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Faculty News - Fall 2006

Hamilton Collaborates With University in Germany

November 30, 2006
Karl Kirschner, visiting professor of chemistry and co-director of the Center for Molecular Design, spent the past month visiting the Universität Dortmund in the Ruhrgebiet region of northwest Germany. The partnership between Hamilton and the Universität was formed though the efforts of Hamilton's German program and Dr. Walter Grünzweig, chair of the American Studies Program at Dortmund. The relationship has two components: an undergraduate exchange program and a teaching fellow program. Kirschner was there in order to generate interest in a chemistry student exchange. He met with Grünzweig and members of Dortmund's Chemistry Department. In addition, Kirschner and Jurkschat created a new scientific collaboration to investigate the conformations and energetics of a silicon-phosphorus compound.  More ...

Key American Independent Filmmaker Visits Campus

November 30, 2006
Filmmaker Su Friedrich presented a program of recent films and videos, including Rules of the Road (1993) and Seeing Red (2004) on Nov. 28 as part of the F.I.L.M. (Forum for Images and Languages in Motion) series organized by Scott MacDonald, visiting professor in art history.  More ...

Kamiya Gives Presentation at University of Massachusetts at Amherst

November 30, 2006
Assistant Professor of Japanese Masaaki Kamiya gave an invited presentation in November at the Department of Linguistics at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The presentation was given at the advanced graduate seminar (on Aspect). His presentation was titled "Negation, Quantifier, and EPP Movement in Nominalization in Japanese".

Rohrbach Contributes Book Review to Studies in Romanticism

November 28, 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of English Emily Rohrbach contributed a book review of Peter Fritzsche's Stranded in the Present: Modern Time and the Melancholy of History (Harvard UP, 2004) to the journal, Studies in Romanticism 45:3 (Fall 2006). A cultural history of perceptions of lost time in post-Revolutionary Europe, Fritzsche's book presents archival research on wandering princes, cathedrals in ruins, and parents figured as cultural anachronisms, and it does so in a style accessible to an undergraduate readership. She plans to make the chapter on "Ruins" part of her spring 2007 senior seminar on "Architecture and Memory in the Nineteenth-Century British Novel."

Keller Publishes Article in Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Cultures

November 28, 2006
Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller published an article in Volume IV of the Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Cultures (Leiden: Brill). The article is an overview of women's education in modern (post-1800) Central Asia.

Rubino Gives Two Lectures at Colorado College

November 27, 2006
Carl Rubino, the Edward North Professor of Classics, gave two invited lectures in November at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. The first talk, "It Was Their Destiny: Roman Power and Imperial Self-Esteem" was to a group of classics students. It began with a reference to Star Wars, moved on to Rome (Vergil, Horace, and Tacitus), and ended with a discussion of Thomas Jefferson. In the evening Rubino gave a public lecture under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Humanities Professorship titled "Human Choices in an Uncertain Universe: Reflections on Science, Ethics, and the Humanities." The lecture focused on passages from Plato, Isaiah Berlin, Laplace, C. S. Peirce, Aristotle, Stephen Jay Gould and Ilya Prigogine.

Westmaas Interviewed on Atlanta Radio Station About British Guiana Riots

November 27, 2006
Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Nigel Westmaas was interviewed on Atlanta Radio WRFG 89.3 (Radio Free Georgia) on November 25 about the British Guiana "riots" of 1905. He discussed the causes, course and implications of this early 20th century rebellion for the future of the former British colony, now Guyana, after gaining its independence in 1966. The interview was conducted on the Atlanta radio station's regular Saturday afternoon program "Radio Diaspora" in the 5-7 p.m. time slot.

Jin Presents at American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages Conference

November 27, 2006
Professor of Chinese Hong Gang Jin participated in several activities at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) conference in November. She conducted a pre-conference workshop whose purpose was to help foreign language teachers apply recent theories of second language acquisition into teaching practice, specifically, on how to integrate the cognitive factors of "noticing effect" and "restructure process" into a form-focused curricular design.  More ...

