A team of recent Dartmouth graduates won the undergraduate prize at the 2009 College Inventors Competition for their invention of an electrocoagulation arsenic filtration system for use in developing countries, according to an Oct. 21 press release. The students, Philip Wagner '09, Dana Leland '09 and Lindsay Holiday '07, designed a water filtration device that meets standards for arsenic-free water and is intended for use in rural Nepal, according to the release. The final round of the 2009 Collegiate Inventors Competition, a program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, was held in Chicago.
Philosophy and women's and gender studies professor Amy Allen has been named a recipient of the Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Foundation, according to a College press release. Allen was recognized for her work in advancing the field of Continental philosophy, according to the release. For the fellowship, Allen will conduct two terms of research in Frankfurt, Germany, with two German colleagues. Allen will work on a book project that discusses the association between power and reason through the interdisciplinary Frankfurt School approach to social theory, according to the release.
An Oct. 7 proposal that would prevent the National Science Foundation from funding political science projects has stirred debate on the methodologies of political science research, The New York Times reported on Monday. While many political scientists have rallied against the proposal, which was introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., the controversy has called attention to a rift in the field, Indiana University in Bloomington professor Jeffrey Isaac told The Times. "We political scientists can and should do a better job of making the public relevance of our work clearer and of doing more relevant work," he told The Times. Newer statistical methods of study that have begun to replace traditional historic analysis may limit the applicability of the research to the real world, The Times reported.
