Faculty News - Fall 2005



Article by Kirschner, Shields and Mary Beth Day '07 Recognized by ACS as One of Most Accessed on Web

November 28, 2005
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner, Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and Goldwater Scholar Mary Beth Day's recently published article, "Global Search for Minimum Energy (H2O)n Clusters, n = 3-5," has been recognized by the American Chemical Society (ACS) as one of the most accessed research articles for the third quarter of 2005 in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A. The ACS has recently listed the articles that are most accessed through the Internet, as this is one measure of an article's impact on the discipline.

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Yao Gives Papers at Modernist Studies Association, Transpacific Modernisms Conferences

November 22, 2005
Assistant Profesor of English Steven Yao delivered a paper, "A Rim with a View: Orientalism, Geography and the Historiography of Modernism," at the Modernist Studies Association conference in Chicago, in November. In the paper Yao surveys approaches to Asian cultures and traditions in the criticism of Modernist literature and tries to offer a new strategy for addressing the complex interactions between East and West in the both the constitution and dissemination of Modernism as an artistic movement in different locations around the world.  More ...

de Swaan Lectures at SUNY Buffalo and Cornell University

November 22, 2005
Sylvia de Swaan, lecturer in art, recently presented lectures at SUNY Buffalo and Cornell University. De Swaan spoke at Buffalo on Nov. 7 as part of the Visual Arts Speaker Series and at Cornell on Nov. 11 as part of the "Camera-Culture: Camera Culture" conference co-sponsored by the Society for Photographic Education – Northeast Region and the Cornell art department. The conference examined how the dynamic between the visual image and ideology, each present in the other, contribute to the way we experience culture.

Hamilton Students in New York City Program Tour West Point

November 22, 2005
Hamilton students in the New York City Program and program director Frank Anecharico, the Maynard-Knox Professor of Government and Law, traveled to West Point this month to attend a roundtable discussion on security policy with a group of cadets and faculty. The students in the NYC program conduct research and attend two seminars led by Anecharico, and at the same time are working full time in internship positions.

O'Neal Elected Second Vice President of Northeast American Society for 18th Century Studies

November 21, 2005
Professor of French John O'Neal is scheduled to serve a second term as president of the Northeast American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (NEASECS). At the Society's recent annual meeting, he was elected second vice president for 2005-06. He will become first vice president in 2006-07 and president in 2007-08. O'Neal served previously as president of the society in 1992-93 after six years on the executive board. In 1985 he organized the annual meeting of the society in Utica, which was co-sponsored by Hamilton College and Colgate University.

Fox Presents on Agent Orange

November 19, 2005
Diane Fox, Freeman, Postdoctoral Fellow in Asian Studies, gave a presentation at the Housatonic Museum of Art at the Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Conn., on Nov. 19, on the subject of Agent Orange. Fox presented her talk, titled "One Significant Ghost: Stories from Vietnam," in conjunction with a photography exhibit, "Agent Orange: Collateral Damage in Vietnam." The black and white photographs by Magnum photographer Philip Jones Griffiths chronicle the horrifying consequences of using the chemical Agent Orange during the Vietnam war.  More ...

Shields Lectures at Ithaca College

November 18, 2005
Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields presented a seminar for Ithaca College's Department of Chemistry on November 15. His lecture, titled "Water Clusters in the Atmosphere: An Overview of Computational Chemistry Research at Hamilton College," featured the atmospheric chemistry work of his students Emma Pokon '04, Tim Evans '05, Frank Pickard '05 and Goldwater Scholars Matt Liptak '03, Meghan Dunn '06 and Mary Beth Day '07. In addition Shields briefly reviewed the biochemical research of Sarah Taylor '03, Damien Ellens '03, Lorena Hernandez '03, Abby Markeson '04, Katrina Lexa '05, Karilyn Larkin '06, Valery Danilack '06, Matroner George '07, Sarah Felder '07, Amanda Salisburg '08 and Amy Barrows '08. Research progress in computational chemistry has been greatly enhanced by the ongoing work and contributions of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner and System Administrator Steve Young.

Major Presents Paper at Loops '05 Annual Meeting in Germany

November 18, 2005
Assistant Professor of Physics Seth Major presented a paper at Loops '05, the annual international meeting on non-perturbative/background independent quantum gravity. It took place in October at the Albert-Einstein-Institute in Potsdam, Germany, and commemorated the 50th anniversary of Albert Einstein's death. Major's paper was titled "A Discrete Machian Model" which is a phenomenological theory of discrete space.  More ...

