Knowing Amherst

59 On Knowing

You start by knowing something.

And then you wrestle with it, pull it apart, connect it to other things, see it diferently. You search and question and reimagine. And this leads to a new kind of knowledge—deeper, more creative, more profound.

That’s how great ideas are born. That’s how efective communities thrive. That’s how learning at Amherst works.

We start by knowing this: Amherst is not simply a preparation for your professional life. It is a preparation for your lifelong journey 1 of learning—exhilarating and surprising, rewarding and vast.

1. Unlike your lifelong journey, this book is arranged alphabetically. It also includes a legend at the back, with guidance on fnding information about topics that might be especially important to you.

56 56 57 A Academics

The essential starting point. An experience that involves access to a liberating open curriculum, an astonishingly talented and accessible faculty, the expansive Five College Consortium and myriad opportunities for research and internships around the world —all within the context of an undergraduate liberal arts college. An experience that often prompts a slight (and thrilling) sense of vertigo. Or that gives you an oceanic sense of possibility. An experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

2 3 Admission Alumni A source of pride, not for the obvious Taken as a whole, an inspiring example reasons, but for the less obvious, of the power, the ingenuity, the lasting hugely important reasons: We search impact that a relatively small group of for exceptional students from across people can have. Taken individually, an the country and around the world, endlessly expanding list of people2 you including places and populations that would want to talk to, work with and are historically underrepresented in stand shoulder-to-shoulder with as you higher education. As one of only a advance the frontier of human possibility. handful of schools following a policy An integral part of the mentoring and of need-blind admission for both internship resources available through domestic and international applicants, our Career Center. All together, an we admit students based on academic active force for good, in the world and achievement, personal accomplishment on campus. and potential to contribute to and beneft from our extraordinary campus community, not on a family’s fnancial The Amherst Student situation. And we ofer one of the most One of many student-run publications. comprehensive, ambitious fnancial aid Established in 1868, The Student is the programs in the country. oldest weekly college publication in the country. Written, produced and published by an all-volunteer team Advising of dedicated Amherst students, A signature of our academic committed to conscientious reporting program. Students work with faculty and quality writing. members—some of the smartest, most accomplished, most approachable people you’ll ever meet—to choose courses and plan for research and internships and the world beyond. Related to our open curriculum, a distinctive opportunity that allows more independence and requires more initiative than a typical curriculum.

2. To name just a few: Joseph Stiglitz ’64, Nobel Prize-winning economist. Ana Salas Siegel ’91, senior vice president at NBC Universal. Malcolm Young ’68, founder of The Sentencing Project and Project New Opportunity. David Suzuki ’58, award-winning scientist, environmentalist and long-standing host of the CBC series The Nature of Things. Debbie Applegate ’89, author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Henry Ward Beecher (Class of 1834!). Jefrey Bleich ’83, formerly law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, chief counsel to President Obama and U.S. ambassador to Australia. Thomas Jones II ’78, co-founder of Jomandi Productions, one of the largest African-American theater companies in the U.S. Andrea Dutton ’95, geoscientist at the vanguard of research on global sea levels and recipient of a MacArthur “genius grant.” Kimmie Weeks ’05, Liberian human rights activist and founder of Youth Action International. Megan Carroll ’02, frst head of the United Nations Development Programme’s Democracy and Participation portfolio in South Sudan and 2014-15 White House Fellow. Yanira Castro ’93, internationally acclaimed artist, director and choreographer creating bold, innovative performance works.

