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Faculty News - Winter 2005



Murtaugh Exhibits at Washington, D.C., Gallery

February 28, 2005
Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Rebecca Murtaugh recently exhibited in "Existing to Remain" at the District of Columbia Art Center. The show opened February 25 and runs until April 3, when Murtaugh will give a public artist's lecture at the gallery.  More ...

Kamiya Gives Lecture at University of Pennsylvania

February 28, 2005
Assistant Professor of Japanese Masaaki Kamiya gave a talk, "LF-incorporation is not plausible," at Penn Linguistics Colloquium at the University of Pennsylvania in February. If human language is universal and identical at some level of representation (especially interpretations), the differences are accounted for by parameterizing derivations. As evidence he provided word formation patterns and nonsentential answers with respect to case marking. In his study, case marking in Japanese takes place at phonological form, while English case marking takes place in narrow syntactic derivations.  More ...

Article Co-Written by Paquette Named Best of the Year by South Carolina Historical Magazine

February 28, 2005
An article written by Robert Paquette, the Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History, and Lemoyne College History Professor Douglas Egerton, has been selected as the winner of South Carolina Historical Magazine's Malcolm C. Clark Award. The award honors the best article published in the journal during the previous year. Paquette and Egerton wrote "Of Facts and Fables: New Light on the Denmark Vesey Affair." The award was annoucned at the South Carolina Historical Society's annual meeting on Feb. 26 in Charleston.  More ...

Yao Lectures at Yale

February 24, 2005
Assistant Professor of English Steven Yao delivered a lecture at Yale University titled, "The 'Chinese Mode' in Modern American Poetry: A History," on Feb. 21. The talk discussed the interests and engagement of Hamilton alumnus Ezra Pound with Chinese poetry and philosophy, and how his efforts established a precedent for later poets who have taken Chinese poetry as a subject and inspiration for their own works, including writers such as Gary Snyder, John Yau and Charles Wright.

Gold to Lecture at Colgate

February 22, 2005
Professor of Classics Barbara Gold will give a lecture, "How Women (re-)Act in Roman Love Poetry: The Case of Inhuman She-Wolves and Unhelpful Mothers in Propertius," at Colgate University on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 4:10 p.m. The lecture, which is part of Colgate's Humanities Colloquium, will take place in the Ho Lecture Room, 105 Lawrence Hall.

Nancy Thompson Appointed Dean of Students

February 18, 2005
Nancy Thompson, who has been serving as acting dean of students at Hamilton since July 2004, has been appointed to the permanent position of dean of students, effective immediately.  More ...

Nancy Rabinowitz Presents Paper at Stanford

February 18, 2005
Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, the Margaret Bundy Scott Professor of Comparative Literature, presented a paper, "Gendered Viewing in Classical Greece," at the Archaeology Center at Stanford University on Feb. 5. The paper, co-authored with Sue Blundell, argues that contrary to received opinion, women are often depicted as subjects of the gaze in ancient Greek tragedy and vase painting; nonetheless, that gaze does not guarantee anything more than a very limited form of agency.

Brewer Receives Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Grant

February 15, 2005
Associate Professor of Chemistry Karen Brewer has been awarded a $36,500 grant from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences. The grant is for her proposal "Materials Chemistry Project Laboratories for Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry." The Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences funds "projects that propose to advance the science of chemistry in innovative ways" and is "intended to seed the initial phases of a project."  More ...

Pillow Presents Faculty Lecture "Lens Flare in the Age of Digital Production”

February 14, 2005
Kirk Pillow, the associate dean of the faculty and associate professor of philosophy, presented a lecture titled "Lens Flare in the Age of Digital Production" on Friday, Feb. 11, in the Kirner-Johnson Red Pit.  More ...

Li Appointed to Public Intellectuals Program Advisory Committee

February 10, 2005
Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, has been appointed to a three-year term on the Public Intellectuals Program Advisory Committee of The National Committee on United States-China Relations. The program is sponsored by The Henry Luce Foundation and The Starr Foundation.  More ...

Grant Publishes Book, A Civilised Savagery, Britain and the New Slaveries in Africa, 1884-1926

February 9, 2005
Associate Professor of History Kevin Grant has published A Civilised Savagery, Britain and the New Slaveries in Africa, 1884-1926 (Routledge, 2005). Grant is an historian of the British Empire, with expertise in humanitarian politics.  More ...

Williams Presents Paper at City University of New York

February 7, 2005
Assistant Professor of History Chad Williams presented a paper at a conference on Black Masculinities held at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York on February 4. The title of his paper was "African-American Soldiers and Constructions of Black Masculinity during World War I."

