Clad in pseudo-space-age garb, Sarah Andrus ’12 looks somewhat out of place striding through a grassy field and not bounding over lunar craters. Despite her more mundane surroundings, Andrus’ quest still leads to an exploration of sorts: she is collecting samples of honeybees and fruit flies for her research with Associate Professor of Biology Herman Lehman. These samples may help to dispel some of the mystery surrounding the effects of a little-understood compound called octopamine. More ...

The Balkan states are marked by great ethnic pride and nationalism. Ethnic tensions have stirred conflict on the Balkan Peninsula for thousands of years, and in the age of globalism, defining an ethnic and nationalistic identity is of increasing importance for the Balkan countries. This summer, Annie Hudson ’12 will travel to and conduct research in Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia to study national cohesiveness and state-building. More ...

Political ideology goes a long way in determining how a state deals with a crisis. Authoritarian regimes, historically, have been the least tolerant of dissent, but authoritarian reactions to dissent have been diverse, ranging from openness and tolerance to censorship and violence. Levitt Fellow Cristina Garafola ’11 is especially interested in the authoritarian regimes in China and Russia, and will spend the summer  learning more about the cultures of dissent and the governments’ responses in China and Russia. More ...

“I really just want to help people,” declared Kate Northway ’11, an Emerson Fellowship recipient who will be staying on campus over the summer, pursuing an independent research project in the city of Utica. Northway’s project examines and promotes the local food movement in underprivileged communities. More ...

Eleven Hamilton students have been awarded Levitt Summer Research Fellowships for 2010. The students receive a stipend and spend 10 weeks in the summer working intensively with a faculty mentor. Among this year’s projects are a study of U.S. auto industry reform, contraception in Rwanda, and the changing state capacity of post-Communist states.

More ...

Questions flew and tensions flared Wednesday evening in the Science Center’s Kennedy Auditorium as the students of Government 112 participated in the culmination of a semester of arduous effort. Under the guidance of Associate Professor of Government Sharon Rivera, students enrolled in the Comparative Politics courses realized the fruits of their labors as the “Simulated Election Campaign in the Country of West Europa” unfolded. The simulation’s debate was the finale of the semester-long project. More ...

Six Hamilton College students have been selected as recipients of the Class of 1979 Student Travel Award. The award, established by the alumni of Hamilton's Class of 1979, offers financial assistance to certain outstanding Hamilton students who wish to pursue extensive research projects in different parts of the world. More ...

At three years old, Alex Gross '11 used to chase cows and pick blackberries just like his great-great-grandfather Benjamin Alden did in the mid 19th-century. Alden, the manager of the farm at the time, kept his family's diaries and letters stored in an old horse-hair chest. Gross's family eventually inherited the chest and other antiques from Old Nourse Farm, but it wasn't until last summer that Gross decided to read its contents.  More ...

"The field of health care is constantly changing, as are the volunteers," says Jennifer Strater '10. Part of her job as an intern this summer is policing these changes and making sure that employees at the Kershaw County Community Medical Center are adapting to technological advancements. Strater is a computer science major with an undying interest in health care, so the opportunity, which placed her in the midst of modern computer technology, is an ideal blend of the two fields. More ...

Evin Adolph '10 never thought her major in Hispanic studies and minor in biology would overlap. Now she knows that Spanish speakers can turn up anywhere, even at a company like Quality Milk Production Services (QMPS). Her internship there this summer is affiliated with the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

More ...