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The goal of the first TEDx talk at Hamilton College, sponsored by the Oral Communication Center and Dean of Faculty’s Office, was to leave the conformity of our everyday lives and return to no-strings attached inquisitive nature of youth in order to achieve uninhibited curiosity and creativity.

For many Americans, radiation exposure is often linked to cancer treatment or atomic fallout. For villagers living in and around Semipalatinsk, however, exposure to radioactivity is a part of everyday life. Semipalatinsk, nicknamed “the Polygon” due to its cartographic shape, is located in east Kazakhstan and is the world’s largest nuclear test site.  Medical Anthropologist Magdalena Stawkowski, the MacArthur Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, spent 20 months living just outside of the “official” borders of the Polygon. She spoke at Hamilton on Oct. 7 about the lifestyle and health of residents in the Polygon.

A highlight for many during Fallcoming Weekend was the talk by Ambassador Thomas Pickering. In front of a packed audience in the Chapel, Ambassador Pickering outlined in detail the background and discussions that have led to the Iran Deal.

Dominick LaCapra, professor emeritus of History, Comparative Literature and Humanistic Studies at Cornell University, will present a lecture titled “History, Memory and Trauma: Problems and New Directions” on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 4:10 p.m., in the Kennedy Auditorium, Taylor Science Center. The lecture is sponsored by Hamilton’s Humanities Forum and is free and open to the public.

Award-winning novelist Trudy Lewis will read from her  latest work on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 8 p.m., in the Fillius Events Barn. She will also discuss the difference between Master of Fine Arts and Ph.D.’s with creative dissertations. The lecture is sponsored by the English and Creative Writing Department and is free and open to the public.

Dmitry Suslov, deputy director for research at the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, visited Hamilton for  a lecture on Oct. 1 and told his audience that until recently, relations between the United States and Russia had been ambiguous—a “transition period” where the U.S and Russia were “neither friends nor foes.”

Ambassador Thomas Pickering, a career foreign service officer and distinguished fellow, foreign policy, at the Brookings Institution, will deliver a lecture titled “Iran: Deal or No Deal?” on Friday, Oct. 2, at 4:30 p.m., in the Chapel. The lecture is free and open to the public.

While all superheroes have their secret identities, not many get to have a secret history as well. As New Yorker writer Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman, would explain in her lecture – sponsored by the Johnson Family Fund, the Dean of Faculty, Days-Massolo Center and the Kirkland Endowment – the mysterious past of Wonder Woman explains much more than just the origin of a fictional character.

Hamilton welcomed a panel of four experts from diverse fields Monday to discuss local efforts on the Hill to combat the effects of climate change, in a debate titled Should Colleges and Universities Divest from Fossil Fuels?   Participants were the Director of Investment Risk Management at the University of Michigan Rafael Castilla; Associate Analyst for 350.org Victoria Fernandez; National Association of Scholars Research Associate Rachelle Peterson; and Katelyn M. Kriesel, a financial advisor for Koenig & Selzer Asset Management Group and president of Syracuse Sustainability Enterprises.

During the Sept. 21 “Empowerment Thru Employment” presentation, Veronika Scott, CEO of Detroit non-profit The Empowerment Plan passionately battled misconceptions about homelessness. Her company, which hires individuals living in homeless shelters to make sleeping bag coats to be distributed to homeless people, emphasizes the importance of pride, independence and helping people help themselves. Hosted by the Days-Massolo Center, “Empowerment Thru Employment” was the second event of this semester’s “Media and Movement” series exploring the role of technology in social justice.