Faculty Lecture Series to Feature Kirk Pillow

February 7, 2005
Hamilton's Faculty Lecture Series will feature Associate Dean of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Philosophy Kirk Pillow on Friday, Feb. 11 at 4:10 p.m. in the Red Pit at KJ. Pillow's talk is titled "Lens Flare in the Age of Digital Production."  More ...

Thickstun and Chambliss Named to Newly Endowed Chairs

February 3, 2005
Two long-time Hamilton professors have been appointed to newly endowed chairs. Professor of English Margaret Thickstun has been named to the Elizabeth J. McCormack Professorship, and Professor of Sociology Daniel Chambliss has been appointed to the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professorship. The announcement was made by David Paris, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the faculty.  More ...

Li Speaks at Foreign Policy Research Institute

January 28, 2005
Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, presented a talk titled "Emerging Intra-Party Partisanship in China," at the Conference on Party Politics and Foreign Policy in East Asia hosted by the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia on Jan. 27.

Kirschner Published Artwork on Cover of Carbohydrate Research

January 26, 2005
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner created the artwork for the cover of the January 2004 issue of Carbohydrate Research An International Journal.  The artwork shows the binding of a modified glycan linked to a portion of an antibody protein. The corresponding research was performed by Dr. Geert-Jan Boons of the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at the University of Georgia.

Chambliss Named to Executive Committee of Middle States Commission

January 26, 2005
Dan Chambliss, the Christian A. Johnson Excellence in Teaching Professor of Sociology, has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which is the accrediting body for Hamilton and about 500 other colleges and universities. He has been a commissioner since 2002. The commission totals 27 members; the executive committee is a six-member group that advises the executive director.

Eugene Domack Appointed to Editorial Board of Geology

January 26, 2005
Professor of Geology Eugene Domack, a member of the Hamilton faculty since 1985, has been appointed to the editorial board of Geology, the premier geoscience journal. Geology is published monthly by the Geological Society of America and is considered a first-tier journal by professionals in all fields of the geosciences.

Murtaugh Elected to ThINC Board

January 25, 2005
Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Rebecca Murtaugh was elected and appointed as a new board member to ThINC, a Syracuse, N.Y., arts and culture organization. ThINC aims to provide a venue and encouragement for the artistic expression of those working on new creative enterprises. ThINC is positioning Syracuse as a city that welcomes, nurtures and promotes emerging artists of all forms that express a desire to establish a more comfortable, intelligent, beautiful and sustainable community through their craft.  More ...

Kantrowitz Presents Talk: "What's Up with Functions that are Concave Down?"

January 25, 2005
Professor of Mathematics Robert Kantrowitz presented a talk, "Products of concave functions," at the annual Joint Meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America on Jan. 5 in Atlanta. Kantrowitz was also invited to present a Kappa Mu Epsilon (undergraduate mathematics honor society) lecture, "What's up with functions that are concave down?," at Mississippi State University in January. At the request of the organizer of the lecture, he concluded with a 20-minute segment about student life at a small, private, liberal arts college in Central New York, "What's up with Hamilton College?"

Silber Publishes Excerpt of Translated Letter in Harper's

January 24, 2005
Work by Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese Cathy Silber appears in the January issue of Harper's Magazine. It's an excerpt from Silber's translation of an angry letter written in nushu, a script used only by women in villages in Hunan province. The translation, titled "Whores Whisperer," is called a "fulmination" and appears in the "Readings" section of the magazine, pp. 30-31.

Paquette Selected as Mary Young Alumni Lecturer at University of Rochester

January 24, 2005
Robert Paquette, the Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History, has been invited to serve as the Mary Young Alumni Lecturer this spring at the University of Rochester. The Mary Young lectureship was created by the university's history department three years ago as a way to honor simultaneously Professor Emerita Young and its distinguished doctoral alumni. Paquette will present a paper to graduate students and the university community and then will be the guest at an informal "brown bag" seminar the following day. His teaching and research interests include the old South, colonial Cuba, slave societies, the Caribbean, conservative political thought and colonial Latin America.  More ...

Tewksbury Presents Lecture on Indonesian Tsunami

January 22, 2005
Barbara Tewksbury, the William R. Kenan Professor of Geology, gave an illustrated lecture on the Indonesian tsunami on Jan. 24 and again on Feb. 1 in the Chemistry Auditorium. The lecture was titled "When the Seas Rise Up: A Geologist's Perspective on Tsunamis." Tewksbury specializes in the study of structural and planetary geology and plate tectonics.  More ...