4 5 program for student-athletes; regular Amherst (the town), cross-team dinners to discuss topics of Massachusetts local, national and world signifcance; Home to more than 35,000 politically and a liaison program with our Center engaged, culturally aware people; for Community Engagement to con- excellent cofee; friendly restaurants nect teams with the local community. ofering a range of national and international cuisines; an art cinema; a town green; and, slightly of to the side, a large shopping center with enough retail options to serve the needs of thousands of students. Also home to farms, country roads, farmers’ markets, art festivals B and Emily Dickinson’s house. Frequently named “best college town in America.” Being All In Here’s the amazing thing: Our campus is “Everyone here is incredibly passionate essentially in town. No fences, no gates. about what they do. They’re excited If you go to Amherst College, you’re a about learning new things; they’re neighbor in Amherst, Massachusetts. open to new experiences. Writing a thesis, playing a sport, combating Amy Rosenzweig ’88 social injustice—we go all in.” Ph.D. in chemistry from the Tierra Wilkins: junior; Wilmington, N.C.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, English and Black Studies double major; Distinguished Professor of Life Sciences executive board member, Pride Alliance at Northwestern University and pioneering interdisciplinary scientist working at the crossroads of bio- Beneski Museum of chemistry, molecular biology and 3. In 1859. Against cell biology. Conducts research that Natural History Williams. We won, many knowledgeable people (those in Three foors of exhibits, more than 1,700 73-32, allegedly in 26 charge of the MacArthur Foundation’s displayed objects and tens of thousands innings. Good game. “genius grant,” for example) believe will of specimens available to students, 4. Division III change the way we treat a variety scholars and researchers across campus athletic teams: of diseases. and around the world. All housed in the Baseball (M) supermodern Beneski Earth Sciences Basketball (M,W) Cross-Country (M,W) Building. Highlights: an extraordinary Field Hockey (W) Athletics collection of dinosaur tracks, including Football (M) We have the oldest athletics program “Noah’s Raven,” the frst confrmed Golf (M,W) Ice Hockey (M,W) in the country, we competed in the frst evidence of a dinosaur found in North Lacrosse (M,W) 3 America; one of the premier vertebrate intercollegiate baseball game, and we Soccer (M,W) have won 13 NCAA team championship paleontology collections in New England; Softball (W) titles (eight in this decade). Our students a dazzling mineralogy collection; and Squash (M,W) have won 80 NCAA individual titles the skeleton of a Columbian mammoth, Swimming/ Diving (M,W) and 37 Academic All-American awards unearthed by Professor Frederick Brewster Loomis, brought to Amherst Tennis (M,W) (19 since 2010). Roughly 30 percent of Track and Field our students play on our 27 Division III in 1925 and now (Indoor) (M,W) teams,4 and about 80 percent are the inspiration for Track and Field involved in intramural or club sports. We Amherst’s frst oficial (Outdoor) (M,W) Volleyball (W) sponsor a comprehensive leadership mascot, the Mammoth.

6 7 Book & Plow Farm

A farm-to-table movement, right here on campus. A thriving, 50-acre agricultural endeavor—originally conceived by students—that now annually provides more than 20,000 pounds of fresh produce to Valentine Dining Hall, engages students in collaborative physics, astronomy, psychology, neuro- Becoming farming projects, serves as a research science, math and statistics, as well as site, co-facilitates an environmental the Future spacious, light-flled common areas. An studies course, sponsors an annual The world is changing, and so has the integrated home for the interconnected food justice week, participates in a local east side of campus, transformed by sciences and a destination for the entire community-supported (CSA) market the addition of a cutting-edge, interdis- Amherst community. and provides a natural space on campus ciplinary Science Center and four new to connect with our food, our land and residence halls linked by the Greenway, a each other. sustainably designed 12-acre landscape Biddy Martin’s of gardens, trees, stone walls, recreation areas and performance spaces. Opened Ofce Hours in fall 2018, the 255,000-square-foot The president of the College holds regular Science Center houses state-of-the-art ofice hours, open to all. A scholar and a labs, classrooms and ofices for teaching sports fan, Biddy can talk about almost and research in biology, biochemistry, anything, from German literature to biophysics, chemistry, computer science, football. She’s also very good at listening.

8 9 Book Tree A hollow tree in the Wildlife Sanctuary where students have placed poems, love letters, pages from novels and other literary items that are considered worthy of residence within a lovely tree.

The Brilliance of Memorial Hill

A defning space on campus. Breath- taking views of athletic felds and mountains. Ideal for profound refection, dreaming, napping, sledding, fying kites.

Buckley Recital Hall A warm, acoustically generous performance space in the Arms Music Center. Hosts regular appearances by student instrumental and choral groups and senior thesis projects by music majors. Home of the Music at Amherst concert series, which is free for students and features adventurous national and international performers, who frequently ofer masterclasses for Amherst students when visiting campus. On the program this year: Brazilian singer Luciana Souza with guitarist Chico Pinheiro; the eclectic contemporary sextet yMusic; virtuosic violinist Leila Josefowicz with pianist John Novacek; the Grammy-winning Parker Quartet; and innovative pianist Dan Tepler, whose music integrates computer-driven AI algorithms with jazz improvisation.