Adams Participates in Panel at National Communication Association Convention

November 21, 2006
Visiting Professor of Communication John Adams presented a paper on a panel at the 92nd National Communication Association annual convention held in San Antonio. The convention's theme was "Creating Sites for Connection and Action." Adams's panel addressed "the role of rhetorical theory and rhetoricians in creating sites of connection and action both within and beyond the academy." His presentation, titled "Hope, Truth, and Rhetoric: Prophecy and Pragmatism in Service of Feminism's Cause" broadly addressed the role of prophetic rhetoric in feminism's foundational discourses and the contemporary role of epideictic rhetoric in effectively displaying its 'truths actualized' through the public commemoration of particular feminists' deeds.

Isserman Lectures at Dartmouth

November 20, 2006
Professor of History Maurice Isserman presented a lecture titled "Cold War in a Cold Place: The American Mount Everest Expedition of 1963" at Dartmouth College on November 15. The lecture was co-sponsored by the Henry and Amy Nachman Fund in History and the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club.

Bayolo Conducts Great Noise Ensemble in Washington, D.C.

November 20, 2006
Armando Bayolo, visiting assistant professor of music, conducted the Great Noise Ensemble in the second concert of their 2006-07 season on November 17 in Washington, D.C. The program consisted entirely of world premieres and included one of Bayolo's own works, Ritornello, based on music by the German Baroque composer Michael Praetorius. The program also included the premieres of works by Heather Figi and Blair Goins (both members of Great Noise) and the world premiere of General Electric, a "rock concerto grosso" for rock band and chamber orchestra by award winning composer D.J. Sparr.

Chemistry Students Publish Paper in Journal of Physical Chemistry A

November 20, 2006
Marco Allodi '08, Jovan Livada '08, and Meghan Dunn '06 recently published a paper in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A with their faculty research advisors. Allodi was first author, Dunn second, and Livada third. The paper, "Do Hydroxyl Radical-Water Clusters, OH(H₂O)_n, n=1-5, Exist in the Atmosphere?" explores the effects of hydration on the hydroxyl radical.  More ...

MacDonald Presents Award to Documentary Filmmaker

November 20, 2006
Visiting Professor of English Scott MacDonald presented documentary filmmaker William Greaves with the annual Leo Award for lifetime achievement in documentary filmmaking at the Lincoln Center's Walter Reed Theater on Thursday, Nov. 16. Named after pioneer of independent and non-theatrical film distribution Leo Dratfield, the Leo is awarded by International Film Seminars. The recipient must "show a sustained ability to introduce innovative approaches into the media arts field."  More ...

ACCESS Project Honored by Genesis Group

November 17, 2006
Vivyan Adair, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Associate Professor of Women's Studies, was honored for her work as as the director of The ACCESS Project at Hamilton College by the Genesis Group on November 15. The Genesis Group is a Mohawk Valley association working to advance regional economic, social, and cultural interests and to foster regional unity and cooperation.

Havens Re-elected Vice President of ADRP

November 15, 2006
Hamilton's Director of Donor Relations, Pamela Havens, attended the third International Conference of the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP) in Denver, during the first week of November. Havens joined nearly 250 donor relations and stewardship professionals, from the United States and Canada representing a myriad of organizations, and led a session titled, "Panning for Gold: And the 2006 Stewie Goes To." The session offered participants an opportunity to share success and horror stories, while brainstorming creative solutions.  More ...

Jay Williams Publishes Poem in The Quest

November 14, 2006
Jay Williams '54, the Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Religious Studies, published a poem, "You Came," in the November edition of The Quest: Philosophy. Science. Religion. The Arts (Wheaton, Ill.).

Adair Presents Paper at South Atlantic MLA Conference

November 14, 2006
Vivyan Adair, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Associate Professor of Women's Studies, presented a paper at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association annual convention in Charlotte, N.C. in November. Her paper was called "Survival Narratives and the Politics of Modernist, Post-Modernist and Post-Positivist Representation." The paper was part of a special session on "Post-Modern Survivor Narratives."

Boutin Lectures at Computational and Combinatorial Geometry Workshop

November 14, 2006
Debra Boutin, associate professor of mathematics, gave a talk in November at the 16th Fall Workshop on Computational and Combinatorial Geometry held at Smith College. In her talk, Boutin discussed results from her upcoming paper "Automorphisms and Determining Numbers of Geometric Cliques," joint work with Michael Albertson. This work shows that (with some minor assumptions) we can color each node of a complete straight line network with one of two possible colors in such a way that the result is asymmetric.

