Arts & Sciences

Pamela Barmash, interim chair of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern studies in WashU Arts & Sciences, has been elected president of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew.

The Black Rep will launch its 50th anniversary season Sept. 11 with the Tony Award-winning musical “The Color Purple” in WashU’s Edison Theatre.

Hester Blum follows literary questions beyond the archive and into the environments that shaped them. A leading scholar of environmental humanities, Blum is the Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Professor of English in WashU Arts & Sciences.

The Center for the Humanities and the Department of African and African American Studies, both in WashU Arts & Sciences, will launch a yearlong Sawyer Seminar on “Black Studies and the Future of the American University” Sept. 10.

Sociologist Elizabeth Chiarello, in WashU Arts & Sciences, was honored by both the American Sociological Association and the Institute for Advanced Study for her work at the intersection of patient care and criminal justice.

WashU researchers are working on ways to use machine learning to not just make predictions about potential chemical compounds but also to model out the synthesis of those materials.

Scheduled to launch Aug. 30, scientists will use Roman to settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets and astrophysics. WashU plays a key role in four new projects.

Biologist Keith Hengen, in WashU Arts & Sciences, is applying lessons from the brain to next-generation quantum sensors through a U.S. Department of Energy-funded project.

Marilyn and Gary Ratkin are the recipients of the 2026 Jane and Whitney Harris St. Louis Community Service Award. The award recognizes couples who contribute to the culture and welfare of the greater St. Louis community in an outstanding manner.

Joanna Dee Das, an associate professor of performing arts in WashU Arts & Sciences, has won the 2026 Book Award from the International Society for the Study of Musicals.