For organic chemists, improvements in methods of synthesizing molecules can make big differences in the time and material that go into the molecule’s synthesis. This summer, Talia Steiman ’12 and Robert Woodworth ’12 are working with Associate Professor of Chemistry Ian Rosenstein on a chemical synthesis that utilizes a unique method to simplify the process and cut down on waste.

Graphic interface tools can help students in computer science understand the programs they are dealing with. Ru Jun Han ’14 is working with Associate Professor of Computer Science Mark Bailey on a user-friendly graphic interface tool for beginner computer science students.

Why does voyeurism sell movie tickets? That's a question Danielle Mortorano ’12, a recipient of a 2011 Summer Emerson Grant, is working to answer in her project, “The Female Sex Object: The Relationship between Voyeurism and Male Dominance in Mainstream Films.”

Documentaries have a way of making history come alive, and well-made and innovative documentaries are especially engrossing and vivid. Over the summer Brett Banhazl ’12 will work in Brighton, Mass., with American Experience, an award-winning television show featuring documentaries on various topics in American history.

Recent turmoil and political upheaval in the Middle East have dominated the global news lately, with documentations of unrest in more than a dozen already unsteady nations. Ryan Karerat ’12, an Emerson grant recipient, is spending the summer with Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs Alan Cafruny researching the current state of U.S. foreign affairs in the Middle East.

During the summer of 2011, 13 students from Hamilton College and Selkirk College will attend a six-week intensive archaeology field immersion course in the prehistory, history, ethnography and language of the indigenous peoples of the interior Pacific Northwest.

Utica’s refugee population has often provided unique opportunities for Hamilton students interested in urban community research and outreach. This summer, Elly Field '13, Ryn Steck '12, Dave Schwartz '13 and Amy Dow '12 will be working with Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology George Hobor on a research project examining local alternative economic development strategies (LEADS) in Utica.

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.”

Within the past 25 years, a new type of social movement has emerged in American culture: religious environmental groups. Their members apply religious texts and beliefs to environmental causes, raising environmental concern and benefiting sustainable practices. However, despite how diverse and numerous these groups have become, sociologists have yet to study them in detail.

Language is undoubtedly a fundamental aspect of many human interactions. For this reason, the study of language serves a vital purpose in neuroscience, medicine, and even everyday life. Sarah Kane ’12 and Amanda O’Brien ’13 are spending their summer researching language and the brain under Assistant Professor of Psychology Jeremy Skipper. The group is working to disprove the classical model of language processing and to discover more about how language is processed in the human brain.