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Hamilton students are being offered a unique opportunity to learn about the film industry this spring courtesy of alumnus Thomas Tull '92. The founder, chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures has established a film treatment challenge open to any student. During an April campus visit, he and his team will discuss what a treatment is and how it fits into the development of a movie. He is also offering two summer internships in his company to current and rising seniors.

Nicholas Tampio, visiting assistant professor of government, served as the chair and discussant on the "Multiple Modernities" panel at the 2008 Western Political Science Association Conference held in San Diego on March 20 to 22. Tampio's comments focused on how the emerging field of comparative political theory transforms Leo Strauss's image of the three waves of modernity.

The one-hour documentary titled "Auspicious Vision: Edward Wales Root and American Modernism" produced locally by WCNY will be shown again on Sunday, March 23, at 3 p.m. Included in the documentary footage are shots of the recent Emerson Gallery exhibition "The Best Kind of Life: Edward W. Root as Teacher, Collector and Naturalist" as well as images of the Root Glen and the Root homestead.

Associate Professor of Economics Ann Owen was quoted on Wednesday, March 19, in a National Public Radio Morning Edition segment and in a Christian Science Monitor article, both of which addressed this week's Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

Edward Walker, M.A., Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Global Political Theory, participated in a seminar at the Institute for National Strategic Studies of the National Defense University on Jan. 10 on how the Arab-Israeli conflict affects U.S. regional interests. He also participated in a two-day conference sponsored by the National Intelligence Council and the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research on Feb. 21 to consider the likely progression of events in the Middle East as they affect U.S. policy out to 2025.

"In the past five years, we have filled the equivalent of 40 percent of the graves in the American cemetery at Omaha Beach. Some of our political leaders say they would be willing to have us fight on in Iraq 100 years … To what end?" wrote Maurice Isserman, James L. Ferguson Professor of History, in an opinion piece in the Observer-Dispatch on March 16.

Both Mt. Holyoke and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs hosted presentations by Cheng Li, William R. Kenan Professor of Government and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, during the week of March 3. "The Emerging Leadership in China: Policy Priorities" was Li's topic at the March 6 presentation in Chicago at which he discussed the 11th National People's Congress and subsequent senior leadership changes. Li shared his thoughts on the policy priorities of the China's new leadership and how the country's economic policy might unfold as well as possible eventual successors of President Hu Jintao.

A CBSNews.com article, "Primary Collars Updated," examined examples of presidential candidates successfully using attack ads against opponents that incorporated barbs originally launched during primary races. Several of these were from a blog written by Philip Klinkner, James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government and Associate Dean of Students. 

Associate Professor of Economics Ann Owen commented on the most recent Federal Reserve decision in an interview titled "New plan could risk confidence in Fed" on American Public Radio's Marketplace. The broadcast  addressed the Fed's plan to fix the credit crunch. Owen observed that if the Fed's plan fails, there is a risk that the public will lose confidence in the Fed precipitating serious long-term consequences.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Government Shelley McConnell was interviewed by the Associated Press and quoted in a March 10 article titled "Venezuela reopens embassy in Colombia as war talk gives way to pragmatism." McConnell, who was a senior associate director of the Carter Center Americas Program before coming to Hamilton, commented on the crisis precipitated by the incursion of Columbian troops into Ecuador in pursuit of a FARC leader.