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Associate Professor of Theatre Craig Latrell and Michael Singer, '09 are visiting East Malaysia on an Emerson Student-Faculty grant concerning the effects of globalization on local cultures. Singer is interested in studying how industrialization is affecting the island of Borneo, whose rainforests are among the oldest in the world and whose shoreline serves as an incubator for the eggs of sea turtles. Village cultures represent primarily agrarian and traditional ways of life that are rapidly being eroded by various global forces such as multinational corporations. Singer wants to study how these residents regard, contribute to and resist the forces of globalization.

Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller has published an article titled "Story, Time and Dependent Nationhood in the Uzbek History Curriculum," in _Slavic Review_ Vol. 66, No. 2 (Summer 2007. Slavic Review is a leading interdisciplinary quarterly of Russian, Eurasian and East European studies.

Professor of Chinese De Bao Xu published a second edition of his book, Generative Phonology-Theory and Usage, (China Social Sciences Publishing House, Beijing, 2007). The book covers the up-to-date theories and researches in generative phonology with the illustration of the data across Chinese dialects.

Professor of Classics Shelley Haley has been selected to receive the American Classical League’s Merita Award. The award is presented annually to classicists in recognition of their sustained and distinguished service to ACL and the profession at large. Haley will be presented with the award at the League's annual meeting in June in Nashville. The American Classical League was founded in 1919 for the purpose of fostering the study of classical languages in the United States and Canada.

Speculating on America's obsession with movie box-office weekend returns, Hamilton anthropology professor Douglas Raybeck suggested that it is our means of diverting attention from threatening world events over which we have no control. In "Behind America's box-office obsession" in the Christian Science Monitor on Friday, June 1, Raybeck said "We display an increasing ability to take the trivial very seriously, in no small part because the trivial is understandable and non-threatening."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death for women in the United States, and, as a result, the treatment of this terrible disease has become an area of intense research within the scientific and medical communities. To find one of the major fronts in the fight against breast cancer, one needs to look no further than Hamilton College. Amanda Salisburg ’08 (Duanesburg, N.Y.) and Katherine Alser ’09 (Newport Beach, Calif.), under the advisement of Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and Co-Director of the Center for Molecular Design Karl Kirschner, are working on an ongoing project to design breast cancer drugs derived from alpha-fetoprotein (AFP).

Thanks to the generous support of young alumni, Hamilton College is pleased to name Mariam Ballout '10, of Clifton Park, N.Y., as its fourth GOLD Scholar.  Ballout chose Hamilton after two visits, citing both the friendliness of people on campus and students' intellectual engagement in the classroom.  Having completed her first year, she attributes the latter in part to the open curriculum, which allows students to explore subjects out of genuine interest rather than obligation. 

Associate Professor of English Naomi Guttman delivered a paper at the annual joint meeting of the Association for the Study of Food in Society and the Agriculture and Human Values Society at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, on May 31. The paper is titled "Slow Food, local farmers, and the creation of community in central New York." Slow Food is an international organization devoted to preserving and promoting local foods and the communities that depend on them.

Hamilton College will welcome back more than 1,500 alumni and their guests when it hosts its annual Reunion Weekend, this year on Thursday-Sunday, May 31-June 3. An all-Kirkland Reunion will take place simultaneously, with 250 graduates of Kirkland College returning to campus. Reunion weekend will feature Alumni Colleges, building dedications, campus tours and traditional ceremonies.

A scholarship established to provide need-based support for students attending Hamilton, with preference given to students coming from Clinton or the Mohawk Valley, has been awarded for the first time. Clinton High School graduate Tom Williams is the inaugural recipient of the Frank and Mary Lou Owens Scholarship and will be a member of the class of 2011. The scholarship fund was created by Hamilton alumna, charter trustee and Clinton native Amy Owens Goodfriend ’82 and named in honor of her parents.