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. Full poll results will be released on Tuesday, May 21, at 10:30 a.m. at www.hamilton.edu/PostElectionPoll.

The students in Associate Professor of Government Sharon Rivera’s introductory comparative politics course (Government 112) participated in a mock election debate in the fictitional country of West Europa on April 30 in the Kennedy Auditorium.

Associate Professor of Government Sharon Werning Rivera and Scholar-in-Residence David W. Rivera presented a paper at the 67th Annual Conference of the New York State Political Science Association on April 19 at Syracuse University.

Hamilton students enrolled in Steve Wu's Health Economics class, Alan Cafruny's International Political Economy class, and Herm Lehman's Intro. to Public Health classes were invited to meet and speak with Sacerdote Great Names speaker Dr. Bernard Kouchner in a small, informal group before the large public lecture held later in the evening.

Assistant Professor of Government Ted Lehmann gave a paper titled “Strategic Minerals and Great Power Rivalry” at the International Studies Association annual conference in San Francisco on April 4.  In the paper, Lehmann examined the relationship between strategic minerals, including rare earth elements and oil, and great power strategic relations.

Alan Cafruny, the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs, presented a paper at the International Studies Association annual convention in San Francisco on April 6. He gave a paper titled “The Crisis and the German Question,” and also participated on a roundtable on “The Crisis of the Greek State.”

Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Omobolaji Olarinmoye presented a paper titled “China in Africa” to the United Nations Association of Upper Mohawk Valley on March 21 in Utica, N.Y.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Calin Trenkov-Wermuth ’00 is co-author of a new book, Overcoming Obstacles to Peace: Local Factors in Nation-building, published by RAND in 2013.

Asle Toje, acting research director for the Norwegian Nobel Institute, visited Hamilton on March 8 to discuss the history of the Nobel Peace Prize and its most recent recipient, the European Union. As research director Toje is responsible for gathering information on Nobel candidates for review by the Nobel committee.

The lecture by Asle Toje, research director for the Norwegian Nobel Institute, originally scheduled for Thursday, March 7, has been rescheduled for Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m., in the Taylor Science Center, room 3024. Toje's original flight from Iceland was cancelled.