Omori Presents Paper, Was Panel Discussant

November 17, 2005
Kyoko Omori, assistant professor of East Asian languages and literatures, presented a paper and was a discussant for a panel titled "Japanese Modernist Poetics and Inscriptions of the (National) Body" at the Modernist Studies Association conference during November in Chicago.

Pearle Publishes Two Papers in Physical Review

November 17, 2005
Philip Pearle, Emeritus Professor of Physics, published two papers during 2005. The first, titled "Quasirelativistic quasilocal finite wave-function collapse model" was published in Physical Review A71, 032101; the second, "Completely quantized collapse and consequences" appeared in Physical Review A72, 022112 (2005). Pearle also published the article titled "Quantum Theory of Measurement" in the third edition of the two volume Encyclopedia of Physics, eds. R. Lerner and G. Trigg (Wiley-VCH, 2005).

Pellman Invited to Conference at Butler University

November 16, 2005
Professor of Music Samuel Pellman was invited to participate at the Region V Conference of the Society of Composers at Butler University in Indianapolis on Nov. 11. His composition titled "Perijove" showcased analog electronic sounds, digitally processed. "Perijove" included video created by Lauren Koss '00.

de Swaan Gives Photography Presentation

November 16, 2005
Sylvia de Swaan, lecturer in art, presented two projects at the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) regional conference in Tallahassee, Fla., on Oct. 15. The first, titled "Return," is a series of photographs and texts about personal history, memory and war. The work is the result of seven extensive journeys to Germany, Poland, Romania and Ukraine over a 10-year period to explore the terrain of her post-World War II childhood. The second project, titled "Sub-version," is a work in progress begun in response to the events of 9/11 in which de Swaan combines documentary with staged photographs that incorporate images from the media, to show how politics and world events seep into the fabric of our lives. SPE is a nonprofit organization which promotes the photographic arts through education, exhibitions and programming.

Li Named to Board of Natl. Committee on U.S.-China Relations

November 15, 2005
Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, has been invited to join the board of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. The committee works to facilitate communication and understanding between the United States and the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan. The committee is recognized by policymakers in the United States and China as a reliable source of expertise and a valuable channel for communication on a range of topics. Key committee areas of focus are international affairs, governance, law, education, environment, economics and mass communication. Li's appointment became official during a two-day conference in New York City in November.  More ...

Ellingson Presents Paper at Society for Scientific Study of Religion

November 14, 2005
Assistant Professor of Sociology Stephen Ellingson presented a paper titled, Why Religion Isn't Green: Explaining the Absence of Religions in the American Environmental Movement," at the annual meetings of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. The meeting was held in Rochester, N.Y.

Ravven Delivers Paper at Arizona State University Conference

November 9, 2005
Professor of Religious Studies Heidi Ravven gave an invited paper, "Hans Jonas and Spinoza on the Philosophy of Organism," at the conference, Judaism and the Phenomenon of Life: The Legacy of Hans Jonas, at Arizona State University, Tempe, in November. The conference gathered experts on the philosophy and theology of Hans Jonas from all over the world for two days.  More ...

Zylan to Lead Discussion at Think Tank Nov. 11

November 8, 2005
Assistant Professor of Sociology Yvonne Zylan will be the featured speaker at Think Tank on Friday, Nov. 11, at noon in KJ 221. Think Tank is a student-directed organization that works to stimulate dialogue among students, faculty and staff outside of the classroom. Zylan's discussion is titled "Is Gay Marriage Killing the Movement for LGB Equality? Thoughts from the Law/Society Divide." Lunch will be provided on a first come, first serve basis and is catered by Dessert Booth.

Pokinski to Present Faculty Lecture on Painter William McGregor Paxton

November 7, 2005
Associate Professor of Art History Deborah Pokinski will present a lecture titled "Viewing Domestic Interiors: Spectatorship and the genre images of William McGregor Paxton [1869-1941]" on Friday, Nov. 11 at 4:10 p.m. in Kirner-Johnson, Room 005, as part of the Faculty Lecture Series, followed by a reception at Café Opus.  More ...

Murtaugh’s Art Exhibited at Syracuse Stage

November 7, 2005
Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Rebecca Murtaugh is exhibiting "On the Verge," a collection of site-specific artworks at the Syracuse Stage. Her works were inspired by and complement the off-Broadway production titled Bug, written by Tracey Letts. "Crawling Bundle," detail pictured, is comprised of more than 4,000 thermoplastic coated matches that slowly sprawl over 50 feet of wall space. "Wisp," a drawing in the exhibition, explores temporality and permanence in our world by treating archival paper with heat, then preserving it in plexiglas. The work will be on display until November 13.

