Fall 2001 Scholars Selected

The following students have been nominated by faculty members to be Levitt Scholars and are currently taking a course in communication skills with Prof. Susan Mason. They will be speaking at high schools during the winter about their research. Another group will be taking part in Spring 2002.

Spring 2001 Levitt Scholars

Scholar program builds confidence and speaking skills

Lewis Gleich '01 spoke to an AP English class at Westmoreland High School. His presentation on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" included video clips from a variety of movies.

Hamilton College students are selected by faculty members for their outstanding research work and communication skills. They are generally juniors or seniors and are chosen from all majors at Hamilton College. This elite group is known as Levitt Scholars, and their topics are wide-ranging.

Some of the Levitt Scholars for 2000-2001 gather to enjoy a sunny Clinton day. Pictured from left to right are: Redell Armstrong, Adinah Bradberry, Erin Waters, Meghna Rakshit, Gwen Matuszek, Lew Gleich, Jennifer Taylor, Brandon Sturma, Lauren Ivison, Jed Barash, Sara Paley, Nakisha Williams, Tom Anderson, Ivy Rollins, Diane Sobowski, Peter Holden, and Jessica McGiff.

All Levitt Scholars complete a course in public speaking taught by Professor Susan Mason as they learn to tailor their talks for a high school audience. They generally talk about their research at Hamilton or demonstrate a project they have completed. The presentations are designed to fit within a normal classroom period, and allow time for questions and answers. Sometimes the Scholars present to combined classes or an assembly.

The benefits are many:

·         high school students learn something about an interesting topic 

·         high schoolers gain a glimpse into college life

·         teachers have a day to relax a bit

·         the Scholars develop their communication skills.

This is the eighth year of the program.  Response has been very positive (often 10 on a scale of 10) on the evaluations we have received from teachers.

Levitt Scholar Program expands as students speak at schools back home

Erin Reid prepared questionnaires as part of her research on the working poor. She used the data obtained as part of her presentation, "How do the working poor survive?" Erin spoke at Fayetteville-Manlius High School and also at the high school she attended in Windsor, Connecticut.

Other Levitt Scholars have taken time from their college breaks to give presentations at high schools in California, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Alabama and other states.

Saadiah Lababidi is the first Levitt Scholar to give a presentation outside the United States. She returned to her high school in Cairo, Egypt to discuss "How did colonialism affect the image of Africans in the western media?"

Keith Foster '03 returned to his alma mater, the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, during Spring Break 2001. He told students about his plans to attend the United Nation's World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Other Related Intolerance, to be held in South Africa in August. His home-town paper, the Mobile Register, included a front-page article about his talk.

Scholars learn to tailor talks to their audience

Professor Susan Mason, Director of the Program in Public Discourse, teaches the course "Elements of Competent Oral Presentations" taken by all Levitt Scholars in preparation for speaking to high school classes. The following is her overview of the Levitt Scholar Program.

Six years of working with the Levitt Scholars Program has afforded me a wonderful vantage point from which to observe and evaluate the powerful impact of public discourse in a student's overall educational experience. The Program exemplifies how the study and application of some basic instructional and public communication skills can facilitate and expand a student's scholarly inquiry and learnings. 
With a focus on sharing discipline-specific expertise acquired through rigorous study and research, the Levitt Scholars Program promotes the concept of using knowledge to benefit the larger society. 
The challenge of preparing a 25-30 minute talk/lesson based on their senior thesis or significant research project calls on the scholars to restructure and adapt their content knowledge in ways that will make sense for their intended listeners. This adaptation process of breaking-down complex ideas into pieces others can grasp is a central skill of not only effective informative speaking and teaching, but also all private and public discourses. 
By having all scholars participate in the course, Elements of Competent Oral Presentations, the Program gives scholars the skills and competencies they need to communicate their understandings and insights to diverse audiences. In this course scholars wrestle with coming to know their intended audience and develop competence in adapting their research to match the content sophistication and interest levels of those listeners. 
As James A. Winans noted in 1931, "A speech is not merely an essay standing on its hind legs," so considerable time is spent investigating and planning for the unique challenges and opportunities of presentational speaking. With an emphasis on creating shared meaning between speaker and listener, Scholars painfully dissect their written projects to transform them into student-centered, instructional presentation. 
The Levitt Scholar Program is a model of excellence in citizenship and communication, and one in which I am proud to have a continuing role.