10 11 Ofers opportunities for students and faculty to connect learning inside and outside the classroom. Supports student involvement in community- based research, partnerships and C experiential learning courses, such as “Shakespeare in Prison,” which is taught Carnivals/Festivals in a correctional facility and enrolls both In fall and winter and spring. When we Amherst students and facility residents. meet on Valentine Quad or Memorial Field and run through an infatable obstacle course or ride a mechanical Charles Drew ’26 surfboard or make s’mores or eat cotton Received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from candy or carve pumpkins. A time of McGill and Columbia Universities. unapologetic hokeyness. And, more to Discovered the chemical method for the point, community. preserving blood and later became director of the frst American blood bank. Organized the blood-plasma Career Center programs of the United States and Oficially, the Loeb Center for Career Great Britain in the early years of World Exploration and Planning. A place to War II. Advocated for elimination of the consider and clarify how your education, discriminatory practice of excluding skills, interests and values can align the blood of African Americans from with a meaningful career. Ofering the plasma-supply networks. One of those resources and advising needed to help heroes who do the hard, practical work you shape your path forward through of blazing trails. One of our residential internships, jobs, skills workshops and theme communities, dedicated to black alumni mentoring. Provides fnancial culture, is named in his honor. support for summer experiences related to personal, professional and academic goals. Lays the groundwork for Cost of Attendance successful practical outcomes. Home It’s in the mid-$70,000 range, including to the Amherst Careers-In Program, tuition, room and board, student fees, Alumni-in-Residence Program, Houston travel, books and supplies, health Internship Program, Meiklejohn Fellows insurance and personal expenses.5 Program and much more. Ready for Signifcantly, the majority of our students use as soon as you step on campus. An pay less—often far less—than the cost information hub, a career community, a of attendance. Under our need-blind lifelong beneft. admission policy, about 57 percent of our students received fnancial aid last year and our average fnancial aid award was Center for more than $58,000. Community Engagement A resource for people who want to 5. See our fnancial aid section at amherst.edu put their education to work for the for the most current fgures—and for informa- common good by linking practical, tion about our fnancial aid program, which is (we’re not going to be modest here) one of the experiential projects with theory, self- most generous and progressive programs in refection and community interaction. the country.

1122 1313 The Culture and Connections of the Liberal Arts To us, a liberal arts education—an Amherst education—is rooted in practices and skills that are at once timeless and urgently needed: efective communication, strong writing ability, insightful problem solving, deep knowledge, and creative, analytical thinking. This is an education that allows you to be fexible and nimble, to change and adapt to new information and new opportunities, wherever you fnd them and wherever they lead you. In a world that is endlessly renewing itself, this is an education that is endlessly relevant, in the studio, in the laboratory, in the boardroom and beyond.

14 15 arts colleges in the country. Among our students, 45 percent self-identify as U.S. students of color. About 10 percent of our students are international, from more than 55 countries; another 5–10 D percent are dual citizens, who have been raised and educated abroad. Typically, Dancing and about 60 percent of our students Stepping at qualify for need-based fnancial aid, 23 percent are Pell Grant recipients and Amherst College 16 percent are in the frst generation A selective performance group, of their families to attend college. afectionately called DASAC. Presents We believe that a great intellectual biannual, student-choreographed community should look like the world, productions incorporating hip-hop, break, and with every incoming student, that jazz, step and street dance genres— community comes to life here. among the most popular cultural events on campus. Other popular options include Amherst Dance, the Salsa and Bachata Club, Intersections Dance and the Argentine Tango Club. And thanks to the Five College Dance Department, students have access to dance programs 6 E across the Consortium. Eisenberg Native David Foster American Literature Wallace ’85 Collection Polymathic, critical-minded, compassionate, digressive, blazingly Oficially named the Younghee Kim- self-aware. Completed theses in Wait/Pablo Eisenberg Native American English and philosophy. Played for the Literature Collection. With more than varsity tennis team. Went on to write 2,000 books (and counting), one of the world’s most comprehensive private astonishingly ambitious fction (Infnite with as much life, as much joy, as much collections of writing by and about Jest, Brief Interviews with Hideous Excellence intensity as possible. We do not settle; Native Americans, reaching from the Men) and wide-ranging, unclassifable Often mentioned at Amherst in we are not interested in “good enough.” 18th century to the present. Includes nonfction (A Supposedly Fun Thing statements such as: “We strive for The result is that a student might, for fction, poetry, biography, memoir, I’ll Never Do Again). Among the most excellence in everything we do.” What instance, conduct groundbreaking 7 histories, philosophical tracts, sermons, infuential writers of his generation. it means to us is that we are unwilling research or produce an original play— manifestos and more, from such authors simply to do something mechanically or both. Excellence is multidimensional. as Samson Occom, Mourning Dove and well. The research project, the Louise Erdrich (to name just a few). Diversity performance, the game, the internship, An extraordinary academic resource An engine of innovation. The natural the road trip—we want to do these things acquired by Amherst in 2013 through the condition of the modern world. And, not generosity of Younghee Kim-Wait ’82. coincidentally, a foundational part of an Amherst education. By any measure, 6. The Five College Dance Department pools the distinctive dance oferings we’re one of the most diverse liberal of all fve schools, making it a uniquely rich and diverse dance department and one of the largest in the nation. 7. One way in which he was infuential: He turned footnotes into a literary tool of the highest order.

