arts & Sciences and a 2011 finalist for the National Book Award in poetry, reads from his 2011 book Double Shadow during the National Book Awards’ Finalist Reading Nov. 15. Double Shadow — published this past March — is Phillips’ 11th collection of poetry and earned Phillips a fourth nomination for the National Book Award in poetry.

Nicole Aldrich will make her public debut as director of both the Washington University Concert Choir and the new Washington University Chamber Choir in a free performance at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, in Graham Chapel. Titled “Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind: Music for Fall and Winter,” the program will include works by Johann Kuhnau, Giovanni Gabrieli, Gustav Holst and Johannes Brahms, among others.

Peter Wyse Jackson, PhD, was installed as the George Engelmann Professor of Botany in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis in a ceremony held in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, Nov. 21. Wyse Jackson became president of the Missouri Botanical Garden in September 2010 and, by tradition, the president of the garden is also awarded the professorship at WUSTL

Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will present its annual sing-along of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, in Graham Chapel. Nicole Aldrich, director of choral activities, directs the program. The performance, which lasts about an hour, will include the Christmas portion of Messiah as well as the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

The New York Times best-selling historian Douglas Brinkley and New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast will present keynote addresses for “Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors”, Washington University’s 10th annual faculty book colloquium. Organized by the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences and the Washington University Libraries, the colloquium also will feature new book presentations by four faculty authors, as well as a display of all faculty books published during the past three years.

Traditionally, fossil-hunters often could only make educated guesses as to where fossils lie. The rest lay with chance. But thanks to a software model used by WUSTL professor Glenn Conroy, PhD, and researchers at Western Michigan University, fossil-hunters’ reliance on luck when finding fossils may be diminishing. Using artificial neural networks, Conroy and colleagues developed a computer model that can pinpoint productive fossil sites.  

From the Arab spring to the London riots to the ongoing Occupy protests, themes of revolution, unrest and community are very much in the news today. They are also very much in the dance studio, as evidenced by Kinetic Field Work, the 2011 Washington University Dance Theatre concert. The annual showcase, which takes place in Edison Theatre Dec. 2, 3 and 4, will feature more than 50 student dancers, selected by audition, performing new and original works by seven faculty and guest choreographers.

Gary S. Wihl, PhD, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences, has appointed an eight-member committee to identify candidates for the position of dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. James E. McLeod, longtime dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and vice chancellor for students, died Sept. 6. Wolfram Schmidgen, PhD, associate professor of English in Arts & Sciences, has been appointed chair of the search committee.  

Undergraduate students were in St. Louis Nov. 9-12 for the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, designed to encourage undergraduate, post baccalaureate and graduate underrepresented minority students to pursue advanced training in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. Washington University, under the leadership of the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, hosted a visit the Danforth and Medical campuses for about 200 students.

For 56 seasons, the St. Louis Chamber Chorus — which describes itself as the area’s only “itinerant choir” — has devised a cappella programs that allow audiences to both visually and acoustically explore many of St. Louis’ most architecturally significant venues. On Nov. 20, the Chamber Chorus will pay its first visit to Washington University’s 560 Music Center. The concert, titled “A Mentor’s Memory,” will honor the academic setting with a series of works highlighting the relationships between celebrated classical composers and their most influential teachers.