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Ben Salzman ’13 has always been fascinated with science, space exploration and music, but upon entering Hamilton, his chosen academic path gravitated toward the areas of music and art. He has since discovered a unique method of combining art and science in working with Leonard C. Ferguson Professor of Music Sam Pellman to create visual accompaniments for musical compositions.

While studying in Dublin, Ireland, Genevieve Nierman ’13 constantly came across references to early 20th century author James Joyce and his famed work Ulysses. She became intrigued by Dublin’s obsession with the novel and was awarded an Emerson Foundation Summer Research Grant to study the relationship between Ulysses and Dublin and to discern what attributes of the novel are responsible for its international success.

With an interest in Russian that began in high school, Grace Lee ’13 spent the past year studying in St. Petersburg where she was surprised by the prevalence of Russian folklore symbols even in the busy city.  This summer she pursued a research project on the interplay between Russian folktales, culture and politics with the support of an Emerson Foundation Summer Research Grant.

A picture may be worth 1000 words, but Kathleen Herlihy ’14 is only looking to find a few, albeit in a very literal sense. She is studying the use of sign language in art, a topic which she says has yet to be comprehensively analyzed by any scholarly work. She received an Emerson Foundation Summer Research Grant to pursue an initial scholarly analysis on this subject under the guidance of Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Erich Fox Tree.

Creative writing concentrator Martin Cain’s poetry has already appeared in a number of literary journals, so his award of an Emerson Foundation Summer Research Grant to pursue a study focused on “pastoral” poetry should come as no surprise. Cain ’13 was also the youngest writer to attend Middlebury College’s prestigious Bread Loaf Conference in 2011.

Adriana Fracchia ’14 was awarded an Emerson Foundation Summer Research Grant to assist John and Anne Fischer Professor in Fine Arts John McEnroe in conducting one of only three officially sanctioned U.S. excavations in Greece. Fracchia is working to draft a topographical map of the ancient village of Gournia, on Crete, as a continuation of the work done by Caroline Morgan ’13 in 2011.

Anna Paikert ’13 first conceived of the idea to use creative writing as a therapy to help developmentally disabled children while studying childhood developmental disabilities in Copenhagen at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. Her involvement in a long-term project involving the study of creative writing and its use in educating special needs children led to her Emerson Foundation Summer Research Project.

With the support of an Emerson Foundation Grant, Adi Fracchia ’14 worked with John McEnroe, the John and Anne Fischer Professor of Fine Arts, on a two-month study of the architecture of Gournia in Crete.

Mysticism, or the study of individuals who seek to access a higher-than-sensory reality, is a relatively abstract topic of study, but Sean Fujimori ’14 is hoping to bring the teachings and ancient traditions of the mystics into modern society. Fujimori is pursuing his study on mysticism with an Emerson Foundation Summer Research Grant under the guidance of John Stewart Kennedy Professor of Philosophy Richard Werner.

Students sometimes say that life at Hamilton exists in a “bubble” somewhat removed from real-world events off the Hill, but this does not hold true for Danielle Lashley ’13. She chose to spend her summer gaining valuable career experience right here on campus, by pursuing modern studio art work supported by an Emerson Foundation grant. Lashley, an art concentrator, is working with Associate Professor of Art Rebecca Murtaugh to get a taste of what life as a full- time studio artist might be like.