Li Referenced in Foreign Affairs Magazine

November 13, 2006
William R. Kenan Professor of Government Cheng Li was referenced in an article that appeared in Foreign Affairs magazines's November/December issue in an article titled "China's Leadership Gap." Written by John L. Thornton, professor at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management in Beijing and board chair of the Brookings Institution, the article referenced Li's statistics and observations on the rising levels of education achieved by China's political leaders. Li, who focuses his research on Chinese leadership, is also a senior scholar with the Brookings Institution and is a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and a member of The Academic Advisory Group of the Congressional U.S.-China Working Group.  More ...

Sharon Rivera and David Rivera Publish in Post-Soviet Affairs

November 13, 2006
Sharon Werning Rivera, assistant professor of government, and David W. Rivera, government department lecturer, published "The Russian Elite under Putin: Militocratic or Bourgeois?" in the April-June 2006 issue of Post-Soviet Affairs. The article investigated the widespread assumption that since Vladimir Putin took over the presidency from Boris Yeltsin on Jan. 1, 2000, large numbers of siloviki, those with experience in the military and security agencies, have been recruited into government service.  More ...

Adair Lectures Columbia Grad. Students on Post-Modern Feminism

November 10, 2006
Vivyan Adair, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Associate Professor of Women's Studies, lectured at Columbia University on November 2 on "Representing Women: Feminist Post-Modern Theories of Identity and Experience." Her audience included students from Columbia's Graduate Schools of Social Work and Education and Union Theological Seminary. The talk was sponsored by the Feminist Caucus of Columbia University.

Jillings Presents at National Conferences

November 10, 2006
Director of Outdoor Leadership Andrew Jillings presented at national conferences in October and November. He spoke at the National Whitewater Symposium in California, where he also participated in a panel discussion on "Decision-making by whitewater instructors and guides." In November he gave two presentations at the International Conference of the Association for Experiential Education in St. Paul, Minn. The topics were "New perspectives on leaders training" and "Teaching New dogs old tricks; how to teach new leaders to lead like old pros."

Gold Lectures at University of Kansas

November 8, 2006
Professor of Classics Barbara Gold gave lectures at the University of Kansas on October 23-24. She presented a lecture to the faculty and graduate students in the Classics Department titled "How Women (Re)Act in Roman Love Poetry: Inhuman She-Wolves and Unhelpful Mothers in Propertius' Elegies." She also gave a seminar at the Hall Center for the Humanities in their Pre-1500 Humanities series: "Which Juvenal?: Rewriting Rome in the Early Empire."

Owens-Manley and de Swaan Present at MWPAI

November 6, 2006
Judith Owens-Manley, associate director for community research for the Levitt Center, and Visiting Instructor of Art Sylvia de Swaan will participate in a panel discussion on the refugee experience hosted by the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (MWPAI) in Utica.  More ...

Tampio Presents at Political Theory Conference

November 6, 2006
Nicholas Tampio, visiting assistant professor of government, presented a paper on "Kantian Encounters with Islam" at the 2006 Association for Political Theory Conference at Indiana University. The paper constructs a dialogue between John Rawls, Gilles Deleuze, and Tariq Ramadan to consider how Kantians and Muslims may interact politically. The paper is part of his book manuscript on Kant's legacy in contemporary political theory.

Carter Speaks at Conference in Venice

November 5, 2006
Rand Carter, professor of art history, spoke at the International Network for the Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism conference in Venice from Nov. 2 to 5. The theme of the conference was "The Venice Charter Revisited."  More ...

Jin Presents at Annual Wisconsin State Language Teachers Conference

November 5, 2006
Professor of Chinese Hong Gang Jin presented a workshop at the annual Wisconsin State Language Teachers Conference on Nov. 4. Her workshop, on Form-focused and Task-based Instruction, offered an opportunity for language teachers to explore effective classroom interaction through a combination of form-focused instruction and communicative tasks.  More ...

Rohrbach Contributes Article to European Romantic Review

November 3, 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of English Emily Rohrbach contributed an article, "Anna Barbauld's History of the Future: A Deviant Way to Poetic Agency," to European Romantic Review 17:2 (2006).

Rosmaita Presents Poster at Computers and Accessibility Conference

November 3, 2006
Brian Rosmaita, assistant professor of computer science, presented "Accessibility Now! Teaching Accessible Computing at the Introductory Level" at The Eighth International Association for Computing Machinery SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '06), held in Portland, Oregon, Oct. 22-25.  More ...

