Building on Hamilton's tradition of cultivating leadership, Hamilton students in conjunction with the Levitt Center created L.E.A.P. to promote the development of leadership skills among first-years. The program is being piloted for the Class of 2017.
All L.E.A.P. participants will live in Wertimer residence hall, and be assigned to a smaller group of 8-10 students who will work closely with two upperclass student mentors. During the first semester of the program, students will spend two hours each week participating in leadership training through group activities and a Leadership Speaker Series. The participants will develop six skills necessary to become a highly effective leader: self-awareness, organization, negotiation, active listening, public speaking, and networking. In the second semester, students will complete a group leadership project to create positive change at Hamilton.
By the end of their first year, L.E.A.P. students will have attained the tools necessary to develop their leadership potential and encourage a culture of leadership at Hamilton.
Residential Engagement in Academic Life (REAL) is a popular housing option open to 60 first-year students. Students live together on the 3rd and 4th floors of South residence hall and take one of four courses taught by some of Hamilton's best professors, who also serve as the students' faculty advisor. Through participation in the REAL program, first-year students have an opportunity to integrate their academic work and residential environment in a meaningful manner, and to connect immediately with their faculty member/advisor and classmates.
An introductory examination of a number of perennial philosophical questions and their treatments by both classical thinkers and more contemporary philosophers. Topics to be discussed may include the existence of God, the possibility of knowledge, the problem of induction, identity and material constitution, the nature of mind, the nature of the good, and the relationship between the individual and the state. Oral Presentations.
Taught by Russell Marcus, Philosophy
Philosophical inquiry into whether or not any of our moral beliefs can be justified and intensive examination of specific moral theories, including theories of justice, equality and rights.
Taught by Robert Simon, Philosophy
Study of literature as a vehicle for moral and political concerns and of the ways that literature shapes its readers. Special emphasis on popular literature, feminist criticism and the problems raised by censorship and pornography. Selected novels and plays by such writers as Ibsen, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Wright, Highsmith, Doris Lessing, Burgess and others.
Taught by Peter Rabinowitz, Comparative Literature
Survey of selected political theorists from Plato to the present. Examination of questions such as: Who is best fit to rule, and why? What is political freedom and how is it best secured? What type of state or society most fosters justice or political equality? Are there certain fundamental rights that states and societies must protect? And if they do not, when is revolution—even violence —justified?
Taught by Robert Martin, Government
Contact Meredith Bonham, Senior Associate Dean of Students
Course assignments will be made in the summer, based on student interest. Students selected for REAL will be assured registration in one of the four courses. Maximum enrollment for each course is 16 students. Each course is writing intensive.
