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Huffington Post featured an article titled “Mormons, Anti-Mormons, and Anti-Anti-Mormons” co-authored by Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies Brent Plate and Hannah Grace O'Connell ’14. The article also included several photos taken by Assistant Professor of Art Robert Knight.

Studying in India for the fall 2012 semester, Anderson Tuggle ’14 couldn’t have anticipated that the research in which he was engaged would have such relevance months later. Tuggle, who studied India’s Mid-day Meal program and the role of parents, teachers, and local institutions in providing meals, referenced this research in a New York Times letter to the editor.  Published on July 20, the letter was in response to the reported deaths of 22 children in India after they ate contaminated lunches.

In a Levitt Center group research project this summer, Samantha Sherman ’15, Timothy Cowan ’15 and Kelly Osterling ’15 are searching for factors that drive success in small cities.  Unique policies are typically implemented in micropolitan areas (defined as containing an urban core of at least 10,000, but less than 50,000, population),  to better serve the local economies and populations.  The students are finding similarities between these successful or failing communities and will introduce constructive policy reforms.

While planning her study abroad experience in France, Mary (Caroline) D’Ambro ’15 developed a deep interest in the political system of the country, particularly in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that has affected the European Union (EU).  In her research sponsored by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, D’Ambro will study the past, present and future of this European agricultural policy.

Nicholas Yepes ’15 has been awarded a Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace from Middlebury College. The merit-based scholarship provides full room, board and tuition to attend one of Middlebury College’s Language Schools. These 100 fellowships are made possible by a generous gift from the late Kathryn Davis, to address today’s critical need for increased language proficiency in the United States.

There’s no shortage of media coverage when it comes to China’s booming economic sector.  Reforms dating back to the 1970s have launched China’s economy on a trajectory that was unfathomable 40 years ago.  Now that the country has established industrial and financial infrastructures, it is looking for ways to sustain its economic growth.  Neil Edwards ’14 is examining the developing investment of China in Tanzania to see if it fosters a mutually beneficial relationship between the countries.

Results of a new survey titled “The 2012 Election and the Sources of Partisan Polarization: A Survey of American Political Attitudes” and conducted by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center received national attention after the poll’s May 21 release. MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews as well as NBC’s First-Read, the network’s news and analysis daily summary from the NBC News Political Unit, both reported on the poll. Also reporting on the poll were the political website Political Wire, UPI, The Washington Times and BusinessWeek.

Despite the hope that President Obama’s clear victory last November might lead to a reduction in partisan polarization, the results of a new survey conducted by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College indicate that American are as divided as ever.

In his April 22 lecture, author and University of Western Ontario professor Tony Weis traced the beginning of the global food crisis to advancements in agribusiness, farm subsidies and global food aid that then forced many small scale farmers in developing countries out of business.

More than half of working-age African American men in the United States have a criminal record. This statistic does not include those who are currently in jail or prison, who have effectively lost their voice and their status as individuals of worth. On April 17, Michelle Alexander, associate professor of law at Ohio State University, presented a lecture on mass incarceration and her bestselling book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The visit was presented by The Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, the Chief Diversity Officer and the Days-Massolo Center.