Austin Walker ’12 has been awarded a Fulbright Grant to Kenya. He will spend the 2012-13 academic year working on his project “Kenyan Youth Development: Youth as Kenya’s Development Architects” in Nyanza Province of western Kenya. Walker will rejoin the Lwala Community Alliance staff and director Robert Kasabala to build upon the baseline study about youth perspectives on development that they conducted last summer.

Austin Walker ’12 was selected to attend the Clinton Global Initiative University conference, March 30 – April 1 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Steve Mello ’11 has been selected as the 2011-12 winner of the Frank W. Taussig Article Award for a paper he wrote as an undergraduate. “Do Changes in Condom Availability Impact Short-Term Fertility? Evidence from Rwanda” began as Mello’s thesis during the 2010 spring semester and evolved into his Levitt Fellowship research project.

Hamilton was well-represented as 12 students presented the results of their research at the New York 6 Undergraduate Research Conference this month at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.

“What are you thinking?” That question, voiced or simply pondered, is a common query considered by most of us from time to time. Austin Walker ’12 spent most of his summer posing similar questions to Kenyan youth. Specifically he was focused on uncovering what young people view are the most pressing issues facing them and their country. Walker worked with Professor of Government Steve Orvis with funding from a 2011 Levitt Research Fellowship Grant.

Entrepreneurship among immigrants to the U.S. has a significant impact on the economy’s growth. Yet many economists don't study this particular facet of economic development in detail. Noah Ford ’13, a recipient of a 2011 Levitt Research Fellowship Grant, is exploring immigrant entrepreneurship with Professor of Economics Paul Hagstrom.

African asylum-seekers and refugees who go to Israel are frequently either turned away or face very difficult conditions. Henry Anreder '12, a recipient of a Levitt Research Fellowship Grant, is exploring the issues surrounding African refugees in Israel for his project with Professor of Government Steve Orvis.

Scott Blosser ’12, a 2011 Levitt Fellow, is spending the summer with Professor of History Douglas Ambrose, researching “Federalism and the Problem of State Debt: The Debate Over and Lessons of the Federal Assumption of State Debt.”

The Great Recession left a deep mark on the American economy, most notably on the labor market. While this market is recovering, progress is very slow and many Americans remain in search of a job. Furthermore, current labor market trends are highly unexpected, leaving many economists looking for a definitive explanation. Mihai Dohotaru ’13, a recipient of a Summer Levitt Research Fellowship Grant, will work toward the answer with Professor of Economics Christophre Georges over the course of his project “The Housing Bubble and the U.S. Labor Market after the ‘Great Recession.’”

Fifteen years after the end of a brutal war, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still struggling to reach autonomous statehood. For Bosnian natives, the process can inspire a range of feelings and attitudes. Jasmina Hodzic ’13, a 2011 Levitt Summer Grant Recipient, will explore Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress toward democracy and possible routes for getting there. She is being guided in her research by Alan Cafruny, the  Henry Bristol Professor of International Affairs.