Adair Lectures at Three Colleges on "The Missing Story of Ourselves"

November 7, 2005
Vivyan Adair, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Associate Professor of Women's Studies and director of the ACCESS Project at Hamilton College, gave lectures during October at Lafayette College, St. Louis University and North Seattle College. Her talk, "The Missing Story of Ourselves: Poverty and the Promise of Higher Education" was delivered at each college in conjunction with the ACCESS Project's nationally touring gallery exhibit of the same title.  More ...

Li Participates in a Conference in Washington

November 4, 2005
Cheng Li, William R. Kenan Professor of Government, participated in a one-day conference titled "Behind the Bamboo Curtain: Chinese Leadership, Politics, and Policy" on November 2 at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. The conference, co-hosted by the Carnegie Endowment and China Vitae, featured three panels made up of leading scholars and analysts who examined the most crucial aspects of leadership, politics and policy in China.  More ...

de Swaan Lectures in Netherlands

November 3, 2005
Art Lecturer Sylvia de Swaan presented a lecture titled "Return" at the Jan van Eyck Academie, a post academic institute for research and production in the fields of fine art, design and theory based in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The academy offers individuals and institutes the opportunity to submit research or production proposals and initiates projects for which artists, designers and theoreticians can apply.

Li Appointed to Advisory Committee for China Futures Initiative

November 3, 2005
Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, has been appointed to the advisory committee for the China Futures Initiative, a joint project between the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Institute for International Economics (IIE). China Futures Initiative will serve to explore the relationship between the U.S. and China and provide a balanced and dispassionate evaluation of China's prospects and their implications for U.S. interests and policy. China Balance Sheet, the initiative's publication, is designed to help U.S. policymakers, corporate executives and the media better understand the facts and dynamics of China's rise. The advisory committee will guide the project and contribute to the content of the China Balance Sheet.

Li Appointed to Congressional Academic Advisory Group

November 1, 2005
Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, has been appointed to the Academic Advisory Group of the U.S.-China Working Group (USCWG). USCWG, a bi-partisan initiative, was established in 2005 to build relations with China and to increase Congressional awareness of the importance of U.S-China issues that affect the decision-making in the U.S. Congress. More than 30 members of Congress have joined USCWG.  More ...

Goldberg Delivers Lecture to Inaugurate the "Year of China"

November 1, 2005
Associate Professor of Art History Steve Goldberg delivered a lecture titled "Globalization, Sovereignty, and Contemporary Chinese Visual Culture," on Oct. 27 to inaugurate the "Year of China" at The University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn.

de Swaan's 9/11-themed Photos on Exhibit at Colgate

October 31, 2005
Colgate University's Clifford Art Gallery is exhibiting Lecturer in Art Sylvia de Swaan's 9/11-themed photos, titled "Sub-version," through December 9. de Swaan will give an artist's talk on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 4:30 p.m., in Golden Auditorium at Colgate's Little Hall. "Sub-version" is a series of photos taken by de Swaan in the days following the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001. They juxtapose the bland reality of life outside the artist's window with the scenes of horror found at that same time on television screens. The Clifford is free and open to the public from 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 1 - 5 p.m. on weekends.

Shields Visits the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

October 31, 2005
Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields recently visited the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. His host was Dr. Gavril Pasternak, P '08, the Anne Burnett Tandy Chair of Neurology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Weill College of Medicine at Cornell University. Professors Shields and Pasternak discussed the research that Hamilton students are pursuing in the area of cancer biochemistry with Professors Karl Kirschner and Shields. The research included the work of Katrina Lexa '05, Frank Pickard '05, Karilyn Larkin '06, Valery Danilack '06, Matroner George '07, Amanda Salisburg '08 and Amy Barrows '08. They also discussed opportunities for Hamilton students to pursue research in chemical biology at Sloan-Kettering, Weill Medical College and Rockefeller University, as well as ways to improve the biochemistry program at Hamilton.

N. Rabinowitz Gives Lectures in Paris and University of Reading, U.K.

October 28, 2005
Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, the Margaret Bundy Scott Professor of Comparative Literature, gave two lectures in October: "A Feminist Dilemma: The Construction of 'Consent' in Greek Tragedy" at the University of Reading, U.K. and "Tragic Discourses of Rape" at Paris VII.