Paris Addresses New England Educational Assessment Network Conference

November 3, 2006
David Paris, the Leonard C. Ferguson Professor of Government and senior fellow of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), presented a talk at an assessment conference titled "Closing the Loop: Using Findings for Improvement" sponsored by the New England Educational Assessment Network on Friday, Nov. 3, at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Paris' presentation, titled "The Assessment Loops: Lessons Learned from Hamilton College's Assessment Project," described Hamilton's assessment project and some of the lessons learned about feedback loops. According to Paris, the key to successful feedback is constant focus on student perceptions and recognition of the several loops involved in assessment. Paris' presentation will also connect Hamilton's project with some undertaken by the AACU.

Franklin Co-Edits Book, Critical Affinities: Nietzsche and African American Thought

November 2, 2006
Associate Professor of Philosophy Todd Franklin co-edited the recently released Critical Affinities: Nietzsche and African American Thought. The book explores the multifaceted relationship between the philisophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and various dimensions of African American thought. Franklin and co-editor Jaqueline Scott focus on unmasking and understanding the root causes and radically inflected symptoms of various manifestations of cultural malaise. Franklin also contributed a chapter titled "Kindred Spirits: Nietzsche and Locke as Progenitors of Axiological Liberation."

Patterson Gives Paper at Race and Pedagogy Conference

November 1, 2006
Associate Professor of Africana Studies Tiffany Ruby Patterson presented a paper titled "Knowledge, Method, and Race: Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Takes on the Same Realities" at the Race and Pedagogy Conference at the University of Puget Sound in September. Research for the paper was funded by the Class of 1963 Faculty Fellowship, a grant that she has used to develop a course at Hamilton titled Knowledge and Method in Global African Studies which will be offered in the Africana Studies Program in the near future. Patterson's paper was based on research for the course.  More ...

Omori Contributes to Book, The Modern Murasaki

November 1, 2006
Assistant Professor of Japanese Kyoko Omori contributed essays to a new book, The Modern Murasaki: Selected Works by Women Writers of Meiji Japan,1885-1912, (ed., Rebecca L. Copeland and Melek Ortabasi, New York: Columbia University Press, 2006). Omori wrote an introductory essay to Higuchi Ichiyô's journal entries (pp. 127-135) and English translation of several journal entries by Higuchi Ichiyô(pp.136-150).  More ...

Chad Williams Gives Paper at Spaces of War Conference

October 31, 2006
Assistant Professor of History Chad Williams presented a paper, "France, African American Military Service, and Diasporic Consciousness in the First World War," at an international conference titled "Spaces of War: France and the Francophone World," held at the University of Minnesota on Oct. 27. His paper examined how France during the war functioned as an ideological and geographic space where African Americans, and African American soldiers specifically, through the experience and symbolism of military service, developed a broadened international consciousness that was distinctly diasporic in scope. He gave particular attention to the nature of interactions between African American soldiers and African colonial soldiers in the French army. Williams is currently on leave as a fellow at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City.

Briggs Gives Paper, "Asymmetrical Joyce," at James Joyce Symposium

October 31, 2006
Austin Briggs, Tompkins Professor of English, Emeritus, and lecturer in English, delivered a paper, "Asymmetrical Joyce," on the panel "Joycean Geometry" that he organized and chaired at the James Joyce Symposium held in June in Budapest, Hungary. In addition, he co-moderated three reading sessions on Ulysses. At the conference, the board of directors of the International James Joyce Foundation nominated him for a position to the board.

Gold Publishes Article in Classical Outlook

October 30, 2006
Professor of Classics Barbara Gold has published an article: "Classics, the Atom Bomb, and the Environment: Team-Teaching Multidisciplinary Courses from a Classics Point of View" in Classical Outlook (Summer 2006). This article arose out of a talk given at the annual meeting of the American Philological Association at the presidential panel on interdisciplinary teaching.

Xu Publishes Article in Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association

October 30, 2006
Professor of Chinese De Bao Xu published an article, "On Language Use in Teaching Classical Chinese in the CFL Context," in Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association ( Feb., 2006, vol. 41:11, pp 1-12). The study discusses the appropriate instructional language in teaching Classical Chinese in an English speaking environment.

InsideHigherEd.com Features Elgren and Paris Op-Ed on Advising

October 30, 2006
David Paris, the Leonard C. Ferguson Professor of Government, and Professor of Chemistry Tim Elgren discussed the Hamilton advising system in an opinion piece in InsideHigherEd.com. In "Advising: Less is More?," published on Sept. 29,  the writers emphasized that students want timely relevant information. "…what they wanted above all from advisors was for them to be available for assistance, to provide accurate information about course selection and college rules and to warn against obstacles that might impede their progress in the short term regarding registration and in the long term regarding plans for majors."  More ...

Reynolds Reappointed Editor of Invertebrate Biology

October 27, 2006
Professor of Biology Pat Reynolds has been reappointed as editor-in-chief of the journal Invertebrate Biology for another three-year term. The journal, published by The American Microscopical Society,is one of the oldest biological journals in the U.S., publishing continuously since 1879. Reynolds was named the 20th editor of the journal in 2004, after serving six years as co-editor.  More ...

Gane Contributes Article to Poetics Today

October 27, 2006
Assistant Professor of English Gillian Gane contributed an article, "Postcolonial Literature and the Magic Radio: The Language of Rushdie's Midnight's Children," to the Fall 2006 issue of Poetics Today (Volume 27, Number 3).

Silent Version of Dracula to be Screened on Sunday

October 25, 2006
In preparation for Halloween, the earliest surviving film version of Dracula will be screened on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 2 p.m. Nosferatu (1921), directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, will be screened in the Kirner-Johnson Auditorium in the Kirner-Johnson Building. The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of the F.I.L.M (Forum for Images and Languages in Motion) series organized by Visiting Art History Professor Scott MacDonald.  More ...

Urgo Contributes Chapter to Book, What Democracy Looks Like

October 25, 2006
Dean of the Faculty Joseph Urgo contributed a chapter to What Democracy Looks Like: A New Critical Realism for a Post-Seattle World, edited by Amy Schrager Lang and Cecelia Tichi (Rutgers University Press, 2006). Urgo's chapter is titled "'There is evil in the world an I'm going to do something about it': William Faulkner as Political Resource."  More ...

SUNY Oswego Hosts De Swaan As Visiting Artist

October 24, 2006
Visiting Instructor in Art Sylvia de Swaan presented a lecture at the State University of New York in Oswego as part of their Visiting Artist Lecture series on Monday, Oct. 23. She also conducted a workshop for advanced photography students focused on constructing narrative in relation to local history and geography while creating an emotional connection.  More ...

Rubino Elected President of Classical Association of the Atlantic States

October 23, 2006
Carl Rubino, the Edward North Professor of Classics, was elected president of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States for 2006-2007, at its recent meeting in Baltimore. In this capacity he will preside over the association's Centennial Meeting, which will be held next October in Washington D.C. At the Baltimore meeting, he presided over a session on "Gender and Identity in Latin Literature and Roman Society" and directed a workshop session on "Augustus, Augustanism, and Teaching the Advanced Placement Vergil and Latin Literature Syllabi."  More ...

Chung Publishes Hollywood Asian, New Book in Asian American and Film Studies

October 20, 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature Hye Seung Chung is the author of a new book titled Hollywood Asian: Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance (Temple University Press).  More ...

Chambliss Lectures on Liberal Arts Assessment

October 19, 2006
Dan Chambliss, the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, has recently delivered talks and given consultations on liberal arts assessment at Swarthmore College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Sewanee: The University of the South, and Oxford College of Emory University. The talks discussed his work on the Mellon Assessment project. Chambliss also gave an invited presentation on "Hiring Departmental Faculty" to a department chairs' conference at the American Sociological Association annual meetings in Montreal. In addition, he was recently quoted in articles on higher education in the Washington Post and the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Hall Presents Paper at MLA Meeting

October 19, 2006
Assistant Professor of English Tina Hall presented at the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association's annual meeting in Tucson, October 12-15. She was on a panel called, "RMMLA Poets Read Their Work" and she read from her novella in prose poems, titled, "All the Day's Sad Stories."

Ravven Speaks at Duke University Symposium

October 19, 2006
Professor of Religious Studies Heidi Ravven spoke at the symposium, Ethics on the Edges of Tradition, at Duke University on October 17. Ravven presented the paper, "Spinoza and the Rethinking of Philosophical Ethics." The symposium was sponsored by the Duke University Department of Religion and the Center for Judaic Studies. The four speakers and two respondents focused on three religious and philosophical thinkers, the medieval Muslim theologian Ghazali, the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides, and the early modern post-Jewish philosopher Spinoza. The panelists explored some contemporary uses to which the thought of these historical figures could be put to revise ethics and theology for the contemporary era. The event was made possible through a generous donation from the Ford Foundation.

