Arts & Sciences

Their project investigates the relationship between power and self-presentation by asking women to respond to a seemingly simple question.

Dhomhnaill has been hailed by the Irish Literary Supplement as the “most acclaimed Gaelic poet of the century”; Akins is the author of four novels.

Fiction writer Ellen Akins will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, for the Writing Program Reading Series. Akins is the author of four novels, including “Home Movie: A Novel” (1988), “Little Women: A Novel” (1990) and “Hometown Brew” (1998), as well as a collection of short stories, “World Like a Knife” (1991).

Two Girls Working, the collaborative team of artists Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki, will screen a documentary about their ongoing project, “Trappings,” at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in Ursa’s Lounge. “Trappings” investigates the relationship between power and self-presentation by asking women to respond to the question “What do you wear that makes you feel powerful?”

Courtesy photoLeslie MorrisLeslie Morris, Ph.D., associate professor of German and director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota, will launch the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences’ 2006 Faculty Fellows’ Lecture and Workshop Series with a pair of events Feb. 16 and 17.

Irish poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, hailed by the Irish Literary Supplement as the “most acclaimed Gaelic poet of the century,” will read from her work at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, for Washington University’s Writing Program Reading Series.

Courtesy photoOliver LakeIn the mid- and late 1960s, the Black Arts Movement emerged as the aesthetic and spiritual corollary to the Black Power philosophy. In St. Louis, Black Artists’ Group (BAG), which flourished between 1968 and 1972, gave rise to a host of nationally recognized figures, including Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill and Hamiet Bluiett of the World Saxophone Quartet. Today, this influential yet little-known collective is undergoing a resurgence of interest, with the reissue of rare BAG recordings on the Ikef, Quakebasket and Atavistic record labels; a new definitive history published by the Missouri Historical Society Press; and an upcoming sypmosium at Washington University in St. Louis.

No one is born highly creative; creativity takes hard work.Do you desire to be a more creative person but don’t think you have the “creative” gene? You may have some hard work ahead, but it’s possible to become the next Walt Disney or Martha Stewart, says an expert on creativity at Washington University in St. Louis. “No one is born highly creative,” says R. Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., associate professor of education and of psychology, both in Arts & Sciences. “Psychologists studying creativity have discovered that it is based on cognitive processes we all share. Creativity is not the result of some magic brain region that some people have and others don’t.” Oxford Press has just released Sawyer’s latest book, “Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation,” a seminal overview of the history of creativity and of research into traits that highly creative people all share.

Photo by Mary ButkusJohn Baugh, director of African and African American Studies, was recently installed as the first Margaret Bush Wilson Professor in Arts & Sciences.

Photo by Bill StoverA graduate student art exhibit titled Offcourse featured the work of some 65 graduate students from numerous disciplines across the University.