All News

The business world is basically divided into two camps: socialism and capitalism. In socialist economies, businesses are owned and controlled by the state, and in capitalist economies, shares in ownership are traded on the public market. In his summer Levitt Fellowship research, Shichen Xu ’12 will be exploring the economic middle ground between capitalism and socialism by studying the behavior of the Mondragon Cooperatives in the Basque region of Spain.

The Balkan states are marked by great ethnic pride and nationalism. Ethnic tensions have stirred conflict on the Balkan Peninsula for thousands of years, and in the age of globalism, defining an ethnic and nationalistic identity is of increasing importance for the Balkan countries. This summer, Annie Hudson ’12 will travel to and conduct research in Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia to study national cohesiveness and state-building.

Political ideology goes a long way in determining how a state deals with a crisis. Authoritarian regimes, historically, have been the least tolerant of dissent, but authoritarian reactions to dissent have been diverse, ranging from openness and tolerance to censorship and violence. Levitt Fellow Cristina Garafola ’11 is especially interested in the authoritarian regimes in China and Russia, and will spend the summer  learning more about the cultures of dissent and the governments’ responses in China and Russia.

“I really just want to help people,” declared Kate Northway ’11, an Emerson Fellowship recipient who will be staying on campus over the summer, pursuing an independent research project in the city of Utica. Northway’s project examines and promotes the local food movement in underprivileged communities.

There was a palpable tension in the air during a special mid-week Wednesday night Trivia Competition, as nine of Hamilton’s finest and most dedicated trivia teams took a trip to the Colgate Inn in Hamilton, N.Y., to match wits with Colgate students and faculty members.

Although many people might think of copyright issues as being contemporary, they emerged in legal discourse as early as the 16th century after the invention of the printing press and have been adapting to technological innovations ever since. In her April 29 lecture, Cornell's Tracy Mitrano discussed “Copyright Conundrums: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” and addressed what she believes to be the most pressing copyright problems facing higher education. Mitrano’s talk was part of the Couper Phi Beta Kappa Lecture series which was established in 2005 to honor Hamilton alumnus Richard “Dick” Couper ’44.

Baratunde Thurston, equal parts comedian and political commentator, filled the Kirner-Johnson Red Pit with his lecture on progressive activism in new media. Thurston’s lecture, organized by the College Democrats and sponsored by Student Assembly and the Office of the President, was as interactive as it was informative, with Thurston joking with audience members and employing the sense of humor that has gained him acclaim.

Hamilton students will have a taste of green eating this week as Bon Appétit Management Company celebrates Earth Day on April 22 by holding the third annual Low Carbon Diet Day. The first restaurant company to recognize the connection between food production and climate change, Bon Appétit will make significant menu changes on Thursday to try to teach the Hamilton community the ins and outs of sustainable eating.

Hamilton was recently mentioned in a Washington Post blog post titled, “Green Graduation Gowns." The post, which is part of the “Campus Overload” blog maintained by Washington Post reporter Jenna Johnson, is about a green initiative by Harper College, which will dress its graduates on commencement day in biodegradable gowns.

Six Hamilton students were honored for their photography in the fourth annual Worldview Photo Contest, which challenges students studying abroad to capture unique images of their surroundings.