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The large numbers of migrants traveling into the European Union has left policymakers struggling to come up with a humanitarian and practical solution. Leila Simona Talani, professor of international political economy at King’s College London and scholar-in-residence at Hamilton’s Levitt Center, spoke recently on the migration crisis.

When Americans hear of 1956 in the Soviet Union, if anything comes to mind it is usually the uprising in Hungary and the Soviet intervention to suppress it. This association is far different from the liberalization movement that Russians associate with 1956. Kathleen Smith, professor of teaching at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, discussed this disparity in a lecture, “Rebellious Soviet Students in 1956: A New Generation of Political Prisoners.”

Learning For Your Spirit Week, a series of events designed to introduce members of the Hamilton community to new spiritual practices or unfamiliar religious traditions, took place Jan. 26 to Feb. 1.

In a time when the politics of the Kremlin have once again captured America’s attention, Hamilton College was fortunate to host Vladimir Kara-Murza, the vice-chairman of Open Russia, an NGO advocating for democracy and human rights in Russia. He visited to screen his documentary film Nemtsov, about the political life of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader who championed democracy until his murder in 2015.

Two former diplomats and experts of foreign relations visited Hamilton College on Nov. 30 for a discussion on U.S.–Iran relations and the nuclear deal. Thomas Pickering, former U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs and ambassador to the United Nations, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, and Jordan, and Seyed Hossein Mousavian, former Iranian ambassador and research scholar at Princeton University answered questions from moderator Emad Kiyaei, the Sol M. Linowitz Visiting Professor of International Affairs, and from the audience.

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright ’83, P’15, returned to the Hill Sunday, Nov. 12, for a question and answer session moderated by Maynard-Knox Professor of Law Frank Anechiarico.

In his first visit to upstate New York, Sam Quinones, author of the critically-acclaimed book Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic, delivered a powerful lecture to the Hamilton community on the story of the opioid epidemic in America. This is a problem that has been plaguing the country for many years, but it recently reached mainstream attention because of the gravity and scope of the epidemic.

A group of Hamilton government students had an informal session with political strategists David Axelrod and Karl Rove before the two spoke on campus as part of the College Common Ground series.

Sam Lebovic, assistant professor of history at George Mason University, delivered a lecture on Oct. 16 discussing the ideas in his book Free Speech and Unfree News: The Paradox of Press Freedom in America. In a country where free speech is extremely protected it should follow that the press is extremely free. But, according to Lebovic, that is not the case. There are two key crises facing the free press today–corporate consolidation and the rise of state secrecy. Both are grounded in history, having originated in the 20th century as the country decided what exactly freedom of press meant.

At the forefront of current foreign policy discussions is the relationship between the United States and Russia. The Levitt Center brought in Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of research at the Council on Foreign Affairs, to discuss that relationship. He delivered a lecture titled “U.S.-Russia Relations Under Trump and Beyond” on the past, present, and future state of U.S.-Russian relations.