-Prof. Susan Mason

Levitt Scholar Topics - Spring 2001

Israel and Palestine - why do they fight?
Tom Anderson
Tom delves into the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  He discusses the conflict as a modern situation rooted in a few key issues, including war, land, settlement, living conditions, and treatment of each side by the other. 
Appropriate for junior and senior social studies classes.

How can the United Nations best protect human rights?
Keith Foster
Keith explains his part in the Listening Projects for the U.N., collecting testimonies from people in various communities that face discrimination. He is preparing to present the compiled data to the Third U.N. World Conference against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.  The purpose is to modify human rights laws so that they may be more effective. 
Appropriate for social studies classes. 

Why are the Balkans misunderstood in the West?
Peter Alfred Holden
Peter explains the background and history of the conflicts in Serbia and Kosovo.  Contemporary events are influenced by cultural influences from the past.  It is important to understand the past history in order to better interpret present events.
Suitable for 11th and 12th grade current events or social studies classes

Am I My Mother's Daughter? Understanding the culture of Bolivian Women 
Lauren Ivison
Lauren introduces students to Bolivia and its primary indigenous culture, the Aymara, describing both their history and contemporary life.  She focuses primarily on urban Aymara women and the complex choices of cultural identity that they currently face in the modern capital city of La Paz. Why are the daughters of these women choosing to leave behind their traditional dress?
Appropriate for advanced Spanish or Global Studies classes.  A basic knowledge of Spanish and/or Latin American cultural issues would be helpful. 

In what ways have amendments changed the U.S. Constitution? 
Joshua Jackson
Joshua looks at the impact of amendments on the original text of the Constitution of the United States.  He places emphasis on the 17th Amendment and its influence on 20th Century Federalism.
Suitable for U.S. History or government courses.

How have nations that rely on fishing responded to the increasing scarcity
of fish?
Gwen Matuszek
It was once believed that the oceans held an inexhaustible supply of food. However, exploitation has led to scarcity in fish stocks, necessitating a need for better management of this resource.  Gwen examines the effectiveness of actions taken by various fishing nations in the North. 
Appropriate for social studies, earth science or biology classes. 

Do magazines create false needs through advertising?
Jessica McGiff
Women's magazines have been widely criticized for creating false needs in women.  This critique can now be applied to the newly popular men's magazines.  Jessica will discuss the difference between needs and wants, the role of advertising and the feminization of men's magazines. 
Tailored for 11th and 12th grade English classes, especially those that focus on the critical reading of popular texts.

In what ways do worker attitudes toward co-workers affect the work
environment?
Phuong Nguyen
Phuong looks at the attitudes of workers toward those they work with in a team-oriented setting.  How does this impact results, and in what ways can attitudes be improved? Appropriate for economics classes.

Creatures of the Deep-Sea near Antarctica
Sara Paley
Sara will show samples collected from the Palmer Deep, an area located off the Western Peninsula of Antarctica, exhibiting a wide range of fauna, all of which live in the bottom sediment.  Previously it was thought that the diversity and abundance of marine organisms in the Deep-Sea was sparse. However, in these depths, as much as 1000 meters down, an abundance of multicellular organisms are found.  These spectacular organisms give us some insight into the vast diversity of fauna found on Earth. 
Suitable for biology classes -  grades 9 through 12.

Do people compensate for a threat to their self-esteem by conforming to a
group?
Colleen Powers
Colleen explains her experiment that tests whether certain individuals have a more interdependent or independent sense of self - that is, whether their self-concept includes others or not.  She is studying whether people compensate for a threat to self-esteem by conforming to a group, and whether conformity may buffer threats to self-concept more for some than for others. 
Suitable for 11th and 12th grade psychology classes and possibly health classes.

How should the U.S. relate to present-day China?
Li Qi
China has changed dramatically during the last twenty years - both economically and politically.  People in the United States need to understand these changes in order to relate to the Chinese people more effectively.  As a native of China, Li will share the things he has learned both from inside the country, and as a student in the United States.
Appropriate for juniors and seniors in government, politics or history

What is going on in 21st century advertising?
Meghna Rakshit
Advertising has become an integral part of our daily lives.  Through the use of television commercial spots and a computer presentation, Meghna will examine what really goes on in the process of designing the ads that motivate people.
Best for social studies, sociology or English classes.

