Special Educational and Cultural Resources

Washington University in St. Louis contributes to the cultural life of the region by sponsoring performances, lectures, concerts, seminars, exhibits, and other programs that are available to the community. More than 550 public lectures are given each year by members of academic departments on campus.

Libraries
The John M. Olin Library and 13 specialized libraries constitute the most comprehensive research and teaching library system in the region. The combined holdings number nearly 3.8 million books, bound periodical volumes, and U.S. government publications; more than 3.4 million microforms; more than 100,000 audiovisual items; more than 167,000 photographs and architectural drawings; more than 117,000 maps; more than 51,000 print and online journals; and more than 15,000 linear feet of manuscript items.

The libraries are open to the public. A person who is not affiliated with the University may obtain a card for a fee or borrow books under a reciprocal borrowing program with local academic and public libraries. Anyone with online access may search Washington University Libraries' catalog through library.wustl.edu to explore various digital collections and view a wide array of online resources.

Members of the business, law, and social work communities often use resources in the libraries serving those disciplines. Local artists and architects consult collections in the Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library. Physicians, scientists, and engineers call upon the University's collections in medicine, science, and technology. Groups and classes from outside the University visit Special Collections to study rare books, modern manuscripts, artists' books, or other unique collections. The Film & Media Archives is a one-of-a-kind resource for persons researching civil rights, the African-American experience, and other key 20th-century issues documented in the films of Henry Hampton and Bill Miles. On any given day in Washington University's many libraries, students, educators, and book lovers browse the print collections, consult a vast array of print and online resources, and get help finding information from expert staff members.

Washington University Libraries participate in MOBIUS, a consortium of more than 60 academic libraries across Missouri. The MOBIUS catalog, searchable online, lists the holdings of all the member libraries, allowing current faculty members and students to request books. The effect: vastly increasing the number of resources available statewide, which benefits thousands of Missourians each year.

Finally, Washington University Libraries host exhibitions, talks, workshops, panel discussions, and other events throughout the year. Most of these events are free and open to the public.

Edison Theatre
Built in 1973, Edison Theatre is today one of the Midwest's foremost university-based presenters of professional performing artists. The theatre features both high-quality artists and alternative, innovative performances otherwise not available in the St. Louis area. The 2009-10 season features David Dorfman Dance, ScrapArtsMusic, Aquila Theatre Company, among others. The theater, a valuable community resource, annually attracts more than 16,000 people to its professional and student-acted performances.

Art
The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, dates back to 1881, making it the oldest art museum west of the Mississippi River. Today the Kemper Art Museum holds important paintings, scuptures, photographs, and installations by 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American and European artists, along with significant antiquities and a large number of prints and drawings. The museum has curated major national and international touring exhibitions from the permanent collection and is the site of public events throughout the school year, drawing an average of 40,000 visitors annually. In addition, the museum provides workspace for faculty and student-curated exhibitions relating to current art, architecture, and art history courses.

Art's University Lofts building, 1627 Washington Ave., is a major hub for the downtown art scene, housing 26 live-work studios for emerging visual artists as well as the Des Lee Gallery, one of the region's most prominent noncommercial venues. In recent years the Des Lee Gallery has earned a national reputation for exhibiting work by local and internationally known contemporary artists and been voted Best Gallery by readers of The Riverfront Times.

Other public programs include the first-of-its-kind University City Sculpture Series, which allows art students to propose, build, and install artwork in public spaces throughout Washington University's northern neighbor. The Fashion Design Show, held annually since 1929, is a fully choreographed, Paris-style extravaganza featuring dozens of professional and volunteer models wearing outfits created by junior and senior fashion design majors.

Music
Washington University in St. Louis performs more than 60 concerts each year, all open to the public and most free of charge. The 560 Music Center on Delmar contains three performance spaces that can accommodate solo recitals to full orchestra concerts: the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall seats 1,115, the Multi-Purpose Theatre up to 400, the Recital Hall 75. The University's Opera Class enjoys a special reputation for its spring productions.

The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences enjoys close ties with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and local groups specializing in such fields as jazz or contemporary music.

Major Speakers
The University brings distinguished speakers to the Washington campus, free of charge to the public. In recent years Assembly Series speakers have included psychologist and educator Na'im Akbar, writer Sherman Alexie, international jurist Louise Arbour, conceptual artist damali ayo, science philosopher John Beatty, political analyst Ann Coulter, anthropologist Carole Counihan, author Susan Faludi, foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman, novelist Carlos Fuentes, reporter Seymour Hersh, dancer Bonnie Oda Homsey, astronaut Mae Jemison, political analyst William Kristol, historian David Levering Lewis, marine biologist Jane Lubchenco, comedian Cheech Marin, author Bharati Mukherjee, baseball manager Tony LaRussa, author Anchee Min, physicist Alan Lightman, cartoonist Mike Peters, music director David Robertson, media satirist Mo Rocca, poet and playwright Ntozake Shange, economist Hernando de Soto, documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, scientist Steven Strogatz, and veteran writer and humorist Calvin Trillin.

Center for the Humanities
The Center for the Humanities is dedicated to promoting and preserving humanistic thinking and the pursuit of letters. To achieve its goals, the center sponsors a visiting writers series featuring biographers, essayists, music critics, journalists, novelists, and poets, as well as an annual celebration of publications by Washington University faculty and faculty luncheon talks. In addition, the center organizes conferences like the recent "The Coldest War in the Cold War: Remembering the Korean Conflict, 1950-1953," held in partnership with the Missouri Historical Society. The center also publishes Belles Lettres, a bimonthly literary review, and The Figure in the Carpet, a monthly calendar of literary events in St. Louis.

Carnivals and Festivals
Thurtene Carnival is the oldest student-run, charitable carnival in the country. Held annually on the Washington University Danforth Campus, Thurtene draws almost 100,000 people from the St. Louis region. Proceeds from the carnival are donated to various St. Louis charities.

The St. Louis African Arts Festival is a cultural celebration showcasing a variety of art forms, including the visual, performing, and folk arts. A key sponsor of this event since it began in 1991, Washington University joins its co-sponsors in seeking to increase community awareness of the rich and diverse cultures of African peoples as well as the impact of African culture upon various parts of the world.

Sports
All of Washington University's varsity athletic events except football are open to the public without any admission fee. In a typical year, the athletics department sponsors more than 100 spectator events. The football team is one of only two varsity college football teams in St. Louis. Women’s cross country, women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, and softball are consistently ranked among the top NCAA Division III teams in the country.

The volleyball team has won a Division III-record nine national championships since 1989. The men’s basketball team won the Division III National Championship in 2008 and 2009. Also, the men’s tennis team won its first national championship in 2008. The women’s cross country team has recorded four top-four finishes in the last five seasons. The women’s basketball team became the second team in Division III history to win four straight NCAA championships from 1998 to 2001. The 2007 season was a record-breaking year in softball as the Bears advanced to the College World Series for the first time and placed second in Division III.

As a charter member of the University Athletic Association, Washington University brings national prominence and recognition to St. Louis as a competitor among eight of the finest national universities in America: Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Chicago, Emory, New York, and Rochester Universities.

Washington University is 2nd in the 2007–08 United States Sports Academy Directors’ Cup Division III standings of the nation’s best overall collegiate athletic program