Arts & Sciences

Smith As the White House pleads for bipartisan support of a massive federal stimulus plan, congressional Democrats and Republicans are maneuvering, strategizing, nervously seeking partners in an awkward legislative first dance that may determine whether Barack Obama makes good on his promise to bring change to Washington, suggests Steven S. Smith, a congressional expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

HaskinA crater on the moon has been named after the late Larry Haskin, Ph.D., who spent much of his career as a WUSTL researcher in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences.

CoplandWashington University’s Jazz at Holmes will present internationally acclaimed musicians Marc Copland, Gary Peacock and Bill Stewart in concert at 8 p.m. Feb. 13 in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center in University City.

Boldrin In a full-page ad published in major newspapers Jan. 29, more than 200 economists — including two from Washington University in St. Louis — politely reject President Obama’s stimulus package calling for increased government action to jumpstart the economy.

Those looking to learn more about President Barack Obama and gain an introduction to African-American writing are advised to check out two new books, “Best African American Fiction: 2009” and “Best African American Essays: 2009.”

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoFor the first time, WUSTL scientists have used gold nanocages to map sentinel lymph nodes in a rat noninvasively using photoacoustic tomography.

Steven C. Hause, Ph.D., senior scholar in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis, has received the Innovative Entrepreneurship Education Course Award from the U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship for his course, “Economic History and Entrepreneurialism in Modern Western Civilization.”

A new brain-imaging study is shedding light on what it means to “get lost” in a good book — suggesting that readers create vivid mental simulations of the sounds, sights, tastes and movements described in a textual narrative while simultaneously activating brain regions used to process similar experiences in real life.

What is the proper role of American higher education in shaping the values and ambitions of a free democratic society, and more specifically, what are Washington University’s responsibilities as a citizen of the greater St. Louis community, the nation and the world? Getting the campus and surrounding community to reflect on these questions is the goal of the Master of Liberal Arts program’s “Democracy and the University” seminar series.

Gary S. Wihl, Ph.D., dean of Rice University’s School of Humanities and a highly respected scholar and academic leader, will become dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences on July 1, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. “Gary Wihl brings his many talents as both an accomplished scholar and an experienced administrator to Washington University at a very important time in our history,” Wrighton said.