How do the working poor survive?
Erin Reid
Erin looks at the everyday lives of the working poor, using information gleaned through interviews and questionnaires.  What special difficulties do they encounter, and what governmental policies have been designed to intervene?  How effective have these programs been?
Suitable for government, American political process or sociology classes.

Can a good time help you eat your vegetables?
Ivy Rollins
Ivy addresses issues of self-control and possible ways to replenish this through enjoyable activity and rest.  In addition, she discusses her personal research, gives an overview of ways to conduct a psychological experiment, and shows how to apply these findings to daily life.
Appropriate to psychology or other social studies classes.

How much difference does gender make?
Diane Soboski
Diane describes the gender differences in young children.  Do genetic characteristics affect ability to empathize with others?  Do in-born traits allow some to be more altruistic than others?
Suitable for psychology, genetics or other science courses.

What was the bitter conflict between Church and State in 14th Century
England?
Brandon Sturma
Brandon postulates that the biography of John Wyclif is an ideal case study to reflect his times.  As the preeminent scholastic theologian of 14th Century England, Wyclif was deemed a heretic by the Church, and a rebel by some in the State.  Brandon presents historical facts to support the former and deny the latter.
Best for students with some background in medieval European history.

Is it best to "mainstream" autistic and severely developmentally disabled
students?
Jennifer Taylor
Jen has researched teachers' attitudes toward including autistic students in the general education classroom.  She delves into the issues and controversies surrounding this important topic.
Could be presented to psychology classes or as part of a professional development day for teachers.

In what ways do stereotypes affect performance? Can mind over matter
prevail?
Nikisha Williams
Past studies have shown that when women are stereotyped as "bad at math," they indeed do not perform as well on standardized math tests.  Nikisha investigates one possible explanation, "Stereotype Threat," a theory in social psychology postulated by Claude Steele. She suggests that people who are presented with a negative stereotype under perform because they become distracted by the undesirable implications of failure.  She explores the possible causes of the stereotype threat and ways in which women who are strong in mathematics and the quantitative sciences are affected.
Best for those with some general knowledge of psychology. Students, particularly girls, who are interested in math or science would probably find this topic intriguing.

Winter 2001 Scholar Topics:

The red-blooded body
Jed Barash ‘01
Jed uses computer representations to explain the importance of hemoglobin. What is it? What does it do? Why is it important? His research has focused oxyhemoglobin in swine and the dissociation curve.  (This curve represents the content of oxygen in hemoglobin at various partial pressures of oxygen in the body, such as the lungs, blood vessels and tissues.) This topic is best for 10th, 11th or 12th grade biology classes.

Life without father
Adinah Bradberry ‘01
Adinah shares some of the experiences of African American women who grow up in fatherless households. This topic is suitable for social studies or history classes.

A biological exploration of Antarctica 
Daniel Catlin ‘01
Dan uses his research experiences during a student trip to Antarctica to give some background on what appears in textbooks. During this research voyage students had a first-hand opportunity to examine the biology of this land of glaciers. (More information on this website: http://www.hamilton.edu/media/antarctic2000/default.html)
This topic is centered on biology.

To be or not to be Hamlet? 
Lewis Gleich ‘01
Using clips from a number of different movie versions of Shakespeare's well-known tragedy, Lew critiques the staging and editing of the films. By focusing on a few scenes, he explains different interpretations of Hamlet. 
This topic is designed for English classes, particularly those who have read Hamlet.

Does violence in the U.S. correlate with gun ownership?
Ned Marcalus ‘02
Ned identifies the parts of the U.S. Constitution that relate to gun control and the problems of implementing laws relating to guns. He quotes statistics that show an insignificant correlation between gun ownership and murder rates. This topic is suitable for government classes.

Trust - how can it be created or destroyed?
Alysia Mihalakos ‘01
Alysia discusses the ways in which trust is established, maintained, and destroyed in everyday relationships. She approaches this from a sociological perspective. This topic is best for psychology or sociology classes. 

To Russia with love
Erin Waters ‘01
Erin spent time in Russia and has a wealth of slides depicting life there. She discusses the literature and life of the Russian people and even demonstrates some of the language. The Cold War left many in the U.S. with the impression that Russians are somehow evil - Erin will dispel that image by talking about the everyday life of people in the former Soviet Union. This topic is good for history or social studies classes.

 
Other Research Projects:
2000