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In a courtroom in Boston, representatives from the National Organization of Women (NOW) sit in on a decision of children’s custody. They are there to remind the judge to be fair and impartial, as a representative of women’s rights worldwide. As a legislative intern with the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW), Lennie Specht ’11 works to improve the legislation regarding women’s issues in the state of Massachusetts.

In 1600 B.C., during the Minoan civilization on Crete, Gournia was bustling with the activity of a small city, with construction of the enormous central palace underway. Working with John McEnroe, the John and Anne Fischer Professor in Fine Arts, Maeve Gately ’12 and Kiernan Acquisto ’13 are excavating the site to learn more about its ancient past.

Four main forces govern the behavior of all matter in the world around us: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear. Physicists believe that, at large enough energies, these four forces can be described by a single theory rather than four separate theories. Working for his second summer under Professor of Physics Brian Collett and Professor of Physics Gordon Jones, Edward Lamere ’11 is working on a project to increase the accuracy of an experiment that links the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces called aCORN.

In the forest, populations of rabbits and foxes change relative to one another. Mathematicians model these population fluctuations using differential equations. But mathematical predator-prey models have limitations; for example, the models do not account for rabbits and foxes traversing different paths from water to food source. Combining differential equations and network optimization, Louis Boguchwal ’12 hopes to improve these standard models with guidance from Assistant Professor of Mathematics Andrew Dykstra.

Edgy, scary, stylish, sinful: gay culture is viewed in different ways by different communities in the United States. But for black men in the LGBTQQI community, their doubly marginalized status creates tensions in all of the communities to which they belong. Working with Associate Professor of Africana Studies Angel Nieves, Randall Mason ’11 is using his Emerson grant to investigate the lives of black gay men.

On the surface, humans and flies may seem to have very different embryonic development; while it takes nine months for one human baby to develop, hundreds of fly eggs can hatch in the incubation period of only 24 hours. But, in both species, the undifferentiated embryo separates at some point to become different segments and appendages to the body. The molecules that trigger these differentiating genes are called morphogens, and each species has hundreds to thousands of them in its genome. William Stateman ’10 is trying to identify the effects of one specific morphogen on embryos of fruit flies.

From the pitchers’ mound to the concession stand, Daniel Kroening ’11 can’t get enough baseball. One may think that the 33 games of the varsity baseball season and playing in a local summer league would sate his thirst for the great American pastime, but Kroening just keeps coming back for more. Kroening is learning more about the behind-the-scenes elements of the game in his internship with amateur baseball league franchise the Bourne Braves.

A small but significant meeting takes place on a recent Saturday afternoon; it is the Safe Zone workshop. People often with limited exposures to the gay community attend the workshop to be updated on appropriate vocabulary and learn about their own biases regarding the LGBT community. Megan Bolger ’11 is ensuring that this essential form of student-driven education lives on at Hamilton.

Many Americans underestimate the art of Japanese animation known as anime. Not only is anime a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States alone, but it reincarnates important aspects of Japanese culture that may not otherwise be as accessible to American audiences. Alex Benkhart ’11 is investigating the characteristics and popularity of the Japanese heroine that echoes back to earlier tenets of Japanese culture.

Over the past 60 years, the People’s Republic of China has had a complicated relationship with the Catholic Church. Since the communist state first obliterated almost all religious representation, it has gradually opened up. Funded by a Levitt grant and with the guidance of Professor of History Douglas Ambrose, Tongxin Lu ’11 is evaluating the status and future of the Catholic Church in China.