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Members of Hamilton's Class of 2011 arrive for orientation on Tuesday, Aug. 21. The five-day orientation will include opening ceremonies, an address by Hamilton President Joan Hinde Stewart, advising sessions, academic information sessions as well as a new student-faculty picnic, kickball tournament, a dance party and Big Prize Bingo. President Stewart will preside over the ceremony that officially opens Hamilton's 196th academic year with Convocation on Sunday, Aug. 26.

Luce Junior Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies Chris Vasantkumar delivered a paper titled "Tibet as Incidental to Tibetan Studies?: Views From Various Margins" at a plenary session of the First International Seminar of Yung Tibetologists held at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies from August 9 to 13. The seminar's participants hailed from China, India, the United States and various European countries.

"My grandfather's experience as a white officer in a black munitions unit in the U.S. Army during World War II was pivotal in shaping his beliefs about the importance of integration and equality," explained Julia Stahl '08 (Salem, Mass.).

"I am often asked the following question: 'Why are you a comparative literature major if you want to go on to become a human rights activist?'" Keya Advani '08 opened her Emerson grant proposal with this statement. Subsequently awarded the grant, Advani set out this summer to explore the potential of literature as an increasingly important vehicle of protest and social change as seen in the contemporary writing of the Indian Dalit community.

Assistant Professor of Biology Wei-Jen Chang and Associate Professor of Computer Science Alistair Campbell presented at a Bioinformatics retreat held at Bates College in July. They joined colleagues from 11 other liberal colleges and discussed progress made on building bioinformatics curricula. Bioinformatics is a rising interdisciplinary field which involves the use of computer programs and computation algorithms to solve biological problems. 

An essay titled “My Liberal Arts Education,” by Eric Kuhn ’09 is the top feature article on the home page of mediabistro.com and the third in a new series titled “J-School Confidential.” In his article, Kuhn articulates his reasons for deciding to attend a liberal arts college over a journalism school despite his goal of joining the industry upon graduation.

Ben Noble '08, a native of LaGrange Park, Ill., is preparing to move from one hill to another. A summer intern in the office of Congressman Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), Noble spent his summer networking, absorbing political savvy, and getting the necessary experience for a potential D.C. employee.

Patrick Hodgens '09 and Assistant Professor of Anthropology Chaise LaDousa spent seven weeks this summer talking to students and teachers in schools and universities in Delhi and Varanasi, India, in order to understand the social lives of languages in a postcolonial society.

Chris Sullivan ’09 (Shutesbury, Mass.) has a research grant for this summer, but he won’t spend his time in a library. Sullivan, an environmental studies major, has been awarded a Levitt Fellowship to spend his summer traveling across the country on a motorcycle as he researches community-sustained agriculture in the U.S.

Archery Capital, a fund of funds based in New York City, was also a fund for Hamilton students this summer. The office was home for three Hamiltonians: Timothy Foley '06, Xiaobo Ma '09, and Ramunas Rozgys '09 (Naujoji Akmene, Lithuania). Rozgys, whose responsibilities were fluid and varied, enjoyed the environment. "It's like a small family group," he said.