16 17 A fairly typical written exchange between a professor and a student in a course called “Metaphilosophy”

PROFESSOR GENTZLER: “Hans-Georg Gadamer makes some surprising claims about philosophy and philosophers. He suggests that philosophers are concerned primarily with gaining knowledge of themselves. He also suggests that philosophers have discovered and aim to bring about what he calls the highest principle of action, ‘freedom for all.’ What’s the connection between these two claims? Does Gadamer’s characterization of philosophy match your understanding of the work that you’ve done at Amherst?”

JIANLIN: “Connecting Gadamer’s two claims, it seems that he wants to say that philosophy makes people achieve freedom through examining ourselves. As a result, we will have the option of changing our behaviors and beliefs so that they are more coherent with what our reason dictates. Instead of viewing philosophy as the narrow pursuit of very specifc and sometimes even technical questions, I agree with the ancients that philosophy is a much more general pursuit of wisdom. And by studying philosophy, we become lovers of wisdom.”

Jyl Gentzler, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Philosophy and co-director of the Writing Center Jianlin Zhong: senior; Shenyang, China; mathematics and philosophy double major; summer internship with J.P. Morgan

18 19 Fayerweather Hall Where art lives. Featuring studios for painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and printmaking, plus the Eli Marsh Gallery. Home to exhibitions by students and visiting artists, honors thesis exhibits, gallery talks and free Thursday evening fgure drawing sessions, open to students, faculty, staf and the greater Amherst town community. A place of artistic creation, collaboration and celebration.

