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Author Glendyne Wergland, whose most recent book, Visiting the Shakers: 1778-1849, was recently published by Hamilton's Couper Press, presented the Couper Phi Beta Kappa Library Lecture on Oct. 23. The Couper lecture was established in 2005 to honor Hamilton alumnus Richard "Dick" Couper '44. Couper died in January 2006. This annual lecture recognizes Couper's commitment and contributions to the college and the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Each fall a distinguished speaker is invited to present topics related to the college's special library collections or to present an issue related to libraries in general.

Frank Anechiarico, Maynard Knox Professor of Government and Law, delivered a keynote address titled "Building Public Sector Effectiveness and Integrity – Together" at the first Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption (APSAC) Conference on Wednesday, October 24. Held in Sydney, Australia, from Oct. 23 – 26, the conference was a joint initiative of Australia's leading anti-corruption bodies comprising the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission and the Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission. Participants were drawn from Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas and included representatives from law enforcement, higher education, the public sector and local government.

Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller participated in a roundtable discussion on "Teaching in and about Eurasia: Methods and Resources for a New Generation of Teachers," at the Central Eurasian Studies Society conference in Seattle on Oct. 19. The roundtable was sponsored by the Social Science Research Council, and concerned a seminar Keller taught in Kyrgyzstan and a new, internet-based teaching resource tool she is developing with SSRC.

Mike Barlow '75 is the author of Partnering With the CIO: The Future of IT Sales Seen Through the Eyes of Key Decision Makers (John Wiley & Sons, 2007). His co-author is Michael Minelli. According to a review CIOs (Chief Investment Officers – the executives who make and influence major IT processing decisions) spend more than $1.2 trillion on software and hardware each year. Partnering with the CIO looks at the InfoTech sales process from the CIO's perspective. Barlow '75  is an award-winning journalist, seasoned media professional and management consultant. He graduated from Hamilton College with a degree in English Literature. 

The X-Viper Hour Audio Theater Group brought professors, administrators and students together for a special Faculty Stars Showcase on WHCL 88.7fm on Oct. 21. Professors Richard Bedient, Gregory Pierce, Alfred Kelly, Katheryn Doran and Nat Strout, along with Dean of Faculty Joseph Urgo and students Mark Fitzsimmons '09, Katie Myers '08, Jennifer Mitchell '09 and Richard Sonne '08 recreated "The Tom Keeler Murder Case."

Brian Chiappinelli '92 gave a talk titled "The Great Divide: Understanding the 'Buy Side' and the 'Sell Side'" on October 21. The event was part of the new alumni-led Hamilton Investment & Finance Series which aims to prepare students for interviews, internships and careers in financial fields. The talk provided an extensive introduction to the variety of careers available on the buy side and the sell side, and emphasized the importance of Hamilton's liberal arts education to the students' success in finance, regardless of their majors.

Visiting Assistant Professor of English Emily Rohrbach presented a paper titled "Byron's Sense of History: The Objectionable Body of George IV" at the International Conference on Romanticism in Baltimore, Oct. 18-21. Her paper, part of a panel titled "Objections to Objects," explores Byron's representation of historical objects in his comic epic Don Juan.

Dean of Faculty and Professor of English Joseph Urgo published Violence, the Arts, and Willia Cather (Associated University Presses) in October. Co-edited with Merrill Skaggs of Drew University, the book gathers 23 critics to explore Cather's "cyclical encounters with death and disaster" and her commitment "to making art in the face of violence." In his introduction to the volume, "Existential Terror in Cather," Urgo examines the recurrence in Cather's fiction of "a sensibility reflective of living in a world that may be destroyed, or may destroy us, in a moment."

David Corn, Washington editor for The Nation, a Fox News Channel contributor and best-selling author, will lecture on Monday, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m., in the Hamilton College Chapel. This event, hosted by the Hamilton College Democrats, is free and open to the public.

Ten members of Hamilton's class of 2008 were elected this month to the Epsilon chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest honor society. The students are Marco Alberto Allodi, Kristin Suzanne Alongi, Kate Elizabeth Berlent, Daniel Lawrence Campbell, Katharine Ruth Hottenstein, Jonathan David Millhauser, Thao Nguyen Thi Nguyen, Nathan Luc Vandergrift, Magdalena Maria Wierzbicka and Sarah Keller Wissel.