Arts & Sciences

Remembering Einstein’s “miracle year.”The United Nations has declared 2005 the International Year of Physics — and there’s a very good reason why this particular year was chosen to raise worldwide public awareness of physics. It is also the 100th anniversary of physicist Albert Einstein’s miraculous year in which he wrote five — or three depending on whom you ask — of his most famous scientific papers. Also known as the World Year of Physics, 2005 will feature worldwide events of interest not only to physicists, but also to the general public. Two physicists from Washington University in St. Louis who are both known for their ability to speak and write clearly about physics to the layperson will be giving talks throughout 2005 about Einstein’s ideas and their impact on science and society 100 years later.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo Services*Escape from Happiness*Drugs and alcohol, anger and insanity, police corruption and (semi-) organized crime. Welcome to Escape from Happiness, a darkly comic portrait of a highly idiosyncratic family by Canadian playwright George F. Walker. In November, the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences will present six performances in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre.

“Challenges to Public Education Financing Facing Missouri and the Nation” is the topic of a one-day public forum to be held Nov. 4. Co-sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the event features discussions by nationally recognized academic experts, state legislators and school superintendents. Free and open to the public; reservations required.

The event will feature Dixieland music by St. Louis’ Bourbon Street Band and a talk by Gerald Early on “The Death of Jazz and the Birth of New Orleans.”

EpsteinHarriet Miers withdrawal from consideration for the U.S. Supreme Court is not surprising given the fact that she ranks among the least qualified candidates since the nomination of Hugo Black in 1937, according to an analysis by authors of a new book on the politics of Supreme Court nominations. “Despite the tremendous importance of politics in Supreme Court nominations, the single most important determinant of a successful confirmation is the qualifications of the nominee,” suggests Lee Epstein, WUSTL Supreme Court expert and co-author of “Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments.”

Neil GiordanoAnita SilveyAnita Silvey, one of the nation’s leading experts on children’s literature, will speak on “100 Best Books for Children: Our Greatest Children’s Books and the Stories Behind Them,” for The Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9. The illustrated lecture stems from Silvey’s recent book, 100 Best Books for Children (2004), an in-depth survey of children’s literature from 1902 to 2002. In addition, Gerald Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the Center for the Humanities, will discuss the center’s new Children’s Studies minor, which begins offering classes in spring 2006.

The Association for Political Theory’s conference Oct. 21-22 is designed to foster “intellectual sociability” among scholars.

The Association for Political Theory’s conference Oct. 21-22 is designed to foster “intellectual sociability” among scholars.

Matthew Coolidge, founder and director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Los Angeles, will be participating.

Photo by Jennifer Weisbord/WUSTLChancellor Mark. S. Wrighton announces the formation of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy at a news conference Oct. 19 in New York.The Academy partners a major American university with top foreign universities and leading multinational corporations.