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Max Schnidman ’14 received an Emerson Grant this summer to research virtual marketplaces. Schnidman first became interested in the idea of online markets when he came across the concept in a New York Times article about the video game Diablo III  last August.  According to the Times article, Diablo III would incorporate a virtual “auction house” where players could conduct exchanges between real dollars and in-game currency known as gold. Diablo III’s auction house is the first-ever sanctioned online marketplace where players can engage in real currency exchanges, and Schnidman believes that this development has potential implications for economic and social policy.

Gabe Mollica ’14 first discovered Stephen Sondheim’s music during a weeklong Westminster Choir summer camp at Rider University and was struck by the complication and sophistication of the composer’s work. Mollica will continue to study Sondheim’s work with the help of an Emerson summer research grant. 

Twenty Hamilton students have been named recipients of the 2012 Emerson Summer Grants. The students receive a stipend and spend the summer working collaboratively with a Hamilton faculty member, researching an area of interest.

Hamilton was well-represented as 12 students presented the results of their research at the New York 6 Undergraduate Research Conference this month at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.

A combination of social oppression, poverty and discrimination has kept Mayan women in Guatemala from raising their voices and using their full potential. Deaf women in particular are stripped of their rights and made to believe that they have no worth. This summer Mariela Meza ’13 interviewed Guatemalan women in the highland community of Nahuala in an effort to prove that they can be valuable contributors to their community. Meza’s work was funded through an Emerson Summer Grant.

In impoverished countries such as Guatemala, education and other opportunities for women and girls could help substantially in improving the state’s overall economic health. However, Guatemalan women, particularly those belonging to the Mayan tribe, are all but ignored when it comes to proper education and healthcare. Rebecca Ross ’14 spent the summer in Guatemala, analyzing the conditions facing Mayan women and studying the concept of battling poverty through gender equality.

Public schools, and particularly the teachers who staff these schools, play an integral part in shaping the future. Marcus Sesin ’13, a recipient of a 2011 Emerson Summer Grant, is studying the recent changes in tenure acquisition procedures in NYC public schools. Through interviews and research, Sesin hopes to understand the effect of the new procedures on teachers.

Societal pressures shape the way in which many young people develop into adulthood. In fact, cultural norms are so ubiquitous that there are few examples of people who truly break the mold. Kadahj Bennett ’12, an Emerson Summer Grant recipient, is working with Associate Professor of Theater Mark Cryer to create an interdisciplinary, innovative street theater performance piece, Letters to the Shadows in the Sky, on the male black identity in modern society.

Archaeological sites offer a firsthand glimpse into the past. Specifically, working intimately with ancient artifacts allows researchers to piece together historical periods that could otherwise be lost.  Emerson Grant recipient Caroline Morgan ’13 is spending the summer working on- and off-site in Crete with Professor John McEnroe, the John and Anne Fischer Professor in Fine Arts, to uncover a Minoan ruin’s chronological past. Their project is titled “Excavating Minoan Crete: Uncovering Gournia’s Architectural Past.”

Cat Boyd, '12,  the recipient of an Emerson Grant, and Naomi Guttman, Professor of English and Creative Writing, spent the week of July 11-15 at the Women's Studio Workshop in Rosendale, N.Y., where they each produced an edition of a handmade book and documented the process with assistance from the Digital Humanities initiative.