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The Web-based interactive video series Jazz It Up!, hosted and co-produced by Hamilton graduate Gregory Thomas '85, has been nominated for a Global Media Award in the category of Outstanding Long Form—Entertainment.

Meredith Harper Bonham, assistant to the president and secretary to the Board of Trustees, wrote an article for the latest issue of Trusteeship magazine. In "Awarding Honorary Degrees: Holding a Mirror up to the Institution," Bonham writes, "Conferring honorary degrees is a significant act, not only for what it says about a college or university, but also for the context it provides for the degrees conferred simultaneously on the members of a graduating class. The choice of recipients becomes an important part of an institution's self-definition and can reflect in fundamental ways the institution's mission."

Young filmmakers J.P. Sniadowski and Stephanie Spray will present their recent work as part of the Hamilton College F.I.L.M. (Forum for Images and Languages in Motion) series on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m. in Hamilton's KJ Auditorium. It is free and open to the public.

Having been nominated by enthusiastic students earlier this fall and vetted by a committee of past teaching award recipients, Assistant Professor of Government Timothy (Ted) Lehmann was awarded a 2008 Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award on Dec. 2. The Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award was established in 1988 by members of the class on the occasion of their 25th reunion. This award recognizes a Hamilton junior faculty member, in a tenure-track position, or tenured in the last year, who demonstrates extraordinary commitment to and skill in teaching. The Lehmann announcement was made at the monthly Hamilton faculty meeting.

"I hate to use this word," explained a smiling Dan Chambliss, the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, "but it was a 'unique' event – it brought together students from about seven different courses." The event in question was Bowling Night, in which about 200 students and faculty gathered in the Chapel on Dec. 2 to discuss a widely debated article by political scientist Robert D. Putnam.

Jane Springer, visiting assistant professor of English, has been awarded a 2009 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Literature Fellowship for poetry. The NEA is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established, bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

Katherine H. Terrell, assistant professor of English, published a paper on the Middle English poem "Pearl" in the fall 2008 issue of Studies in Philology. Titled "Rethinking the 'Corse in clot': Cleanness, Filth, and Bodily Decay in 'Pearl,'" the article argues that the poem's examination of death, grief, and Christian consolation hinges upon the symbolic opposition and resolution of the images of pearl and corpse.

Associate Professor of Theatre Craig Latrell's article "Exotic Dancing: Performing Tribal and Regional Identities in East Malaysia's Cultural Villages" has been published in TDR:The Drama Review, Winter 2008. The article, based on research conducted over the past several years, concerns the way tourist shows in Southeast Asia contain coded statements about cultural ownership, tribal relations to the state, and the state's relation to international tourist markets.  Latrell's research was supported by funds from the Mellon Foundation and the Christian Johnson Foundation.

Avery Rizio '09 presented her second consecutive poster at the annual Psychonomic Society Meeting in Chicago on Nov. 15. Psychonomics is the annual gathering place for the top researchers in the field of cognitive psychology to discuss their research findings. The poster outlined the work Rizio conducted this past summer and is an extension of the work that she has been conducting over the past three years with Makiko Maeyama '09, Jennifer Sadowsky '08, Leigh Ercole '11, Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Mark Oakes and Professor of Psychology Penny Yee. Previous work by Rizio and colleagues was presented in Long Beach, Calif., last November.

Professor of Chemistry Tim Elgren presented a lecture titled "Harnessing the Power of an Enzyme: Catalytically Active Biomaterials" on Dec. 1 as part of the University of Wisconsin - Madison Biochemistry Department's seminar series focused on Biofuels. Elgren presented the work of several of his Hamilton undergraduate collaborators, including Trevor Pedrick '10, Sydney Fasulo '09, Christina Clark '10, Nick Berry '09, and Amy Barrows '08, who have contributed to their ongoing efforts to trap enzymes in functional materials.