Arts & Sciences

Fiction writer Sigrid Nunez, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature, will read from her work March 30 and speak on the craft of fiction April 4. Nunez is the author of five novels, including the acclaimed The Last of Her Kind (2006), A Feather on the Breath of God (1995) and Mitz (1998).

Courtesy photoMartha SandweissMartha Sandweiss, Ph.D., professor of history and American studies at Amherst College, will speak on “Western Photographs, National Culture” March 23,for the Faculty Fellows Lecture and Workshop Series, presented by the Center for the Humanities Arts & Sciences. In addition, Sandweiss will lead a graduate student workshop on “American Material Culture: Reading Photographs from Local Collections” March 24.

Olafur EliassonOlafur Eliasson’s *Weather Project*Olafur Eliasson, one of the most challenging and celebrated artists of his generation, will kick-off After the Digital Divide: German Aesthetic Theory in the Age of New Media, a three-day symposium on aesthetics and new media at Washington University March 30 to April 1. The symposium will feature more than 20 artists, art historians, museum professionals and new media experts from across the United States and Germany.

John LaRueSusannahThe Washington University Opera will present Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, which updates the biblical story of Susannah and the Elders to 1940s Appalachia, March 24 and 25. The story centers on an attractive but innocent girl of 19 who is observed bathing by a group of male church elders. The men falsely accuse Susannah of sinfulness and “loose” behavior, ostracizing her from the life of the town.

Alexander Calandra, Ph.D., professor emeritus of physical science in physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, died Wednesday, March 8, 2006. Calandra, who joined WUSTL in 1947 and retired in 1979, was nationally known for his work in science education. He was 95.

Boris Nemtsov will address liberal politics and market reforms in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States during a talk in Graham Chapel.

The series will consist of four feature films and four short films from seven different African nations; all screenings are free and begin at 7 p.m. in Brown Hall.

Courtesy photo*African Middleweights*Washington University will host the African Film Festival’s renowned Traveling Film Series March 23-26. The series consists of four feature films and four shorts from seven different African nations, addressing themes on colonialism, urbanization and youth subcultures erupting from the ironies of contemporary life.

His March 9 lecture is part of the Faculty Fellows Lecture and Workshop Series, presented by The Center for the Humanities Arts & Sciences.

The program in Holmes Lounge will feature Second Suite for the King’s Supper, Pan and Syrinx, The Sleep of Ulysses and Suite for The Imaginary Invalid.