20 21 you take a frst-year seminar—meeting to student learning, digital scholarship Financial Aid twice a week with no more than 15 The Five College and data research services. Selected as Four things you should know about our other frst-year students and a professor Consortium the only Massachusetts host of the fnancial aid program: for interdisciplinary exploration of The oficial name of the phenomenal historic First Folio exhibition from 9 1. Our admission process is need- a specialized topic. You analyze it, result you get when you put four the Folger Shakespeare Library, a blind for all students, domestic think critically about it from all sides, outstanding colleges and one major world-class research center located in and international. discuss and debate it, write about it. You university (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Washington, D.C. and run under the 2. We meet 100 percent of every experience what learning at Amherst is Holyoke, Smith and the University of auspices of Amherst. Ofers more than student’s demonstrated need. all about. Massachusetts Amherst) within a 1.5 million volumes, 330,000 e-books 3. We were one of the frst colleges 10-mile radius of each other. You get and 265,000 other media materials, in the country to adopt a no-loan 10 museums and a library system with plus a talented and friendly research policy. Our fnancial aid packages The Five Years more than 11 million items. You get staf, a café and many individual and don’t include loans—we’ve replaced After Amherst more than 30,000 students and cross- group study spaces that often become them with scholarship grants—so our registration opportunities for 6,000 a fgurative second home. What happens in those years? Within six students can graduate with no debt. courses. You get more than a dozen months of graduation, the vast majority 4. Only a few colleges in the country can specialized certifcate programs (in, for of our graduates have started , make those three statements. We’re jobs example, ethnomusicology, international Fulbright Recipients graduate study or professional school. proud to be one of them. Find out relations and sustainability studies). You Over the last decade, the Fulbright An unusually high percentage are ofered more: amherst.edu. get an untold number of collaborative Students Program—one of the most major fellowships—Churchill, Fulbright, clubs, performances and projects prestigious and competitive educational Gates, Goldwater, Marshall, Rhodes, between students and faculty. You award programs in the world—has Watson—that fund serious research and The Fi r st-Ye a r get a generally limitless sense of recognized Amherst for its unusually other important creative work around possibility.10 high number of award recipients. the world. They use the resources of our Experience Within the cohort of bachelor’s Career Center to discover opportunities A singular, profound, paradigm-shifting degree-granting institutions, Amherst and connect with alumni in myriad time in your life at Amherst. You live Frost Library has consistently been named a “top in a frst-year residence on the main professional felds. In launching their 11 producer” of Fulbright recipients, who careers, many new graduates build on The main library on campus. Named quad, with people who are spectacularly go abroad to conduct a year of study, experience they’ve gained at Amherst— for the poet Robert Frost, who taught diferent from you, but who are all research or teaching in pursuit of shared an internship at the Federal Reserve here for decades. President John F. sharing this experience. You participate international understanding.12 in our orientation program, including a Bank, a summer science research Kennedy spoke at the building’s groundbreaking ceremony in 1963. LEAP8 experience of your choice—an project with a professor, a service project Received the prestigious Excellence intensive three-day engagement with a in Sierra Leone. So, the question isn’t just in Academic Libraries Award from the place or a theme (the outdoors; the local “What happens in those fve years after Association of College & Research community; our Book & Plow Farm; Amherst?” It’s “What happened in those Libraries for outstanding commitment our Mead Art Museum; mindfulness four years at Amherst?” and yoga; sustainable living; arts

and performance; social justice and 12. In the past 10 years, 122 Amherst graduates have been awarded Fulbright leadership). You choose courses and Fellowships. Areas of research have included controlled growth of ponder the future with a professor who magnetite nanoparticles and implications for medical and environmental serves as your frst-year advisor. And research (Matthew GoodSmith ’15, geology major); the engagement of women in deliberations about Islam (Emma Broches ’14, history major); the warming of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (Olivia Truax ’16, double major in geology and law, jurisprudence and social thought, who went on to 8. Stylishly deconstructed as learn | explore | activate | participate. pursue a Ph.D. in paleoclimatology); computerized translation tools and 9. You choose one seminar from a list of dozens. Recent seminars natural language processing (Amar Mukunda ’15, computer science and have included “Secrets and Lies,” “Progress,” “The Value of Nature,” geology double major); the history and culture of West Indian populations “Transformative Ideas,” “Space and Place,” “Manifestos” and “Finding Your of Panama (Christine Miranda ’15, American studies and computer science Roots: Narratives of Self and Community.” double major); neuro-electrical brain functioning at Kavli Insititute for Systems Neuroscience in Norway (Thomas Sommers ’16, neuroscience 10. Which is helped considerably by the PVTA, the free Five College bus system. major, who later enrolled in medical school ); and the changing identities of 11. But let us not forget our other libraries, dedicated to math, music and Palestinian and Iraqi refugees within Jordanian society (James Fromson ’13, science. We love them, too! double major in history and Asian languages and civilizations).

22 23 How Marisa Parham Conducts Research on the Digital G Frontier Professor Parham’s research focuses on Green Amherst texts and technologies that problematize We’re serious about creating a assumptions about time, space and sustainable campus as part of bodily materiality. “Digital humanities a sustainable world. Under our projects are technologically innovative, transformative Climate Action Plan, so they often require collaboration across we are committed to achieving carbon disciplines. They allow us to build new neutrality by 2030. We’ve developed kinds of intellectual communities, and I ambitious programs in composting, fnd that to be an incredibly energizing green building design, environmentally experience.” friendly cleaning products, single-stream recycling and carbon reduction. And we’re Marisa Parham, professor of English, powered by an innovative cogeneration current director of the Immersive Reality plant for the simultaneous production of Lab for the Humanities, former director electricity and heat, a process that results of Five College Digital Humanities in more eficient energy conversion and lower environmental emissions. Our Ofice of Environmental Sustainability Humanistic Inquiry and Department of Environmental The Center for Humanistic Inquiry hosts Studies collaborate to integrate campus seminars, performances, exhibitions, sustainability initiatives with research conferences and workshops, provoking and teaching on campus, and provide conversations across disciplines on of-campus internships to develop subjects local and global. This year’s informed, innovative leaders of theme? How “home”—as a place and environmental change. concept—has evolved and manifested diferently across cultures and through history.

