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Professor of History Thomas Wilson presented a paper, "Sacrifice and Confucian Conceptions of Gods and Spirits," at a conference in Taipei, Taiwan. Fifteen scholars from China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the U.S. were invited to present papers at the International Conference on the Global Confucius: Sacrifice and the Confucius Temple, which was sponsored by the Taipei Municipal Government and the Taipei Confucius Temple Association.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Bradley Wile attended the 239th American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Francisco on March 21-25 and presented a poster describing research conducted by Hamilton student Alexander Wood '12 (summer research) and alumna Kathryn Manning '09 (senior thesis). The poster, titled "Progress Toward the Synthesis of New Redox-active Phosphino(iminopyridine) Ligands," was well-received and prompted several useful and productive discussions.

Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Trustees Meredith Harper Bonham chaired the Workshop for Board Professionals at the National Conference on Trusteeship held March 19-23 in Orlando, Fla.

The Japanese Program in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures will present a free concert of Japanese taiko drumming and dance on Friday, April 2, at 7 p.m., in Wellin Hall on the Hamilton campus. The drumming and dance group consists of about 40 students.

Jayne Anne Phillips, award-winning novelist and short story writer, will read selections from her work on Thursday, April 1, at 8 p.m., in the Fillius Events Barn at Hamilton.

Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Nigel Westmaas participated in a four-person panel who responded to questions at the University of Toronto launch of a new documentary film on March 26. The film, “W.A.R: (Walter Anthony Rodney) Stories,” captures the life and work of the renowned Guyanese historian and scholar-activist. Walter Rodney, an influence on the Black Power movement, Pan-Africanism, Caribbean independence and the idea of self-emancipation, was assassinated in 1980. Westmaas was also one of several advisors and archival consultants on the film.

“I’ve long been interested in Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln,” announced Harvard professor John Stauffer to his audience in the Kennedy Auditorium on March 30. As a child, Stauffer frequently moved from one house to the next – nine times, to be exact – and as such, his experience of childhood was that of something impermanent and perpetually transitory. “Along with tennis, my constants were history and literature,” he said. No matter where he went, he could count on those things to remain the same. Significantly, at thirteen years old, a friend lent him Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass – something that indeed changed his life for good. “I loved the way he wrote, and the power of writing resonated with me,” Stauffer explained. He read Abraham Lincoln a short time later, and soon become permanently enthralled with antebellum American history.

Steve Talevi ’79, P’10 and his wife Jacqueline opened their home to a group of Hamilton students on an Alternative Spring Break trip in March. The students, who volunteered at Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi, spent a night at the Talevi’s home in Roanoke, Va., as a halfway point on their way back to campus. The ASB group included Jennifer Talevi ’10.

Through his interface on the web, Jeff Harris ’10 noticed a void on the Internet when it came to the ability to have group conversations. So he did what any budding software entrepreneur would do – he moved to Silicon Valley and built a discussion platform that makes group conversation and overall collaboration possible. The result is Talkwheel, a company Harris founded alone, but has since built a team to include the brightest and smartest minds of Silicon Valley. In March Talkwheel added three new members including the lead architect from IBM’s Lotus Notes, who is coming on as vice president of product development.

Eleven students in Policy, Poverty and Practice (Econ 235) are acquiring valuable life skills this semester – skills that they otherwise would not be able to learn in a classroom. Students enrolled in the class are required to participate in the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program, a joint project of the Economics Department and the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center. The program offers free tax help to low- and moderate-income (generally $49,000 and below) families who cannot prepare their own tax returns.