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Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Omobolaji Olarinmoye has received a Levitt Center 2013 Project SHINE course development grant for his Introduction to Comparative Politics (Gov. 112) course.

The Leadership Experience And Preparation (LEAP) program, developed through a partnership between Hamilton students, the Dean of Students Office and the Levitt Center, is a residentially based mentoring and leadership program that is being implemented for the first time this year. Its inaugural class of 59 first-year students will live together primarily in the Wertimer and Root residence halls, and work together in smaller groups under the leadership of upperclass student mentors.

Members of the Hamilton College community gathered on Sept. 16 to hear a talk by Ambassador Prudence Bushnell, a woman known internationally for her distinguished career as a U.S. diplomat and leadership expert. Bushnell’s lecture was titled “Transformational Leadership In Foreign Affairs, Where Is It?” and was sponsored by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center.

Prudence Bushnell, former U.S. ambassador to Kenya and Guatemala, and CEO of Sage Associates, will lecture on Monday, Sept. 16, at 4:15 p.m., in the Bradford Auditorium, KJ.  Her lecture, titled “Transformational Leadership in Foreign Affairs, Where Is It?,” is sponsored by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, and is free and open to the public.

Economists explain that a fundamental problem in our world is that resources are finite, and this is especially true for developing countries that lack the most basic resources necessary for survival.  According to the World Bank, more than 80 percent of poor Tanzanians live in rural areas and have limited access to arable land, water, food and tools.  In his project funded by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, Eren Shultz '15 researched development in Tanzania to understand the current and future roles of cooperative organizations.

The Gaokao, also known as the National College Entrance Exam, is a Chinese academic examination that students must complete to apply to undergraduate schools.  Chinese schools prepare children for the grueling exam that determines if the children will pursue an education at highly competitive universities or end their formal education and enter the workforce.  In her project funded by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, Mandy Wong ’15 researched Chinese student perspectives on obtaining a higher education after passing the Gaokao.

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.