Klinkner Quoted on Bloomberg.com

October 18, 2006
Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, was quoted in a Bloomberg.com article titled "Bush Emphasizes Economy as Messages on Security, Values Weaken" (Oct. 6, 2006). Commenting on the Bush Administration's effort to credit Republicans for an improving economy, Klinkner stated "You go with what you've got, and right now the economy is the best thing they've got going." The article suggested that the administration's effort to focus on the economy was a result of the "difficulty in making moral values and the war on terror central issues…" in the upcoming mid-term elections.

Zani Lectures at Cornell Herpetological Society

October 18, 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Peter Zani gave an invited seminar at the Cornell Herpetological Society at Cornell University. The Herp Society is a student group dedicated to the study of reptiles and amphibians. In addition to field trips to museums and zoos (such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the National Zoo in D.C.), they also have a weekly seminar series with speakers from around the Northeast presenting their herpetological research. Zani's seminar was on "Relationships between locomotor performance and evolutionary fitness in side-blotched lizards, Uta stansburiana".

Elgren Lectures at Ibaraki University in Mito, Japan

October 18, 2006
Tim Elgren, professor of chemistry and chair of the biochemistry/molecular biology program, presented an invited lecture titled "Sol-Gel Encapsulation of Enzymes: Spectroscopic and Mechanistic Studies" at Ibaraki University in Mito, Japan. The lecture was presented at the Second Annual Japan-China Crossover Science Symposium, a symposium initiated to facilitate exchanges between researchers in different fields of biology, chemistry, and physics. Elgren was one of only three scientists invited from the West. The lecture focused on the recent work of students in his lab and work resulting from a year-long sabbatical leave at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. The focus of Elgren's research is currently the preparation, stabilization, and characterization of novel catalytic bio-materials. The "crossover" goals of the symposium were achieved for many participants, including Elgren, who will begin to collaborate on new projects with two Japanese scientists.

Glenn Selected as Chair of Political Science Association

October 18, 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Brian J. Glenn has been named chair of the public policy section of the 2007 New England Political Science Association (NEPSA) annual conference, which will be held in Newton, Massachusetts. The section covers a wide variety of subjects, from health care to welfare to environmental and education issues. In 2001, Glenn received the Robert Wood award, presented annually for the best paper presented at NEPSA by a graduate student.

Computer Science Department Receives Grant from Microsoft Corporation

October 18, 2006
Hamilton's computer science department recently received a grant award from Microsoft Corporation's research division. The title of the funded grant proposal is "Using Phoenix in Computer Security Curricula."  More ...

Jones Presents Paper on Impact of HR Practices on Worker Performance

October 18, 2006
Derek C. Jones, the Irma M. and Robert D. Morris Professor of Economics, and Antti Kauhaunen of Helsinki School of Economics presented a paper at the Conference on the Analysis of Firms and Employees (CAFE): Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. CAFE was held on September 29-30, in Nuremberg, Germany. The paper, titled "Teams, Performance-Related Pay, Profit Sharing and Productive Efficiency: Evidence from a Food-Processing Plant" was co-authored by Jones, Kauhanen and Panu Kalmi. It investigates the impact of important changes in human resource practices on firm performances for a food-processing plant. The paper is one outcome of a National Science Foundation-funded project.

Weldon and Recent Grads Present Poster at Professional Conference

October 18, 2006
Douglas Weldon, Stone Professor of Psychology, presented a poster in Atlanta at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience with Carlyn Patterson '06 and Erica Colligan '06. The poster was titled "Neuron Activity in the Rat Superior Colliculus during Reward Magnitude Task Performance." The paper showed that some neurons in the midbrain of the rat show cellular activity that differs when the animals retrieve high versus low reward. The context of the work is that this area of the brain is known to be involved in sensory processing and in generating visuo-motor orientations and is thereby thought to be involved in the neural basis of attention. The data are meaningful in suggesting that the brain area participates in processing information about significant events.  More ...

