Arts & Sciences

Photo by David Kilper / WUSTL PhotoResearchers have enabled a 14-year-old to play a two-dimensional video game using signals from his brain instead of his hands.Teenage boys and computer games go hand-in-hand. Now, a St. Louis-area teenage boy and a computer game have gone hands-off, thanks to a unique experiment conducted by a team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, and engineers at Washington University in St. Louis. The boy, a 14-year-old who suffers from epilepsy, is the first teenager to play a two-dimensional video game, Space Invaders, using only the signals from his brain to make movements. More…

Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer Steven Millhauser, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will read from his work at 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 12. In addition, Millhauser will speak on the craft of fiction at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19.

Courtesy photoWilliam Jay SmithWilliam Jay Smith, a Washington University alumnus and former Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress (the position now known as the U.S. Poet Laureate), will read from his work at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Olin Library’s Ginkgo Reading Room. In addition, Smith will speak on “My Friend, Tom: Tennessee Williams in St. Louis” — recounting his time as a classmate of the great playwright and fellow Washington University alumnus — at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, in Hurst Lounge, Room 201, Duncker Hall.

The New York Times named The Cottagers as an “Editor’s Choice,” praising Klimasewiski’s intricate prose and clever plotting.

In October, the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences’ Dance Program will host a weeklong series of public events with Gary Galbraith and Bonnie Oda Homsey, both former principal dancers with the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Martha Graham (1894-1991) is among the most acclaimed choreographers of the 20th century. In October, the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences’ Dance Program will host a weeklong series of public events with Gary Galbraith and Bonnie Oda Homsey, both former principal dancers with the Martha Graham Dance Company.

The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will mark the centennial year of the birth of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) with a concert Oct. 15. The program includes several of his most popular chamber works, cinclude Cello Sonata in D minor, op. 40; Piano Quintet in G minor, op. 57; and two scenes from the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.

Courtesy photoMarshall KlimasewiskiMarshall Klimasewiski, writer-in-residence in The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will read from The Cottagers, his debut novel, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, for The Writing Program Reading Series.

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

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