Ravven Participates in Ford Foundation Meeting

January 20, 2005
Heidi Ravven, professor of religious studies, participated with other Ford Foundation grantees in the first meeting of the Progressive Religion and Values Working Group on January 19 at the foundation in New York City. The group, convened by Constance Buchanan, senior program officer for education, sexuality, and religion at Ford, has been asked to explore ways that progressive ideas about religion and values can be communicated more effectively in the media and the public debate. The taskforce is chaired by Karen King (Harvard Divinity School).  More ...

Five Hamilton Professors Receive Freeman Foundation Research Grants

January 20, 2005
Hamilton College Professors Cheng Li, Hong Gang Jin, De Bao Xu, Thomas Wilson and Kyoko Omori have been awarded research grants from the Freeman Foundation for their proposals for Asian studies research projects. The grant program funds both long-term and short-term projects. Projects that receive funding from the Freeman Foundation are focused on professional development of the Hamilton Asian studies faculty.  More ...

Gane Presents Paper at South Asian Literary Association

January 19, 2005
Assistant Professor of English Gillian Gane presented a paper, "Reconfiguring Wor(l)ds: Rushdie Redefines Linguistic Boundaries" at the annual convention of the South Asian Literary Association in Philadelphia on December 27.

Aronoff Participates in International Society of Political Psychology Meeting

January 19, 2005
Assistant Professor of Government Yael Aronoff participated in the Governing Council mid-winter meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology at the University of California-Irvine January 14 and 15. She also gave a talk titled "Waging Peace: War Termination Through Peace Negotiation" on January 13 at the Public Forum on International Politics at UC-Irvine, co-sponsored by the International Society of Political Psychology, UC-Irvine's Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, and the UC-Irvine Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies.

Yao Elected to American Comparative Literature Association Board

January 18, 2005
Assistant Professor of English Steven Yao has been elected to the board of directors of the American Comparative Literature Association. His four-year term will begin at the 2005 annual meeting in April.  More ...

Herold Presents Paper at Conference in Bangkok

January 17, 2005
Ken Herold, director of library information systems, attended the second annual Asia-Pacific Computing and Philosophy Conference in Bangkok shortly after the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean.  More ...

Rabinowitz Gives Paper at MLA Convention

January 17, 2005
Professor of Comparative Literature Peter Rabinowitz gave a paper in December at the Modern Language Association Convention during a panel devoted to Gerald Graff's recent book, Clueless in Academe. The paper, "Professor Plum in the Garage with a Paintbrush: The Limits of Academic Argument," tested Graff's analysis of academic culture by looking at it in the context of Hamilton College. While endorsing most of the book's recommendations, Rabinowitz showed how his experiences in cross-divisional sophomore seminars led him to question some of Graff's assumptions about what's central to academia. He then went on to talk about Susan Rosenberg's residency, arguing that the effects of external pressure on the College cast doubt on some of Graff's optimistic claims about the powers of rational argument.

Gold Gives Invited Lecture at American Philological Association

January 14, 2005
Professor of Classics Barbara Gold gave an invited lecture on the presidential panel at the American Philological Association annual meeting held in Boston in January. The talk was titled "Classics, the Atom Bomb, and the Environment: Team-Teaching Interdisciplinary Courses from a Classical Point of View." The lecture was about Gold's various team-taught courses at Hamilton, including two sophomore seminars.

Keller Organizes Panel and Presents Paper at Slavic Studies Conference

January 12, 2005
Associate Professsor of History Shoshana Keller has been invited to participate on the editorial board of the Journal of Central Asia and the Caucasus. This is a new journal published by the International Strategic Research Organization, a non-profit NGO based in Ankara, Turkey. Keller also organized a panel for the annual American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies conference in December. The panel's topic was education and the formation of national identity in the former Soviet Union, and her paper was titled "Writing Uzbek History in Post-War School Textbooks."

Isserman Presents Paper at American Historical Association

January 10, 2005
Professor of History Maurice Isserman gave a paper on January 8 at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in Seattle. He was part of the panel "American Communist History After the Espionage Turn," and his paper was titled "Open Archives and Open Minds: 'Traditionalists' versus 'Revisionists' after VENONA."

Kodat Lectures in England

January 7, 2005
Associate Professor of English Catherine Gunther Kodat gave an invited talk before the American Studies graduate research seminar at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, in October. She presented material drawn from her book chapter on Spartacus.  More ...

