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Buzzing around the auditorium before his presentation, Dr. Paul Linser amicably conversed with Hamilton students and professors about the weather, his visit to the Hill, and his perfectly waxed handlebar moustache. His lecture, which was part of the Levitt Series, took place on Feb. 27 in the Taylor Science Center.

Imagine that you need to ask for directions in Madrid, but those three years of high school Spanish didn’t leave a lasting impression. Fear not, because for quick phrases on-the-go, it just takes a Smigin. Smigin is a new mobile translating app that allows users to build phrases and instantly receive accurate translations by selecting sentence fragments from three drop-down boxes.  The app went live in the Apple® app store on Monday, Feb. 17.

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, affects approximately three-quarters of the population1.  Nevertheless, the Oral Communication Center’s eighth annual Public Speaking Competition draws students from all class years, disciplines and extracurriculars. Even if you aren’t glossophobic, you might still get a little nervous before speaking to crowds. Some of Hamilton’s former winners and current participants generously reveal their tactics and motivations for competing.

When describing the business world, “love” might not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, Jonathan Isham Jr., director of Environmental Studies, faculty director of the Middlebury Center for Social Entrepreneurship, and professor of economics at Middlebury College, explains how it is the very foundation of social entrepreneurship.

Norman Steinberg made his first venture to Hamilton College on Nov. 19, where he presented on “The Life of a Writer” as a guest of the Career Center. An Emmy Award winner and recipient of the Writer’s Guild Award, Steinberg came to Hamilton “not to sell a program, but to sell a life.”

Police profiling is not a new phenomenon; in fact, profiling has been used to successfully identify criminals for decades. Yet “profiling,” in the modern world, is steeped in negative connotations and riddled with racial undertones. Milton Heumann, a professor of political science at Rutgers University, spoke on Nov. 7 about the current state of civic equality in New York City.

Returning to the Hill for the first time in more than a decade, economist Robert Frank spoke on Nov. 5 about the relationship between success and luck. A prolific author and co-director of the Paduano Seminar in business ethics at NYU’s Stern School of Business, Frank gave a lecture that was an engaging mélange of economic theory, personal anecdotes and examples from well-known cultural events. Drawing on these, he asserted that success in life is 100 percent dependent on luck.

Hamilton alumnus Luvuyo Mandela ’09 returned to the Hill on Oct. 29 to speak about his work as a social entrepreneur in South Africa. His former philosophy professor, A. Todd Franklin, introduced Mandela and thanked him for agreeing to speak to the small gathering, heavily composed of students in Franklin’s “Philosophy of Race, Gender and Culture” course.

As Hamilton  prepares for its new bike path, cultural anthropologist Luis Vivanco’s lecture, “Reconsidering the Bicycle,” could not be more timely. Vivanco, director of the Global and Regional Studies Program and founding director of the Global Studies Program at the University of Vermont, spoke about the current global state of using bikes as alternative transportation.

Dean Spade visited Hamilton on Oct. 10 to lecture on the effectiveness of legal reform to promote social equality. Spade, associate professor at the Seattle University School of Law, focused his discussion on struggles and obstacles faced by the American trans community.