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Dr. I. James McMullen of Pembroke College, Oxford University gave a lecture titled “Sacrifices to Confucius in Edo Japan” on Thursday, Sept. 8, at Hamilton. A leader in the field of Edo Period Japanese Confucian studies, Dr. McMullen recently returned from a year in Japan researching the “Sekiten” (“Shidian” in Chinese) ritual, associated with Japanese Confucian practices.

Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, was featured in a London, Financial Times article about Chinese President Hu Jintao. "Hu's strength is not his understanding of the outside world but of the real China - that is, rural China," says the Shanghai-born but New York-based Prof Li. Li was also interviewed by the China News Service, which distributes news to more than 400 Web sites and newspapers in China, and by the BBC and the Voice of America.

Professor of Religious Studies Heidi Ravven has published a paper, "What Spinoza Can Teach Us About Naturalizing Ethics," in Cognitive, Emotive, and Ethical Aspects of Decision Making in Humans and in AI, Volume IV. Also, in July eight members of the 27-member advisory group to Ravven's Ford Foundation project to write a book Searching for Ethics in a New America met in New York City to advise and confer on the project.

Associate Professor of Chinese De Bao Xu has published two new textbooks, Intermediate Chinese Course I and Intermediate Chinese Course II, in collaboration with Hong Gang Jin and others. The books were published by Beijing University Press as a new textbook series for teaching Chinese as a Second Language in January 2005.

Hamilton College opens the faculty concert series on Friday, Sept. 9 with the Fall Faculty Concert at 8 p.m. at Wellin Hall in the Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts. Hamilton's faculty artists will perform solo and ensemble pieces that range from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries.

Professor of Anthropology Doug Raybeck was interviewed for an Ottawa Citizen (9/3/05) news story about lawlessness in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In the article, Raybeck was quoted as saying: "It could happen anywhere. It's nothing peculiar to New Orleans. Any urban centre that saw the immediate collapse of its infrastructure would experience the same thing. Normal behaviour only exists in an environment where we are safe from threat and need."

Despite the threatening rain Hamilton employees enjoyed the annual summer picnic this year on August 19. The picnic featured a Western theme so many employees dressed for the occasion in cowboy hats and other cowboy garb.

Mark Cryer, associate professor of theater, performed 99 Questions You've Always Wanted to Ask an African-American as part of first-year orientations at Skidmore College and Herkimer County Community College in September. Cryer worked on the play with a student, Jared Johnson '02, who conducted interviews of people in New York City to arrive at the questions.

David Stam, the former Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries at the New York Public Library, will be the speaker for the inaugural Couper Phi Beta Kappa Lecture on Friday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m. in the Hamilton Chapel. His talk is titled "An Army without Ammunition: Books and the College Library." The Couper Phi Beta Kappa Lecture honors Hamilton alumnus Richard “Dick” Couper ’44 in recognition of Couper’s commitment and contributions to the College and The Phi Beta Kappa Society. Each fall a distinguished speaker will be invited to present topics related to the College’s special library collections or to present an issue related to libraries generally. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The devastation created by Hurricane Katrina has disrupted many aspects of peoples' lives, especially communication about the status of friends and classmates. Hamilton's alumni office is gathering information concerning the welfare of alumni from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who may have been affected by Katrina. Alumni are encouraged to use the HOLAC message board as a tool to help reconnect with fellow alumni during the post-disaster recovery period. Contact Jon Hysell with questions or if you want to have the Alumni Office help you in making a connection at 866-729-0314 or e-mail at jahysell@hamilton.edu.