Arts & Sciences

WUSTL Photo ServicesAlberto del SazAcclaimed dancer Alberto del Saz, artistic director of the Murray Louis and Nikolais Dance Company as well as co-director of The Nikolais/Louis Foundation for Dance, will teach an open master class in modern dance technique at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio. Del Saz will spend a week on campus to set choreography for “Tensile Involvement,” a signature work by the innovative multimedia choreographer Alwin Nikolais (1910-1993).

Live from the fabulous Hotel Astor in New York City, it’s “The 1940s Radio Hour”! In October, the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will present Walton Jones’ nostalgic ode to the glory days of big band music, swing dancing and backstage antics as its fall Mainstage production.

Michael Widlanski, Ph.D., a former New York Times and Cox News reporter with 20 years’ experience reporting on the Middle East, will discuss “The Big Mouth Theory: Communication Power in the Global Arena” as he delivers the second annual Schusterman Lecture at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 8 in Wilson Hall, Room 214.

Zarqa Nawaz knows something about crossing cultures. Born in England of Pakistani immigrants, raised in Toronto, and now living in Saskatchewan, the Muslim writer, producer and filmmaker will give the annual Olin Fellows lecture at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 in Graham Chapel. The talk, “Crossing Cultures” is free and open to the public. A panel discussion featuring Nawaz as well as other panelists will continue the discussion from 2 – 4 p.m. in the Women’s Building Lounge.

In a continuing effort to make science accessible to the general public, the Department of Physics and University College, both in Arts & Sciences, are offering their annual fall Science Saturdays lecture series. Beginning this Saturday, Sept. 29, four faculty members will describe their research on successive Saturdays.

David Kilper/WUSTL PhotoRaymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, and chair of earth and planetary sciences (left), and Dong Shuwen, Ph.D., vice president of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, sign an agreement between Arvdison’s department and the Academy.The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS) have signed a research agreement that will involve collaboration on a number of research thrusts, travel between the two institutions, and eventually student exchanges that could lead to some Chinese students attaining doctorates from Washington University in St. Louis. The agreement was signed Sept. 18 at a ceremony and reception held on the third floor of the Earth and Planetary Sciences building.

Zarqa Nawaz knows something about crossing cultures. Born in England of Pakistani immigrants, raised in Toronto, and now living in Saskatchewan, the Muslim writer, producer and filmmaker will give the annual Olin Fellows lecture at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 in Graham Chapel. The talk, “Crossing Cultures” is free and open to the public. A panel discussion featuring Nawaz as well as other panelists will continue the discussion from 2 – 4 p.m. in the Women’s Building Lounge.

“It is unlikely that a dispute over proper ownership of sports memorabilia would receive this sort of attention if it did not involve O.J. Simpson,” says Christopher A. Bracey, associate professor of law and of African and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “If the past is prologue, his celebrity status may also prove to be his ‘get out of jail free’ card, reinforcing his reputation as a man who operates ‘above the law.’ On the other hand, recent celebrity cases suggest that celebrated athletes and entertainers will no longer receive a free pass when it comes to the criminal justice system. In the case of Michael Vick — and perhaps OJ — one might argue that celebrities are now, in some sense, being targeted for prosecution.” Bracey is following the Simpson case and is available for interviews.

In science, it’s best to be good, but sometimes it’s better to be lucky. Ecologist Owen Sexton, Ph.D., professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences, had just completed a census of snakes at a conservation preserve northwest of St. Louis when the great flood of 1993 deluged the area, putting the preserve at least 15 feet under water. The flood provided Sexton with a rare opportunity: His collected data and the flood would combine to make “the perfect study” of how an area rebounds from natural disaster.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo ServicesKaylin Boosalis as Ginger BrooksLive from the fabulous Hotel Astor in New York City, it’s The 1940s Radio Hour! Set against the backdrop of World War II, Walton Jones’ nostalgic ode to the glory days of big band music follows a group of broadcast has-beens and wannabes as they attempt to make it big on the “Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade.” Mimicing an actual radio broadcast, the show features nearly two dozen classic songs, including “Blue Moon,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Old Black Magic,” as well as comedy segments, radio plays and period commercials.