Burr Presents Paper on Economic Benefits of Early Childhood Offerings

October 18, 2006
Assistant Professor of Psychology Jean Burr recently presented a paper at the Annual Licensing Seminar of the National Association for Regulatory Administration in Oklahoma City, OK. This organization oversees the licensing of the nation's human care facilities, such as child care and adult assisted living facilities. The paper, which Burr co-wrote with Rob Grunewald, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank, focused on the economic benefits of publicly-funded early childhood education programs. Burr and Grunewald presented evidence that well-constructed early childhood intervention programs can create an 18 percent annual return on investment over a 20-year period. They also discussed the policy implications for these findings and some of the current efforts being made to motivate the business community to invest in early childhood education. The paper is available at the Federal Reserve Web site at http://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/studies/earlychild/.

Gold Attends Classical Association of Atlantic States Meeting

October 17, 2006
Professor of Classics Barbara Gold attended the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States (CAAS) in Towson, Md. on Oct. 5-8. She is a former president of CAAS. At the meeting, she co-presided over a session on "Gender, Cult and Identity in Greek Literature and Society," led a discussion group with a colleague from Emory on how to integrate scholarship on Vergil and Augustanism into high school Latin courses (especially AP Latin courses on Vergil), and attended a session on "Undergraduate Research in Classics 2006" to accompany her former Hamilton Greek student, Brian Sweeney (now at graduate school at the University of Chicago), who gave a well-received paper on "Roaring Rampages of Revenge: Euripides' Medea and Tarantino's Kill Bill."

Rob Kantrowitz and Mary O'Neill Publish Essay in Current Practices in Quantitative Literacy

October 17, 2006
An essay by Professor of Mathematics Robert Kantrowitz and Mary B. O'Neill, academic support coordinator and director of the Quantitative Literacy Center, was published by The Mathematical Association of America in the recent volume Current Practices in Quantitative Literacy. The essay is titled "The Quantitative Literacy Program at Hamilton College" and outlines the history and development of Hamilton's quantitative literacy program. It explains the present quantitative literacy requirement at Hamilton and details the operation of the quantitative literacy center. This issue is part of the MAA Notes series and "presents a wide sampling of efforts being made on campuses across the country to achieve our common goal of having a quantitatively literate citizenry."  More ...

Rohrbach Delivers Paper at Harvard

October 17, 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of English Emily Rohrbach spoke on October 16 at Harvard University as part of the Barker Humanities Center's monthly seminars on Romantic Literature and Culture. She was one of three young scholars on the October panel, organized to explore "New Scholarship on Romantic Poetry." Her paper was titled "Metric Sexuality and Narrative Inversion in Byron's Don Juan." The other speakers were Robert Koelzer (Harvard) and Heather Braun (Boston College).

Emerson Gallery Hosts Artist’s Talk on Native Perspectives Show

October 16, 2006
The Emerson Gallery will host an artist's talk by Native Perspectives artist Shelley Niro (Mohawk). Niro will speak on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 4:15 p.m. in the Science Center Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.  More ...

Sharon Williams Gives Keynote Address at Ivy League Plus Consortium Meeting

October 16, 2006
Sharon Williams, director of the Writing Center, participated in the Ivy League Plus Consortium's annual meeting, a gathering for writing program faculty and administrators from Ivy League and selective liberal arts colleges at Cornell University on Oct. 7. She gave the keynote presentation: "Hamilton College's Longitudinal Study of Student Writing: A Tale of Choice and Consequences."

Jin Publishes Article in Journal of Chinese Language Teachers Association

October 13, 2006
Professor of Chinese Hong Gang Jin wrote an article that was published in the peer reviewed Journal of Chinese Language Teachers Association, October, 2006, Vol. 41;3 PP35-56. The article, titled "Multimedia Effects and Chinese Character Processing: An Empirical Study of CFL Learners from Three Different Orthographic Backgrounds," concerns a study that examined the effects of multimedia presentation on Chinese character recognition.  More ...

Video/Digital Work by Samuel Pellman and Lauren Koss '00 to be Presented at Cologne Festival

October 12, 2006
"Vaporis congeries magnae," a video/digital music collaboration by Professor of Music Samuel Pellman and Lauren Koss '00 has been selected for presentation by the Cologne Online Film Festival. The festival, which opens on October 13, features an international group of artists whose works explore the relationships between sound and video and how they each use the dimension of time. See link below for more information about the festival and the Pellman/Koss work.  More ...

