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Hans Broedel, a medieval historian, says that Halloween is rooted in Celtic tradition, and in that culture many ghosts were friendly, coming back in the form of animals, including crows and cats. "Ghosts in the form of people, such as those we see in movies, are more common today than in the middle ages," Broedel says. "Exceptions were the grumpiest, scariest medieval 'ghosts' who academics called 'revenants' and were the animated corpses of the returning dead."

Professor of Philosophy Bob Simon was honored with the Distinguished Scholar Award by the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport.  The Distinguished Scholar Award is given to one researcher each year and was instituted to honor an individual for outstanding scholarship over a minimum of five years.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Tara McKee was invited to give a colloquium for the psychology department at Bucknell University in February. The talk was titled "The Role of Coping Styles in the Parenting of Children and Adolescents with Externalizing Problems."  She also  published an article in February based on research she had started as an undergraduate: Ptacek, J.T., Leonard, K., & McKee, T.L. (2004). “I’ve got some bad news…”: Veterinarians’ recollections of communicating bad news to clients. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 366-390.

Associate Professor of Art History Steve Goldberg will explain the elegant custom involving the ceremonial preparation of tea on Thursday, Oct. 7, 4:30 p.m. in the Chemistry Auditorium. This event is in conjunction with the Emerson Gallery exhibit "Inside the Floating World: Japanese Prints from the Lenoir C. Wright Collection."

A photograph by Robin Kinnel, the Silas D. Childs Professor of Chemistry, appears on the cover of The Biological Bulletin (August 1, 2004, Volume 207, Issue 1) ), published by the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass. The image is a picture of the aeolid nudibranch Phestilla sibogae. Kinnel took the photo in 1982 when he was enrolled in a photography course for biologists at the University of Hawaii.  He had been working on the organism and ended up taking many pictures of the creature.  The picture was taken in a side-lighted studio aquarium using ASA 25 film, f11, 1/60th of a second.

Continuing in the tradition of Jazz at Fallcoming, the Hamilton College Jazz Archive will present the John Pizzarelli Trio featuring pianist Ray Kennedy and bassist Martin Pizzarelli, along with special guest Bucky Pizzarelli (H'03) in a performance on Friday, Oct. 8, at 9 p.m., in Wellin Hall. John Pizzarelli, with his unique vocals, together with his and Bucky's mastery of the seven string guitar, will combine to create extraordinary renditions from the Great American Song Book, a "Pizzarellifest" of the highest order.

Philip Klinkner, the James S. Sherman Associate Professor of Government, published an opinion piece in Newsday.  In his op-ed, "Deflating the 'security moms' angle," Klinkner says, "The political world is abuzz with stories of how Sen. John Kerry is losing the support of women - one of the Democratic Party's most important constituencies. Most pundits attribute this to the rise of 'security moms,' women who normally vote Democratic but have shifted to President George W. Bush because they think he will do a better job protecting the nation from terrorism. There's only one problem with this analysis - it's just not true. Several of the stories cite recent polls showing how Kerry is doing worse among women now than Al Gore did in the 2000 election. True, but until his recent post-debate surge, Kerry has been running behind Gore among all voters, men as well as women."

Professor of Government Steve Orvis was invited to present a paper, "Do Institutions Matter? Explaining Institutional Survival and Impact in Kenya," at the Conference on the Political Economy of Kenya, St. Anthony's College, Oxford University, in May.

Hamilton College is making final preparations for a major capital campaign that will be launched later this year.

Dick Couper, a member of Hamilton College’s class of 1944, was honored as the College’s Volunteer of the Year at the Alumni Council dinner during Fallcoming Weekend on Oct. 8.