Adair Publishes Three Articles on Working Class, Poverty

October 27, 2005
Vivyan Adair, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Associate Professor of Women's Studies, is the author of three articles published in October. She wrote "The Missing Story of Ourselves: Poverty Class in Academe" for Labor: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas vol. 3, Fall 2005; "Class Absences: Cutting Class in Feminist Studies," in Feminist Studies 31, no 3, Fall 2005; and "Last In and First Out: Poor Students in Academe in Times of Fiscal Crisis" in Radical Teacher 73, Fall 2005. Adair is also the director of the ACCESS Project at Hamilton College, a program dedicated to providing low-income, first-generation college-educated parents in central New York with all of the support necessary to thrive in an academic community.

Guttman Will Give Poetry Reading in Treadwell, N.Y.

October 26, 2005
Associate Professor of English Naomi Guttman will give a poetry reading in the Word Thursday Series at the Bright Hill Center in Treadwell, N.Y., on Thursday, Oct. 27. The Bright Hill Center aims to seek out, study and collect the work of early and contemporary writers, storytellers and artists, according to its Web site.
Participants are selected for their artistic excellence, their ability and willingness to work within a community setting and the diversity of their backgrounds, genres and styles.

Pillow Presents Paper at American Society of Aesthetics

October 26, 2005
Associate Dean of the Faculty and Associate Professor of Philosophy Kirk Pillow presented a paper at the national meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics in Providence, R.I., on October 20. The paper, "Is Anything Sublime?," challenged the Kantian view that aesthetic qualities are purely subjective and argued that the Grand Canyon is sublime not merely in our subjective estimation of it but in fact.

Sociology Professor Dennis Gilbert Will be Think Tank Speaker on Oct. 28

October 26, 2005
Professor of Sociology Dennis Gilbert will be the featured speaker at Think Tank on Friday, Oct. 28, at noon in KJ 221. Gilbert will be speaking on "Growing Inequality in the U.S." Think Tank is a student-directed organization that works to stimulate dialogue among students, faculty and staff outside of the classroom. Lunch will be provided by Dessert Booth.

O'Neal Presents Paper at Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for 18th-Century Studies

October 24, 2005
Professor of French John O'Neal presented the paper "Understanding and Interpreting Confusion: Philippe Pinel and the Invention of Psychiatry" at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for 18th-Century Studies in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, October 19-22. The theme for the conference was "Imitation and Invention in the Eighteenth Century."

Fall Literary Readings Will Feature Hoa Ngo and Colette Inez

October 23, 2005
The Department of English has announced its annual fall literary readings. On Thursday, October 27, Visiting Assistant Professor of English Hoa Ngo will read from his fiction in the Red Pit at 8 p.m. On Monday, November 7, poet Colette Inez, professor of writing at Columbia University, will read in the Fillius Events Barn at 8 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

Omori Invited to Present at UC Berkeley Conference

October 23, 2005
Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures Kyoko Omori was invited to give the talk "Probing Taisho Modanizumu: Detective Fiction, Mass Production and Vernacular Modernism" at the conference titled "The Space Between: The Cartographic Imagination of Japanese Modernism," October 14-15, at the University of California, Berkeley.  More ...

Kamiya Presents at Michigan Linguistics Society

October 21, 2005
Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures Masaaki Kamiya presented at the 35th Michigan Linguistics Society on Oct. 15 at Michigan State University. The title of this talk was "Frozen Phenomena and Nominalization in Japanese." In the talk he explained that impossible syntactic processes are related to word formation. That is, if word formation takes place in syntax, impossible syntactic processes are due to the illegitimate syntactic constituents. Furthermore, the current analysis accounts for so-called Japanese Q particle binding and its interpretations.

Shields and Kirschner Visit National Center for Atmospheric Research

October 19, 2005
Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner visited the University of Colorado (CU) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in Boulder, during the recent fall break.  More ...

Tewksbury Presenting Session at Geological Society of America Annual Meeting

October 17, 2005
Barbara Tewksbury, the William R. Kenan Professor of Geosciences, is presenting a session at the 117th annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, on October 16-19 in Salt Lake City. Tewksbury's topic will be "Using recent Mars data to give students practice in revisiting and testing older hypotheses in a variety of undergraduate geoscience courses." The description of the talk states, "Providing practice in re-evaluating old hypotheses with new data is one way to help students on the path to learning how to set up a new mental frame about a problem and ultimately develop their own new questions and hypotheses." Tewksbury will use planetary data as an example of old hypotheses that can be revisited when the next planetary mission delivers new information.