Humphries House One of our residential theme commu- H nities and a student-run cooperative. Residents collectively prepare commu- Harold Varmus ’61 nal meals, maintain the residence, and Former director of the National Institutes organize campus and house events that of Health, president of the Memorial are sometimes refned (annual wine and Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, director cheese reception for faculty), sometimes of the National Cancer Institute and happily not. They make key decisions to- recipient of the Nobel Prize in medicine. gether, and generally serve as an ongoing These are the kinds of things you can do experiment in collaborating to produce with a degree in English from Amherst.13 something surprising and enlightened. Everyone calls it “the Zu.”

13. He wrote his thesis on Charles Dickens.

24 25 26 27 I Internships Thousands of opportunities, many established through our network of dedicated alumni, parents and friends of the College and accessible through our Career Center. Our hallmark Houston Internship Program14 is designed to provide students with substantive, meaningful, paid summer internships across a broad spectrum of career felds in the U.S. and abroad. It ofers comprehensive support including preparatory advising, skills development and assistance throughout the internship cycle. One more step in creating a portfolio of skills, experiences and networks that can provide a competitive edge in an eventual job search and access to an expanded array of practical outcomes.

Interterm Three weeks during the January break between semesters when you can pursue a passion in a number of ways: participate in a winter sport, do research in a lab, take an internship of campus, attend a noncredit course at Amherst (such as “Introduction to Book Binding,” “Celestial Navigation,” “Creative Writing Residency,” “Mapping Geographic Data” or “Cooking from Memory”) and generally embrace the joys of winter.

14. Named in honor of Charles Hamilton Houston, Class of 1915, who went on to become the frst African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review, a dean at the Howard University School of Law, an acclaimed mentor to a generation of African-American lawyers (most notably Thurgood Marshall) and a chief architect of the legal strategy that laid the groundwork for the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.

28 29 Johnson Chapel A campus landmark, visible for miles around, set at the center of College Row— the original three buildings on campus. J Hosts lectures by people of great renown, from David Brooks to Rachel Maddow, Jefrey Wright ’87 from Antonin Scalia to Ruth Bader One of the most decorated actors of his Ginsburg, from Dan Brown ’86 to Ta- generation, with Tony, Emmy and Golden Nehisi Coates. Serves as a performance Globe awards to his name. Major roles in space, a classroom, a chapel (really!) Angels in America (on stage and screen), and a venue for community events both Basquiat, A Free Man of Color, Boardwalk serious (the annual DeMott Lecture) and Empire, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire not-so-serious (Lip Sync). and the HBO series Westworld. Also an activist for sustainable development and ethical mining practices in Africa. These Jonatha Brooke ’85 are the kinds of things you can do with a Founding member of beloved folk-rock degree in political science from Amherst. group The Story. Pioneer of alternative music distribution methods. Invited by Woody Guthrie’s daughter to adapt Jobs unreleased Guthrie songs. Wrote her Our education is designed to build frst song in an Amherst composition multiple intelligences, so you can adapt class, based on a line from e.e. to the job you want, or invent the job that cummings: “love is more thicker doesn’t exist but that the world urgently than forget.” needs.15 Accomplished with the expert guidance of our Career Center and the experience gained through internships. Some jobs taken by recent graduates:

Financial Analyst, Ecolab Legislative Assistant, U.S. Senate K Account Strategist, Google Fellow, The Hufington Post Karti Subramanian’07 Associate Consultant, Bain & Co. Research Fellow, National Cancer and Taylor Downs ’08 Institute Entrepreneurial co-founders of Vera Solar Development Analyst, SunEdison Solutions, which builds cloud and mobile Teacher, Teach For America tools to help social service organizations Investment Banking Analyst, J.P. Morgan collect, organize and learn from data to Web Developer, LinkedIn promote transparency, accountability Media Planner and Buyer, Havas Media and efective social change. Named Software Developer, Epic Systems to Forbes’ “30 Under 30: Social Entrepreneurs” list.

