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The Oath of Lasagna is not a pledge to Italian food; it is a modern-day revision of the Hippocratic Oath, an ethical code of conduct for doctors. Historians believe that the Greek physician Hippocrates, the “father of western medicine,” wrote the Oath, thereby taking medicine from a practice of superstition to one of ethical obligation and rationality. This summer, Julianne Tylko ’10 is studying the relationship between the Hippocratic Oath and modern versions like the Oath of Lasagna, devised by Dr. Louis Lasagna in 1964.

In the words of Jane Hannon ’11, Dr. Dale Purves is “kind of a big deal.” As the director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and George Barth Geller Professor for Research in Neurobiology at Duke University, he is an ideal role model for Hannon, who is a neuroscience major and aspiring expert on the human brain’s machinery. She has an internship in Purves’ lab this summer, and from her desk she can watch him edit the next edition of his textbook. “I get a kick out of it,” she said. “I know that I’ll be seeing those edits very soon because his book will accompany the neuroscience class that I’ll be taking in the fall at Hamilton.”

The Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on Iconic Books will take place at Hamilton College on Friday-Sunday, Sept. 4-6. The event is hosted by Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate in cooperation with James W. Watts of Syracuse University. Funding is from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Hamilton College and Syracuse University. The symposium is free and members of the public may attend but are asked to register.

While other summer researchers in physics are working on projects like aCORN and the SEOP neutron polarizer, Andrew Portuguese ’11 is like a stage technician who jumps between multiple projects. He is currently creating a graphical user interface for a magnetic field mapper along with Professor of Physics Gordon Jones. The interface and mapper are designed to better the lives of scientists at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology).

Anna C. Oldfield, Asian Studies Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, has authored a video-based Turkish language learning module for a three-year Department of Education International Research and Studies Program grant.

Assistant Professor of Anthropology Nathan Goodale with co-author Ian Kuijt (University of Notre Dame) recently published an article titled “Daily Practice and the Organization of Space at the Dawn of Agriculture: A Case Study from the Near East”  in American Antiquity.

Ernest Williams, the Christian A. Johnson Excellence in Teaching Professor of Biology, recently attended the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Albuquerque, N.M, where he gave a talk titled "Habitat change and population loss and gain in a montane butterfly." This talk summarized research he has conducted over the past 25 years on Gillett's Checkerspot butterfly in the Rocky Mountains; the distribution of this species has changed as the meadows they inhabit have been altered by climate change, forest fire, and vegetative succession. Also, Williams had an article published in American Butterflies (vol. 17, pages 4-13; summer 2009 issue) titled "Lifestyles of the scaled and beautiful: Pearl and Northern Crescents." For a number of years, Williams and students have conducted research on Pearl Crescent butterflies and their host plants, with parallel studies being run from a chemical viewpoint by Silas D. Childs Professor of Chemistry Robin Kinnel and his students.

Jen Santoro ’11 enjoyed catching frogs and spending time outside when she was younger, and has an affinity for nature still. Her love for plant life and for creatures flitting from tree to tree translated into a desire to be an environmental studies major, with a focus in biology. Her research partner, Gary Bedrosian ’11, also claims to have loved biology ever since he was very small. Together they're working on a project at the Rome Sand Plains with Associate Professor of Biology William Pfitsch. This summer, their goal is to study the relationship between wild blue lupine plants and the Frosted Elfin butterfly, and how different soil types in the area could lead them to more conclusions on the topic.

New York City has a historic connection with neighborhoods and community intimacy. The five boroughs each have distinct qualities, and even smaller communities within them take pride in what they have assembled out of the masses. However, Kevin Rowe ’10 fears that these neighborhoods have surrendered their rights to the organization of their own community. This summer he is researching community-based urban planning programs like West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT) and Sustainable South Bronx (SSB) that work to reverse this effect.

The world of modern art comes to mind when students mention their internships at cutting-edge museums. However, Katie He ’11 feels that her internship at the Rubin Museum of Art, which collects Himalayan works from as early as the 2nd century, is just as “hip” as the more offbeat pieces held in other museums. The Rubin explores the artistic and cultural legacy of the Himalayas in a way that makes it both an art museum and a history museum. It also organizes programs and events to encourage a deeper appreciation of art in the Chelsea, New York City, community.