All News

Debra Boutin, associate professor of mathematics, gave a talk in November at the 16th Fall Workshop on Computational and Combinatorial Geometry held at Smith College. In her talk, Boutin discussed results from her upcoming paper "Automorphisms and Determining Numbers of Geometric Cliques," joint work with Michael Albertson. This work shows that (with some minor assumptions) we can color each node of a complete straight line network with one of two possible colors in such a way that the result is asymmetric.

Philip G. Terrie, professor of American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University, will give a talk on “The Adirondacks and the Invention of American Wilderness” on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Science Center Auditorium (G027). Terrie is the author of numerous articles and several books on the Adirondacks, including Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks, Forever Wild: A Cultural History of Wilderness in the Adirondacks, and Wildlife and Wilderness: A History of Adirondack Mammals.

Vivyan Adair, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Associate Professor of Women's Studies, presented a paper at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association annual convention in Charlotte, N.C. in November. Her paper was called "Survival Narratives and the Politics of Modernist, Post-Modernist and Post-Positivist Representation." The paper was part of a special session on "Post-Modern Survivor Narratives."

Jay Williams '54, the Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Religious Studies, published a poem, "You Came," in the November edition of The Quest: Philosophy. Science. Religion. The Arts (Wheaton, Ill.).

Twelve Hamilton College students traveled to Philadelphia the weekend of November 2-5 to participate in the University of Pennsylvania Model United Nations Conference (UPMUNC). These students are members of Model United Nations, an organization which enables students to attend various Model UN conferences throughout the year. The purpose of the organization is to improve public speaking and writing skills while learning about the official UN procedures.

Jim Erickson ‘79, science reporter for the Rocky Mountain News won a 2006 Science in Society Award (Newspaper category) presented by the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) at that organization's annual meeting in Baltimore on Oct. 29. His award-winning story, "A Change in the Air," published December 13, 2005, described the impact of climate change on the Colorado Rockies. The NASW's Science in Society Awards are considered to be among the highest honors in science journalism, primarily because the winners are chosen by a panel of their peers and the awards are not sponsored by any special interest group. Winners receive $1000 and a certificate.

John Adams, visiting professor of rhetoric and communication, published a paper, “Rhetoric’s Teaching and Multi-Modal Learning,” in Academic Exchange Quarterly. This paper broadly addresses the concept of multi-modal learning as it may be engaged in teaching rhetoric. It highlights an example drawn from Adams’ teaching experience—the creation of “vidblinks” with cell phones—as it explains how multi-modal learning is essential to a well-considered engagement of rhetoric’s teaching as far as it encompasses artistic and inartistic proof. Further, the paper explains how rhetoric itself is multi-modal as an architectonic practice drawing on, and substantively contributing to, the sum of the liberal arts.

Steven Hess, a Holocaust survivor, will speak about his childhood experiences during the war on Monday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Chapel. Hess' family was sent to the Dutch Transit Camp, Westerbork, and then the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. He and his twin sister are among the few children younger than 15-years-old who survived. Hess will talk about how he struggled to survive and how the experience impacted his life. The talk is sponsored by Hillel.

Rouben C. Cholakian, the Burgess Professor of Romance Languages and Literature, will present a talk titled "Marguerite de Navarre: The Making of a Biography," on Monday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. in the Science Center room 3024. The talk will be about the life and times of Queen Marguerite de Navarre based on Cholakian's recent biography of her, co-authored with Patricia Francis Cholakian. Marguerite de Navarre was a renowned Renaissance humanist and author and the sister of King Francois of France.

Sharon Werning Rivera, assistant professor of government, and David W. Rivera, government department lecturer, published “The Russian Elite under Putin: Militocratic or Bourgeois?” in the April-June 2006 issue of Post-Soviet Affairs. The article investigated the widespread assumption that since Vladimir Putin took over the presidency from Boris Yeltsin on Jan. 1, 2000, large numbers of siloviki, those with experience in the military and security agencies, have been recruited into government service.