Rowe Presents Paper at International Association of Jazz Educators Meeting

January 6, 2005
Monk Rowe, the Joe Williams Director of the Jazz Archive, presented a paper at the International Association of Jazz Educators, in Long Beach, Calif. in January. The paper, "Defining the Undefineable/ Thoughts on Improvisation from Jazz Masters," is based on excerpts from archive interviews.

Morgan Presents Paper at MLA Conference

January 6, 2005
Associate Professor of French Cheryl Morgan gave a paper "Watching the Detectives: New Crime Writing by Women in France" at the December 2004 MLA conference in Philadelphia. The paper was part of a panel devoted to new forms of French women's writing, "Une nouvelle ecriture feminine?".

Shields Publishes Article in Journal of Chemical Physics

January 3, 2005
Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields published an article in the Jan. 8, 2005, issue of the Journal of Chemical Physics titled "Comparison of complete basis set-QB3, complete basis set-APNO, Gaussian-2, and Gaussian-3 thermochemical predictions with experiment for formation of ionic clusters of hydronium and hydroxide ions complexed with water." This work was co-authored with senior chemical physics major Frank Pickard, Emma Pokon '04 and Matthew Liptak '03. Pokon is in law school at the University of Vermont, and Liptak is a chemistry graduate student at the University of Wisconsin. The research in this eight-page article demonstrates the ability of state-of-the-art quantum chemical methods to investigate fundamental ion condensation processes in atmospheric chemistry.

Phelan Presents Papers at Communication Organization Meetings

December 31, 2004
Associate Professor of Communication Catherine Phelan presented a paper titled "Beyond Secondary Orality" at the National Communication Association in November. She was one member of a panel that included communication scholars Frank E. X. Dance, University of Denver, and Bruce Gronbeck, University of Iowa. The panel recognized and responded to the work of Walter Ong. In October she presented a paper titled "The Communication Matrix" at the New York State Communication Association. This presentation elaborated on key points from her recently published book, Mediation and the Communication Matrix, (2003, Peter Lang, Pub.) At the NYSCA presentation she was one of three authors discussing their recent publications in the field of communication.

Hatfield '05 and Bailey Present Poster at AGU Meeting

December 30, 2004
Ashley Hatfield '05 and Associate Professor of Geology David Bailey presented the poster "Jun Jaegyu Volcano: A Recently Discovered Alkali Basalt Volcano in Antarctic Sound, Antarctica" at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting held in December in San Francisco. Hatfield plans to participate on a research cruise in Antarctica during February and March led by Geology Professor Eugene Domack.  More ...

Williams to be Featured on WMHT "Insight" Program on Dec. 23

December 22, 2004
Jay Williams, the Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Religious Studies, will be the featured guest on WMHT-TV's (Albany, NY) "Insight," on Thursday, Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Williams will discuss "Christmas With Thomas Nast," an exhibit at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown. The exhibit contains more than 40 original woodblock prints that appeared in Harper's Weekly and other periodicals, on loan from Williams, an expert on Thomas Nast. He'll share his insights into this master illustrator who is best known for his political cartoons.

Vaughan and Hamilton Students Create Web-Based Archive for Psychonomic Society

December 22, 2004
Professor of Psychology Jonathan Vaughan and Hamilton students Stephanie Godleski '05, Aram Kudurshian '06 and Colby Fisher '03 designed and implemented the Psychonomic Society's new Web-based archive. The Psychonomic Society promotes the communication of scientific research in psychology and allied sciences.  More ...

Silversmith and Brewer Awarded Grants From American Chemical Society

December 20, 2004
Professor of Physics Ann Silversmith and Associate Professor of Chemistry Karen Brewer each received $50,000 grants from the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society. Silversmith's is a joint project with Physics Professor Daniel Boye of Davidson College.  More ...

Shields Presents Seminar at University of Minnesota

December 17, 2004
Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields presented a seminar at the University of Minnesota's department of chemistry in December. His lecture, titled "Water Clusters in the Atmosphere: An Overview of Computational Chemistry Research at Hamilton College," was Webcast live to 35 institutions. His talk featured the atmospheric chemistry work of Emma Pokon '04, Meghan Dunn '06, and Mary Beth Day '07.  More ...

Gelles Receives Career Development Award

December 17, 2004
Assistant Professor of Spanish Soledad Gelles received the Class of 1966 Career Development Award. The award will allow Gelles to do the research necessary to develop the new course, titled "Indigenista Narratives of the Andean Region" (Spanish 271, Special Topics in Latin American Literature).  More ...

