At the invitation of Professor Ursula Goldbaum, Heidi M. Ravven, professor of religious studies, was appointed to a dissertation committee of the Philosophy Department of Emory University.  Ravven evaluated the dissertation, "Determinism, Freedom, and Ethics: Spinozistic Interventions in the Contemporary Discussions of Responsibility" of Christopher Ryszard Kluz, for the Ph.D. in philosophy.

Students in Professor Katheryn Doran’s  Philosophy 235 (Environmental Ethics) class visited the Madison County landfill on April 6. Doran said the class had the opportunity to see firsthand both the challenges of figuring out where and how to get rid of the staggering amount and variety of garbage  Americans cast off weekly. 

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Russell Marcus presented an invited talk titled “Critical Assessment of the Scientific Method: Experience, Intuition, and Justification” on March 19 at the University of Southern California (USC).

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Russell Marcus gave two presentations at the Central Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association on Feb. 16 in Chicago. Both were made in a group session for the American Association of Philosophy Teachers that focused on challenges in the classroom.

While part of the Kenyon Review writing workshop in literary non-fiction this summer, Sidney Wertimer Professor of Philosophy Marianne Janack read an essay titled "Ducati Vasectomy: A Lesson in Logic." That essay has just been published in the most recent issue of Zone 3. The essay is a meditation on danger, promises, marriage and possibility.

David Rosenthal, professor of philosophy at the City University of New York, will present a lecture titled “Translation, Theory, Understanding”  on Monday, Oct. 17, at 4:10 p.m., in the Kennedy Auditorium,Taylor Science Center. The event is co-sponsored by the Dean of Faculty, the Yordán Lecture Fund and the Philosophy Department, and is free and open to the public.

At a liberal arts college, students are encouraged to pursue a diverse variety of subjects, rather than study a single discipline they believe will foster future success. The lack of specialization is often met with the argument, “But what can you do with that?” A panel of Hamilton College alumni assembled on Friday, Sept. 16, to answer this question, showing just what a student can make out of his or her liberal arts education—specifically, a concentration in philosophy. The panel was co-sponsored by the Career Center and the Philosophy Department.

A. Todd Franklin, professor of philosophy, conducted six days of workshops from Aug. 2-7 on the nature of a liberal arts education as part of an academic summer camp for students of LOGOS, a private high school in Tbilisi, Georgia. Founded by Giorgi Chavleishvili ’08, LOGOS is unlike other high schools in the Republic of Georgia, providing students with a full college prep curriculum consisting mainly of small discussion oriented classes.

Dean of Faculty Patrick Reynolds announced the promotion of five Hamilton faculty members to the rank of professor.  Todd Franklin, philosophy; Marianne Janack, philosophy; Katherine Kuharic, art; Bruce Walczyk, dance and movement studies; and Steven Yao, English and creative writing, were promoted effective July 1.

Professor of Philosophy A. Todd Franklin published a review of George Yancy’s book Black Bodies, White Gaze: The Continuing Significance of Race in the spring edition of the APA Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy.