Arts & Sciences

Early childhood education advocates have a new weapon at their disposal. Recent research by an economics professor at Washington University in St. Louis provides evidence that preprimary education leads to more years spent in school based on the experience of children from relatively disadvantaged households in Uruguay.

Washington University alumna Kathleen Finneran, author of the memoir The Tender Land: A Family Love Story (2003), will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, for the Writing Program in Arts & Sciences.

Courtesy photoJoyce Carol OatesJoyce Carol Oates, one of America’s most important and distinguished authors, three times nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature, will deliver the keynote address, titled “The Writer’s (Secret) Life: Woundedness, Rejection, and Inspiration,” for “Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors,” Washington University’s sixth annual faculty book colloquium.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo(Left to right) Cindy Richard-Fogal, Ph.D., research scientist in biology in Arts & Sciences, Elaine Frawley, graduate research assistant, and Robert Kranz, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, examine an *E. coli* culture.Robert G. Kranz, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded two grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study pathways in bioenergy conversion. The first, for $1,203,250, is a long-term NIH R01 renewal that began Aug. 1 titled “Cytochrome c Biogenesis.” The renewal award means that NIH has funded Kranz continuously for 22 years.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo Services*Tensile Involvement* by Alwin NikolaisWashington University Dance Theatre, the annual showcase of professionally choreographed works performed by student dancers, will present rEvolutions, its 2007 concert, Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 in Edison Theatre. rEvolutions will feature more than 50 dancers, selected by audition, performing seven works by faculty and guest choreographers. These include original pieces by visiting dancers Diadié Bathily and Paula Weber, as well as a new setting of Alwin Nikolais’ classic Tensile Involvement (1953).

The Center for the Humanities and Program in Film & Media Studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will host the Fourth Annual Children’s Film Symposium Thursday and Saturday, Nov. 15 and 17. Presented in conjunction with Cinema St. Louis, the event will feature a keynote address by Neal Gabler, author of “Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination” and a Q&A with Marion Comer, writer and director of the film “48 Angels” (2006).

The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will present two concerts in its newly opened 560 Music Center. Noted pianist Seth Carlin, professor of music, will present a solo piano recital at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17. In addition, the Washington University Symphony Orchestra will perform works by Schubert, Franck and Britten at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18.

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoA math problem review session at the Kumon-Ladue math program on Clayton Road in Ladue.Parents of school-aged children might want to think of giving their children an enduring holiday gift this year: enrollment in a supplemental mathematics program. While it can cost anywhere from $80 to $110 a month, the results of practicing mathematics nearly daily is rewarding to both students and parents. In fact, parents might be even bigger recipients of this gift than their children. While their children gain self-esteem and confidence, the parents very likely will feel a sense of relief and pride in their children’s accomplishment.

The anthropological works of Glenn Conroy, Ph.D., professor of anatomy and neurobiology and of anthropology, are on display through January 2008 in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center.

Glenn Conroy and Jane Phillips-Conroy with their awards for outstanding teachingHis modest demeanor provides little hint of neither his brilliant career nor the ivy-paved path that serendipitously led him to Washington University in St. Louis more than 20 years ago. A renowned anthropologist, Glenn Conroy, Ph.D., has been gathering valuable fossil remains of humans and non-human primates for more than 30 years. Some of his best work is on display through January in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center (See it now).