Arts & Sciences

Poet Martha Collins will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, for The Writing Program Reading Series. Collins is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Blue Front (2006). The book-length poem is based on a November 1909 lynching that was witnessed by her father, then a five-year-old boy who sold fruit in front of the Blue Front Restaurant in Cairo, IL.

Paul LairdPaul Laird, Ph.D., director of the Division of Musicology at the University of Kansas, will speak on “What Was — And Is — the Baroque Cello?” at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2. Laird is the author of Towards a History of the Spanish Villancico (1997), Leonard Bernstein: A Guide to Research (2002) and The Baroque Cello Revival: An Oral History (2004).

Steven SmithPresident George W. Bush’s State of the Union address on Jan. 23 may be remembered as one of the least consequential State of the Union addresses in a generation, but its presentation could open the door on a period of real legislative compromise as both parties struggle to boster reputations in advance of the 2008 elections, suggests Steven Smith, an expert on congressional politics at Washington University in St. Louis. Video Available

Below is a link to the Washington University news release about the U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings for 2004-05: http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/3627.html To view a full listing of U.S. News magazine, book and Web-only rankings for 2004-05, please visit the U.S. News & World Report site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

The Washington University Chamber Orchestra will present a free public concert at 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 22. The program will include music of George Frideric Handel, Camille Saint-Saens, Samuel Barber and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Ray Bradbury’s vision of the future was a scary one indeed. Of course, that’s the point of being a science-fiction writer, but in his classic Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury wrote about firemen who didn’t necessarily put out fires. Rather, they started them in order to burn books and suppress learning and knowledge. The book is the centerpiece of a National Endowment for the Arts-supported program in February. “The Big Read,” hosted by the University in partnership with several local organizations, will feature lectures, readings, art exhibits, theater productions, book discussion groups and film festivals featuring the themes of Bradbury’s novel.

Rafia Zafar, Ph.D., professor of English, of African & African American studies and of American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture abroad during the 2007 spring semester.

Stardust, the NASA spacecraft mission, was given that name in hopes that the seven-year journey to capture comet samples would bring back to Earth, well, stardust. In an article in a special issue of the journal Science, Washington University researchers are the first to report that a sample they received from the mission actually does contain stardust — particles that are older than the sun.

Lawton will launch one of the first events in conjunction with the program when he speaks for the university’s Assembly Series at 11 a.m. Jan. 24, in Graham Chapel. His talk, titled “Burning to Read,” will address the fundamental importance of reading, having choices and of having books both in printed and digital form. In addition, the event will include several staged readings from Fahrenheit 451 performed by English Department professor Dan Shea and Washington University students. The program is free and open to the public. For more information: visit assemblyseries.wustl.edu, or call 314-935-4620.

Ralph Stewart*The Dead Father*Choreographer Paul D. Mosley — artistic director for the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY — will return to St. Louis for the first time in a decade to perform an evening of new and old dance works.