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Daniel F. Chambliss, the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, has recently published an article "A Neglected Necessity in Liberal Arts Assessment: The Student as the Unit of Analysis" at LiberalArtsOnline, a web journal published by the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College. In the paper, Chambliss argues that gathering information from students - not from departments, programs, chairs or deans - produces a dramatically different understanding of how higher education accomplishes its goals.

The Hamilton College Jazz Archive and the Office of Alumni Relations is pleased to present the 15th annual Fallcoming jazz concert, on Friday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. in the Fillius Events Barn. The concert will feature Norman Simmons on piano, Nikki Parrott on bass, Frank Wess on tenor sax & flute, Joe Ascione on drums, Randy Sandke on the trumpet and Bucky Pizzarelli H'03 on guitar. Admission is free, seating is limited.

President George W. Bush intends to nominate Christina H. Pearson '95 to be assistant secretary of Health and Human Services (Public Affairs) and upon nomination designate Acting. According to a press release from the White House, Pearson currently serves as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs (media) at the Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to this, she served as director of media affairs in the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Earlier in her career, she served as senior associate director of media relations at the American Hospital Association.

The Class of 2008 Senior Gift Committee, meeting on Thursday, Sept. 27, revealed the winning idea for the senior gift campaign. The gift option that won by an impressive number of votes was the Class of 2008 environmental endowment fund. Presented by senior co-chairs Ned Gilliss and Blythe Winchester, the gift will be a yearly grant awarded to a Hamilton student or campus organization in order to fund a green project on campus or environmental research. The fund also will be accompanied by a planted tree and plaque to commemorate the ‘08 gift. Gilliss expressed confidence in the campaign’s successful start, citing the high number of class participants in the gift survey and the strong support for the winning idea.

Jay G. Williams '54, Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Religious Studies, will curate an exhibition and give a lecture at the “From Slavery to Freedom: The Formation of African American and American Identity” symposium at Haverford College. The conference will address the history, culture, and military and literary expression of African American feeling and thought in pre and post Civil War America. Williams will also curate an exhibition titled “Emancipation and Denigration: Thomas Nast and his Colleagues Picture Black America.” Two other exhibitions, “Unsung Heroes” and “A Journey Towards Hope” will run simultaneously. The exhibitions open Saturday, Sept. 29 and run through Oct. 28. Williams will also speak at the Haverford symposium on Saturday, Oct. 27.

Laura Purdy, the Alan McCullough Jr. Distinguished Visiting Professor of Philosophy, gave a paper titled "What Religious Ethics Can Teach Us About Sex," at the opening session of a conference, "The Future of Naturalism," held in Buffalo in September. The conference was sponsored by the Center for Inquiry Transnational and the Philosophy Department of the State University of N.Y. at Buffalo.

Marla L. Jaksch, visiting assistant professor of women's studies, presented a research methods workshop at the "Gender, Democracy, and Development: African Feminist Struggles in the Context of Globalization" conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in September. The conference, co-sponsored by a collective of women's organizations and the University of Dar es Salaam, brought together more than 500 scholars, activists, artists and rural organizers from all over Tanzania, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa, Europe and the U.S. to meet, reflect and strategize on the progress made in feminist struggles for gender equity and equality, social transformation and participatory democracy in Tanzania.

Professor of Religious Studies Richard Seager has been named to the board of editors of the Cambridge University Press three-volume Cambridge History of Religions in America (CHRA). The CHRA will include some 120 essays by leading historians of religion in a number of specializations and will treat a wide range of topics from the colonial era to the present. Other board members include Dennis C. Dickerson (Vanderbilt University), R. Marie Griffith (Princeton University), Jonathan Sarna (Brandeis University) and Jace Weaver (University of Georgia). Stephen J. Stein (Indiana University, Bloomington) is general editor.

Professor of Chinese Hong Gang Jin has been appointed by the College Board to its AP Chinese Development Committee. This is a seven-member committee consisting of four college and university professors and three high school teachers, selected nationally. The committee is charged with developing guidelines and providing advice for the AP Chinese course and AP Chinese test administered yearly. Jin is currently in New York to attend her first committee meeting.

"The Best Kind of Life: Edward W. Root as Teacher, Collector and Naturalist" opens on Thursday, Sept. 27, at the Emerson Gallery. The exhibition is focused on the pioneering of Edward W. Root, a graduate of the class of 1905, to promote American art. The show, which is free and open to the public, closes on Jan. 6. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, Sept. 27, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the gallery, and an open house is scheduled on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. featuring student-written audio tour podcasts.