Bayolo Conducts Great Noise Ensemble in Washington, D.C.

October 12, 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Armando Bayolo conducted the Great Noise Ensemble on Saturday, Oct. 7, in Washington, D.C., in a concert honoring the 70th birthday of American composer Steve Reich. The program was the only event in the Washington, D.C., region honoring Reich, who has been called "America's greatest living composer" by the Village Voice. The Great Noise Ensemble is a group dedicated to the performance of contemporary concert music founded in 2005 by Bayolo, who is currently the group's music director.

Kirschner Lectures at American Chemical Society Northeast Regional Meeting

October 12, 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner presented a lecture at the 34th Northeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society on October 5 in Binghamton. The title of his talk was "Gas-Phase Atmospheric Computational Chemistry," and was part of the Environmental Symposium.  More ...

Latrell Cited in New Book, Culture and Customs of Indonesia

October 11, 2006
Craig Latrell, associate professor of theatre and chair of the department, is quoted and his work cited in a new book,Culture and Customs of Indonesia (Greenwood, 2006). Latrell, whose expertise is in Asian theatre, has travelled extensively in Southeast Asia to study the role of performance in various cultures there. His work is cited in the bibliography and suggested readings of Culture and Customs of Indonesia.  More ...

MacDonald Interviewed in International Film Magazine

October 11, 2006
Visiting Professor of Film History and F.I.L.M. director, Scott MacDonald, was interviewed in the current issue of Cinema Scope, the international film magazine published in Toronto. The subject of the article, titled "Interviewing the Interviewer: Scott MacDonald's Critical Cinema," is MacDonald's series of books A Critical Cinema, published by the University of California Press. The Cinema Scope interviewer, Michael Sicinski, called it "a cornerstone in the struggle to preserve the achievements of experimental media-makers for future generations..."

Ortabasi Co-Edits Book in Japanese Studies

October 10, 2006
Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature Melek Su Ortabasi is co-editor of a new book, The Modern Murasaki: Writing by Women of Meiji Japan (Columbia University Press). Co-editor is Rebecca Copeland, professor of Japanese literature at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. According to the publisher's Web site, "The first anthology of its kind, The Modern Murasaki brings the vibrancy and rich imagination of women's writing from the Meiji period to English-language readers. Along with traditional prose, the editors have chosen and carefully translated short stories, plays, poetry, speeches, essays, and personal journal entries."  More ...

Seager Presents Paper at St. Lawrence University

October 9, 2006
Professor of Religious Studies Richard Seager presented a paper, "Dharma and Identity in Western / American Buddhism," at the 2006 New York Conference on Asian Studies at Saint Lawrence University, Oct. 6-7. His paper reflects his current research into the different uses of Buddhist images in immigrant and convert practice communities and among avant-garde performance and installation artists in New York and San Francisco.

de Swaan Work Exhibited in Cyprus Gallery

October 9, 2006
Images by Lecturer in Art Sylvia de Swaan are included in a contemporary art exhibition, "In Transition," in Limassol, Cyprus, in October. Sponsored by the Independent Museum of Contemporary Art and the Evagoras and Kathleen Lanitis Foundation, the exhibition focuses on immigration and displacement while "…searching for a contemporary perception of the realities and dilemmas which confront displaced people."  More ...

Li Joins Prominent Chinese American Group

October 6, 2006
Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, is among eight Chinese Americans invited to join the Committee of 100, a national organization of prominent Chinese American leaders.  Among those who are joining the Committee of 100 with Li are Wing T. Chao, vice chairman-Asian development for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; Leroy Chiao, an astronaut and entrepreneur; Wei Christianson, CEO and managing director of Morgan Stanley China; and Kai-Fu Lee, vice president at Google.  More ...

Two National Education Groups Appoint Paris to Senior Positions

October 4, 2006
David Paris, the Leonard C. Ferguson Professor of Government, has been appointed as a senior fellow with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). He is working on AAC&U's campaign, Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP). AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality and public standing of undergraduate liberal education.  More ...

Students, Professors Attend Oneida County Historical Society Gala

October 2, 2006
Six students from the Government and History departments along with three faculty members attended a talk by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis on September 28. Ellis, author of several best-selling books and frequent contributor to the History Channel and C-SPAN came to the area at the invitation of the Oneida County Historical Society, and gave a talk titled, "The Founders and Today."