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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.

Ronald Dworkin gave the Truax lecture in philosophy on October 10. Dworkin is the Sommer Professor of Law and Philosophy at NYU and Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College, London. Dworkin’s lecture was titled “The new religious wars” and discussed religion in American politics. His books include Life's Dominion, Freedom's Law and Sovereign Virtue. His forthcoming book is Justice in Robes (October 2005).

Dr. James Mundy, director of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College, spoke on October 5 as part of the William G. Roehrick '34 Lecture Series. Dr. Mundy was the first speaker in a series of lectures titled “College Museums Collections and Directions.” The goal of the series is to experience some of the changing collections at other small museums.

The long awaited dedication ceremony for Hamilton's new Science Center was held on Friday, Sept. 30, in the building's atrium. President Joan Hinde Stewart gave the opening remarks and introduced the keynote speaker, Congressman Sherwood L. Boehlert, the chairman of the House Committee on Science.

The student organization Biology Matters hosted a panel titled "Stem Cell Therapy: The Science and the Controversy" on Friday, Sept. 30, as part of the Science Center dedication weekend. The panelists were Susan Bryant, P'08, dean, School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine; and Robert Almeder, the McCullough Distinguished Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Hamilton.

Martin Hirsch '60 gave a lecture titled "HIV/AIDS-Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" for the Biology department during the Science Symposium held on Saturday, Oct. 1 and part of Hamilton's Science Center dedication weekend. Dr. Hirsch is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, professor of infectious disease and immunology at Harvard School of Public Health and director of clinical AIDS research at Massachusetts General Hospital. Hirsch was introduced by Professor of Biology Ernest Williams, who presented him with a Hamilton Alumni Achievement Medal.

Jared Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel, gave the James S. Plant lecture at Hamilton College on September 29 as part of the Science Center dedication weekend, "A Celebration of Science." The James S. Plant Distinguished Scientist Lecture series was established in 1987 through a bequest from Dr. Plant, class of 1912 and an eminent child psychiatrist, to bring to the campus outstanding scientists as guest lecturers. Diamond's lecture topic was a discussion of his new book, The New York Times best-seller Collapse.

Diane Fox, the Freeman Postdoctoral Fellow in Asian Studies, participated in a Rockefeller funded initiative called “Culture, Art, Trauma, Survival, Development: Vietnamese Contexts” at the University of Massachusetts, Boston on September 17. Fox presented a report based on her scholarly work and on a public education project in which she is involved titled “The Agent Orange Education Project,” which offers educators and community groups resources to educate their students or groups on the lingering consequences of the chemicals used during the war in Vietnam. The project is also drawing together artwork from Americans and Vietnamese; the show of Vietnamese art opened in Hanoi on September 24 and then will come to the United States, where U.S. veterans will contribute art work and poetry.

Alan Cafruny, the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs, presented a paper at the 7th Conference of the European Sociological Association Institute of Sociology, held at Nicolas Copernicus University in Torun, Poland. The paper, titled “The EMU and the Transatlantic and Social Dimensions of the Crises of the European Union,” was co-authored by Professor of Political Science Magnus Ryner of the University of Birmingham, UK. The paper challenged the conventional belief that the launching of the Euro represents an unprecedented level of European integration and a more even balance of power between the European Union and the United States.

The Inaugural Couper Phi Beta Kappa Library Lecture was held on Friday, September 9. This annual lecture will honor Hamilton alumnus and trustee Richard “Dick” Couper ’44 for his commitment and contributions to Hamilton College and the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the oldest academic honorary society in America. David Stam, the former Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries at the New York Public Library and Syracuse University librarian emeritus was the speaker for this event. His topic was “An Army without Ammunition: Books and the College Library,” about the trials and tribulations of Hamilton and its library in the 19th century.