Arts & Sciences

*Princess of the Sun* (2007)Washington University’s Center for the Humanities and Program in Film & Media Studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will host their Sixth Annual Children’s Film Symposium Saturday, Nov. 21. Titled “An Exploration of Children’s Films and Their Audiences,” the symposium is presented in conjunction with Cinema St. Louis and will feature five screenings as well as a Q&A with Michael Barrier, an animation and comics historian and author of The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney (2007).

Were dinosaurs “warm-blooded” like present-day mammals and birds, or “cold-blooded” like present day lizards? The implications of this simple-sounding question go beyond deciding whether or not you’d snuggle up to a dinosaur on a cold winter’s evening. In a study published this week in the journal PLoS ONE, a team of researchers, including Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has found strong evidence that many dinosaur species were probably warm-blooded.

Pulitzer Prize-winning essayist and literary critic Louis Menand will present the keynote address for “Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors,” the University’s eighth annual faculty book colloquium, at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, in Graham Chapel.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, the great French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) emerged as one of the most celebrated women of her day, known for a signature acting style based on grand, theatrical gestures and a famously melodious voice. On Nov. 22 the Washington University Symphony Orchestra will highlight a series of rarely heard works originally composed for “The Divine Sarah,” who commissioned and revived dozens of musical scores to accompany her plays.

Trombones of the Saint Louis SymphonyThe Trombones of the Saint Louis Symphony are one of the nation’s leading brass chamber ensembles, dedicated to elevating the status of the trombone quartet and to expanding the trombone quartet repertoire. At 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, the group will present a free concert at Washington University, with a program spanning four centuries.

Washington University in St. Louis will host a national conference on “America’s Urban Infrastructure: Confronting Her Challenges, Embracing Her Opportunities” Nov. 19 and 20 in the Danforth University Center. The event, hosted by a consortium of nine WUSTL schools, departments, centers and programs, is free and open to the public.

A. Edward Nussbaum, Ph.D., professor emeritus of mathematics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He was 84.

Pulitzer Prize-winning essayist and literary critic Louis Menand will present the keynote address for “Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors,” the university’s eighth annual faculty book colloquium, at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, in Graham Chapel. The event — organized by the Center for the Humanities and University Libraries — also will feature presentations by faculty members William Lowry, Ph.D., professor of political science, and Lori Watt, Ph.D., assistant professor of history and International & Area Studies.

An award for the St. Louis Public Schools’ social studies teacher of the year has been named in honor of David T. Konig, Ph.D., professor of history, of African & African American Studies and director of the Legal Studies Program, all in Arts & Sciences, and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Critic and curator Yve-Alain Bois, Ph.D., a widely recognized expert on 20th century European and American art, will present a lecture titled “Chance Encounters: John Cage, Francois Morellet, Ellsworth Kelly” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, in Steinberg Hall Auditorium.