Victories in pharmaceutical research may be life-changing, or they may be very small. Just four stairs, climbed by a child with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), are motivation for Dr. Angelika Fretzen to continue pursuing a drug to regenerate muscle and lessen the effects of the devastating genetic illness.

Her company, Catabasis Pharmaceuticals, measured a 4-step climb as a timed function test and it improved numerically for the boys in the MoveDMD trial. The ability to climb four stairs means a child can board a school bus, which is why it is so meaningful to the patients and their parents. “Hearing something like that makes my heart leap,” Dr. Fretzen, senior vice president of product development at Catabasis, told students at this year’s Science Assembly.

The approach of the Islamic State (also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS) is grounded in theological beliefs and tradition from the earliest Muslims of the 7th century, explains journalist Graeme Wood. Mr. Wood, this spring’s Class of 1952 Speaker for Religious Understanding, is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and lecturer in political science at Yale University. His Atlantic cover story, “What ISIS Really Wants,” was the most-read piece on the Internet in 2015.

“Believers in the Islamic State feel that most of Islamic history after the 7th century was a wrong turn,” he said to students and faculty on Wednesday. “They believe they are reviving something that hasn’t existed in a long time.” Mr. Wood spent the last few years reading and analyzing Islamic State propaganda and speaking with its followers from around the world as he tried to understand who they are, what they believe, and where this is all going.

“Out of all the religions, the Islamic State is least interested in diversity of faith,” he said. “They are the most intolerant, and the most desiring to obliterate other faiths. They would say there is only one path.” Mr. Wood also noted that the rise of ISIS has historical parallels in Judaism, Christianity and some secular movements. One example is the Christian Reformation of the 16th century.

“One little piece of advice for the writers: Anything that anybody tells you to do, don’t do it,” award-winning author Jamaica Kincaid told Milton students this week. Ms. Kincaid was this semester’s Bingham Visiting Writer.

Ms. Kincaid spent two days on campus, in which she spoke to most Upper School students during an assembly, answered questions, and visited English classes, where she workshopped some student pieces. Traditionally, visiting Bingham writers speak between readings of their work. Ms. Kincaid did read a short piece from a 1980 issue of The New Yorker called “Expense Account,” in which she criticized the economist Milton Friedman, but she took an opportunity on Wednesday, which was International Women’s Day, to reflect on her career and on womanhood.

Accelerated Calculus students are presenting their projects to their peers this week. The projects range from using integrals to explore how liquids flow in tubes to examining the load, shear and moment diagrams involved with building cantilever beams.

Alex Chen (II) and Andriana Velmahos (II) looked at the math behind dams, specifically determining the force on a dam using calculus concepts. They determined the force on three types of dams—rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal—and presented the math they used in their calculations. They also designed and printed miniature 3D models of the three types of dams.

“We chose to focus on dams because it’s something people might see every day, but don’t really know how they work,” said Alex during the presentation.

Knowing and being consistently yourself—in private and in public—is the key to making healthy choices, says Cindy Pierce, this year’s Margo Johnson Endowed Speaker.

Ms. Pierce, a social sexuality educator and comic storyteller, discussed the pressures that come with “hookup culture” on high school and college campuses, telling students they have the power to set boundaries and build healthy relationships that fit their lives, instead of focusing on meeting external expectations.

Jazz Students Return to South Africa
In the 25 years since Milton student-musicians first made the journey, the School and its South African partners have forged bonds that transcend cultural differences, says jazz director Bob Sinicrope.

Twenty-one students from Milton’s eight jazz combos, chaperoned by 13 adults, will leave for Johannesburg on March 7, beginning a two-and-a-half-week tour. Beginning with a performance at the African Leadership Academy—a program for young leaders from across the continent—the Milton musicians will play in schools, in jazz clubs, and at a Human Rights Day township jazz festival in Cape Town.

Constructing and Connecting in Appalachia
Eleven Milton students, with three chaperones, will spend a week in March repairing homes in southwest Virginia. The trip is organized by the Community Engagement Program and Partnerships (CEPP), and the students will travel to a region in the Great Appalachian Valley that has struggled with poverty as coal production has declined.

All history is global history, says Kimberly Cheng, this year’s Hong Kong Distinguished Speaker. Ms. Cheng presented an overview of her research on Jewish refugees living in China during World War II, explaining that a confluence of world events led 20,000 migrants to flee persecution in Europe.

As Hitler rose to power in the 1930s, Jewish people fleeing Germany faced immigration restrictions across the West, including the United States, in countries where propaganda and stereotypes fueled anti-Semitic policies. The Jewish migration to Shanghai is largely unstudied in World War II history, Ms. Cheng told students.