Ravven Named Ally of Naturalism

October 13, 2005
Professor of Religious Studies Heidi Ravven has been named an ally of naturalism by the Center for Naturalism. Her name and a reference to her work appear on the Web site Naturalism.org.  More ...

Bailey Named Editor for SIGPLAN Notices

October 12, 2005
Mark Bailey, associate professor of computer science, has been named the editor for SIGPLAN Notices, a monthly publication of the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Programming Languages. As part of his editorship, Bailey will also be an ex-officio member of the SIGPLAN executive committee. This is the governing board for the special interest group that oversees the organization of conferences and scholarly publications in the field of programming languages.

N. Rabinowitz Presents Paper for Gender in the Humanities Group

October 12, 2005
Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, the Margaret Bundy Scott Professor of Comparative Literature, presented her paper "Tragedy and Rape Culture" for the Gender in the Humanities Research Group at The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, on Oct. 10. This paper places the recent interest in rape in Greek tragedy in the context of contemporary discussions of the topic. In particular, it addresses the feminist ways in which rape in tragedy centers round the ambiguity of consent. She will be presenting versions of this talk at Paris VII and Reading University.

Anechiarico Gives Faculty Lecture "The Politics of Corruption Control"

October 11, 2005
Frank Anechiarico, the Maynard-Knox Professor of Government and Law, gave a faculty lecture titled "The Politics of Corruption Control" on Friday, Oct. 7, in the Red Pit. An analyst of constitutional law and public administration, Anechiarico has authored and co-authored numerous articles and books on political corruption, focusing most recently on finding ways to promote ethical conduct in government.  More ...

Goldberg Presents Paper, Chairs Panel at NY Asian Studies Conference

October 6, 2005
Associate Professor of Art History Steve Goldberg served as a member of the program committee for the 2005 New York Conference on Asian Studies held at SUNY New Paltz. He also chaired a panel titled "Critical Reflections on Teaching Asian Philosophy" and presented a paper titled "Authority of Excellence: Teaching Confucius through Visual Art" on Oct. 1.

S. Rivera Presents Paper at SU Conference

October 6, 2005
Assistant Professor of Government Sharon Werning Rivera presented a paper titled "The Russian Elite under Putin: Militocratic or Bourgeois?" at a conference, Postcommunist State and Society: Transnational and National Politics. The conference was sponsored by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Co-authored with David W. Rivera, the paper challenges the claim that the Putin-era elite has become dominated by individuals from the military-security apparatus, and argues instead that it is more oriented toward the market than the military.

Kantrowitz Co-Authors Paper on Concave Functions

October 6, 2005
Professor of Mathematics Robert Kantrowitz co-authored a paper, "Optimization for products of concave functions," with Michael M. Neumann of Mississippi State University, which appears in the latest issue of Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo. In the paper, Kantrowitz extends several classical optimization results for concave functions on convex sets to the much larger class of products of finitely many concave functions.

Herold Named to Editorial Board of Library Philosophy and Practice

October 5, 2005
Library Information Services Director Ken Herold has been named to the editorial board for the refereed electronic journal Library Philosophy and Practice. The journal publishes articles that demonstrate the connection between library practice and the philosophy and theory which are behind it.

Wu Publishes Article on Personal Savings

October 5, 2005
Assistant Professor of Economics Stephen Wu published a paper titled "Fatalistic Tendencies: An Explanation of Why People Don't Save" in Contributions to Economic Analysis & Policy: Vol. 4: No. 1, Article 11. This paper offers a new explanation contributing to the low rates of household savings.  More ...

Rubino Publishes Article in The Classical World

October 4, 2005
Carl Rubino, the Edward North Professor of Classics, published an article, "Achilles in America: Teaching Homer against the Grain," in The Classical World 98 (2005), 425-428. He also gave an invited lecture titled "Human Choices in an Uncertain Universe: Reflections on Science, Ethics and the Humanities" at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minn., in September. The lecture was sponsored by the Departments of Classics and Physics.

Williams Gives Lecture at Skidmore

October 3, 2005
Jay G. Williams, the Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Religious Studies, delivered a lecture at Skidmore College as part of this year's Fox-Adler Lecture Series. His lecture, titled "Thomas Nast: America's Icon Maker," discussed Nast, whom some call the father of American caricature. Nast is best known for popularizing the image of the elephant for the Republican Party, the donkey for the Democratic Party, Uncle Sam and Santa Claus. The talk featured special recognition of Saratoga Springs resident Norman Fox and his family, who made the lecture series possible.