January’s news highlights ranged from research on bay scallops to an essay on the importance of foreign language study. Links are provided, but some may require subscriptions to access content.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently awarded Hamilton College a $150,000 grant for a new curricular effort that will connect students and faculty with four regional cultural institutions, as well as the College’s Wellin Museum of Art and Burke Library’s Special Collections.

 “U.S. government officials have long recognized that what Americans don’t know about foreign languages, cultures, and histories, has — and will — hurt us,” began President David Wippman and his co-author Cornell Professor Glenn Altschuler in a Jan. 29 op-ed in The Hill. The essay chronicles legislation in the 20th and 21st centuries focused on Americans’ increased knowledge of other countries and their languages.

Communication/Marketing office student writer Melissa Kaleka ’24 spoke with Jenn and Michael Ferman, Hamilton’s new Jewish chaplains. Chaplaincy focuses on encouraging students’ sense of identity through religious, spiritual, cultural, and moral engagement, on a community level and individually. The Fermans will be playing significant roles in students’ lives as they facilitate Jewish experiences that will enrich their minds and bring diverse Jewish voices to speak on campus.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Assistant Professor of Art History Nadya Bair $60,000 for the study of Cornell Capa and the International Center for Photography (ICP).

Visiting Professor of History Ty Seidule participated on two panels at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association Jan. 5 to 8. He presented “‘Making Treason Odious Again:’ Perspectives from the Naming Commission and the Army's War on the Lost Cause” and “History versus Heritage: Military Historians Confront America’s Contested Past.”

Hamilton College and 13 other institutions have been awarded a $8.05 million grant by the Howard Hughes Medical Institution (HHMI). as part of HHMI’s Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) initiative titled “Increasing Capacity to Support Equitable and Inclusive Learning Environments for Introductory-level STEM Students across the LCC2 Learning Community.”

Associate Professor of Philosophy Katheryn Doran recently posted a blog on American Philosophical Association's Current Events in Public Philosophy. In "Phronêsis, or, a Plea for Critical Thinking," she gives a critical account of what philosophers do in the classroom -- and its many uses beyond the classroom.

Bates and Benjamin Professor of Classical and Religious Studies Thomas Wilson presented a paper titled, "Confucian Ritual Hermeneutics of the Gods,” at the "Confucianism Enchanted" panel of the national meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Denver, in November.

From Phoenix to Flagstaff, our caravan of three white vans trundled down interstates and bumpy dirt roads. Pulling off to the side, a stream of 34 people would rush out onto roadside outcrops, hand lenses strung around our necks and field notebooks in hand.