Cockburn Awarded Class of 1963 Faculty Fellowship

December 16, 2004
Associate Professor of Mathematics Sally Cockburn has been awarded the Class of 1963 Faculty Fellowship. Cockburn received the award for her proposal to develop a new senior mathematics seminar, "Philosophical Foundations of Mathematics."  More ...

Orvis Awarded Class of 1963 Faculty Fellowship

December 16, 2004
Professor of Government Stephen Orvis has been awarded the Class of 1963 Faculty Fellowship. Orvis received the award for his upcoming project to develop a new course at Hamilton titled "Democracy and Diversity." He hopes to teach the course as a sophomore seminar or as a 300-level writing intensive government class.  More ...

Pillow Presents Paper in Brussels

December 15, 2004
Associate Dean of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Philosophy Kirk Pillow recently presented an invited paper at a conference on the Histories of the Sublime in Brussels, Belgium. The conference, organized by the University of Ghent, featured 12 scholars of the sublime from Europe and the United States. Pillow's paper, "Hegel's Sublimated Sublime," will be published in the Proceedings of the Belgian Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Romaniello Participates in Roundtable at Slavic Studies Meeting

December 15, 2004
Matt Romaniello, visiting assistant professor of history, participated in the roundtable discussion "Perceptions of Frontiers and Borders in Muscovy" at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, in Boston, Mass., on Dec. 10. Romaniello will spend two weeks conducting research at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on his research project, "The Incorporation of the Russian Frontier, 1552-1682."  More ...

Drogus Served on Screening Committee for Fulbright Grants

December 14, 2004
Professor of Government Carol Drogus attended the International Institute of Education meeting in New York in November. Drogus served her third year on the National Screening Committee for Fulbright grants. The committee reads the applications for a country or countries and selects the finalists whose names are forwarded to the host country for approval. This year Drogus read applications for Brazil; previously she read applications for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.  More ...

Isserman Featured in University of Rochester Magazine

December 14, 2004
Professor of History Maurice Isserman, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1979, is featured in the cover article of the university's magazine, Rochester Review (Winter 2004-05).  More ...

Oerlemans Publishes Essay in New Book

December 14, 2004
Associate Professor of English Onno Oerlemans published an essay, "Romantic Origins of Environmentalism: Wordsworth and Shelley." It appears in the newly released book, Every Grain of Sand: Canadian Perspectives on Ecology and Environment (Andrew Wainwright, ed. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2004.) http://info.wlu.ca/~wwwpress/Catalog/wainwright.shtml

Frechette Gives Hamilton Asia Forum Lecture On Chinese Adoption

December 14, 2004
Ann Frechette, the Luce Junior Professor of Asian Studies in the Hamilton anthropology department, gave a lecture titled "Saving Chinese Girls: International Adoption, Charitable Assistance, and the Economics of China's Orphanages" as part of the Hamilton Asia Forum series on December 10. Frechette discussed how the Chinese international adoption process is viewed both inside and outside China, and how this transnational family creation is related to a Western narrative of "saving" Chinese children.  More ...

Professors of Physics Publish Paper in Foundations of Physics

December 10, 2004
Professor of Physics Philip Pearle, Assistant Professor of Physics Gordon Jones and James Ring, the Winslow Professor of Physics, Emeritus, published a paper titled "Consequence for Wavefunction Collapse Model of the Sudbery Neutrino Observatory Experiment" in the October 2004 issue of Foundations of Physics.

Article by Sue Ann Miller Included in New Anatomist "Virtual Issue"

December 8, 2004
An article published by Professor of Biology Sue Ann Miller in 2002 has been included in the American Association of Anatomists' recently launched New Anatomist special "virtual issue" on Dissection and Anatomy Education -- a collection of articles on the subject from 1998 to the present. Miller also attended the annual meeting of Sigma Xi, the international scientific research honor society, in Montreal in November.  More ...

Li Participates in Panel Discussion on Rise of China

December 7, 2004
Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, participated in a panel discussion on the rise of China from a historical perspective in December at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. A senior official of the World Bank and the director of the Washington D.C. Office for the National Bureau of Asian Affairs also participated in the discussion.

O'Neill Writes Article for Cineaction Magazine

December 3, 2004
Professor of English Patricia O'Neill wrote an article for Cineaction Magazine (Issue 64, 2004). The article, "Where Globalization and Localization Meet," discusses Spike Lee's post 9/11 film The 25th Hour. O'Neill writes: "The coda to the film resists both amnesia for what has happened and nostalgia for a time that never was and never will be. Instead The 25th Hour embraces the difficulties of the present in order that the victims of 9/11 will not be forgotten nor have died in vain. The circle of globalization has closed; there is no open frontier."  More ...

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