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Minxin Pei, senior associate and director of the China program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and James Sasser, former U.S. ambassador to China, will present a panel discussion titled “Debating China’s Future: Two Contrasting Perspectives” on Monday, Sept. 11, at 8 p.m. in the Science Center Auditorium (G027). This discussion of the ongoing transformation in China and its implications to the United States is hosted by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center. It is funded by the Edwin Lee Fund and is free and open to the public.

Joseph Urgo, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Hamilton College, announced the appointment of new faculty for the 2006-2007 academic year, including seven tenure-track appointments, 21 visiting professors, andeight lecturers, teaching fellows and instructors.

Men’s Hockey Coach Phil Grady was honored as the first recipient of The Jerome Gottlieb ’64 Fellowship for Exemplary Coaching at this year’s convocation ceremony held on August 27.

Following a summer of construction and preparation, the home of the new Hamilton Outdoor Leadership Center was dedicated and celebrated on Wednesday, August 23. Following the dedication there was a reception, cookout and screening of adventure films on the lawn open to the entire Hamilton College community.

For the 25th consecutive year, more than 50 percent of Hamilton alumni made contributions to the college. Of the 50.2 percent who made contributions, 55.5 percent increased the size of their gifts, a jump from 53 percent a year ago.

Dave Smallen, vice president of information technology, commented on the 25th birthday of the personal computer in an article for <em>PC Magazine</em> authored by Natali Del Conte.  In the article, Smallen discussed the emergence of personal computers on college campuses and initial concerns about their use by students stating, "When the first personal computers came out and students started to bring them to campus, many people were concerned that students would spend so much time using their computers, isolated from each other, that the sense of community on campuses, and students' personal health would be compromised."

Jay Williams, Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Religious Studies, delivered a paper titled “Thomas Nast and Multiculturalism” at the International Conference on Arts in Society at the University of Edinburgh on August 15. The conference was held concurrently with the l,Edinburgh International Festival the Edinburgh Art Festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival and was sponsored by Common Ground, an academic publisher and conference organizer. Williams’ presentation addressed Nast’s belief that the United States should be an inclusive society. Nast particularly emphasized the need to include African Americans, Asians and Native Americans in society, but he railed against extremists who sought to dominate any aspect of society with a particular ideology.

A day-long music and arts festival is planned for the Village of Clinton the weekend Hamilton students return to campus. The first Clinton Art & Music Festival will be held at locations throughout Clinton on Saturday, Aug. 26, from 10 a.m.-10 p.m.  Hamilton’s Office of Student Activities has arranged for busses to run continuously from campus to the village, beginning at 3 p.m.

Associate Professor of Economics Ann Owen was an organizer of the second annual Conference on Macroeconomic Research at Liberal Arts Colleges, hosted by Vassar.  Owen organized this year’s conference with colleagues at Smith, Colgate & Vassar. Its two primary goals are to create an open forum that allows macroeconomists at liberal arts colleges to expose their work to a group of peers to gain valuable feedback and to build a network of colleagues with whom to share ideas and collaborate on research projects. Owen will chair a panel on monetary policy at the conference. Hamilton has been selected to host a future conference.

Assistant Professor of Japanese Kyoko Omori gave a presentation titled “The Art of the Bluff: Youth Migrancy, Interlingualism, and the Popular Fiction of Tani Jôji” at the International Conference on Japanese Language Education at Columbia University. The conference theme was “Japanese Language Education: Entering a New Age.”  Conference presentations included: Japanese literature and culture, research on second language learning, linguistics, and classroom teaching practice.  This conference was the first Japanese language education conference held outside of Asia.