15. An impressive example: Risalat Khan ’13 co-founded a start-up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that used urban rooftop aquaponics to provide food to the city’s residents. Now a global environmental activist, addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and other existential challenges. Spoke at the 2018 World Economic Forum, as part of the Global Shapers Community.

30 31 Keefe Campus Center The distinctive yellow building that almost every student visits at least once a day. Home to the campus post ofice, movie theater and game room; our student- L run WAMH radio station; Schwemm’s Cofee House; the multipurpose Leaving the McCafrey and Friedmann Rooms for meetings and performances; plus the Safe Harbor Center for Community Engagement, “I think people naturally try to harbor the Center for Diversity & Student themselves in comfort zones and avoid Leadership, the Center for International dificult conversations. I realized here Student Engagement, the Multicultural that I wouldn’t grow if I did that. I’ve Resource Center, the Queer Resource been challenged to listen to and respect Center, and the Women’s and Gender diferent points of view. I’m no longer Center. It’s the center of centers. afraid to engage in deeper and harder dialogues—in class and outside of class, too. To me, this is true education. This is Keri Lambert ’13 what makes education valuable.” One of 96 Amherst alumni who have Cristian Navarro: junior; San José, been awarded a Watson Fellowship. Costa Rica; economics and mathematics Traveled to Ghana, Tanzania and double major; member of the crew team Malaysia to document the experiences of farmers, fshermen and factory workers and study “how the production of goods consumed on a global scale afects Lengthening Your people locally in their day-to-day lives.” Cultural Horizon Listening for the Also a three-sport captain and holder Some of the most active student of an NCAA National Championship title organizations on campus are afinity in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. groups, including the Asian Students sonic link between Association, the Black Students Union, First Generation Association, Indigenous Kirby Theater and Native Citizens Association, the Valley and the coast A state-of-the-art 384-seat theater, QuestBridge Low-Income Community, Anderson’s senior thesis was “Shore,” a patience, and—best of all—with an featuring computerized lighting and La Causa, Pride Alliance and the composition for string quartet. “I wrote unfailing vision of how he wished the sound equipment, a refurbished fy International Student Association. it for two reasons: to express emotions instruments to combine expressively.” system, a stretch-wire lighting grid, and They’re politically engaged, culturally in music that I couldn’t express in words, scene and costume shops. Connected adventurous and responsible for some and to build a sonic link between the ANDERSON: “I think place and sound to the Holden Experimental Theater, of the year’s best campus-wide events. Pioneer Valley and my home on the are inherently linked. To capture a a fexible 6,000-square-foot space coast of the Atlantic.” Anderson met place through a series of sounds—and, with moveable seating, computerized every week with his faculty advisor, conversely, to project a series of sounds lighting and sound, and catwalks. Home Lip Sync Eric Sawyer (who had recently premiered on a place—that’s an enlightening to boundary-pushing performances, An annual show in which groups of stu- his opera The Garden of Martyrs). They’d process.” including faculty and student dents create and perform skits and song- sit at the piano and work through a productions, year-round. and-dance routines to popular songs, section or share sources of inspiration Eric Sawyer, professor of music to compete for the highest numbers or just talk. Anderson Gray: senior; Woolwich, among their classmates in Room Draw Maine; English and music double major; (the housing lottery). An evening when PROFESSOR SAWYER: “Anderson refned resident of Marsh Arts House; club you see people doing things you never his string writing with great care and hockey player imagined them capable of doing. 32 33 Little tiny zebrafsh and the people who study them

PROFESSOR TRAPANI: “It’s amazing that vertebrates have evolved such intricate systems for detecting sound, gravity and nearby water currents—if you’re a fsh. The sensory receptor that is responsible for this transduction of mechanical stimuli into electrical signals that are sent to the brain is called the hair cell. This cell is critical for human hearing and balance.”

ALEXANDER: “We perform electrophysiology on tiny zebrafsh larvae. The technique is so sensitive that we have to do it on a table that foats on a layer of air to isolate the fsh from vibrations and we use remote-controlled robotic arms to insert the recording electrodes. Fortunately, both Razina and Professor Trapani have been amazing at getting me up to speed. They’re great teachers.”

RAZINA: “My honors thesis examined how one type of channel in the hair cell contributes to the hair cell’s ability to encode sensory information with speed and reliability. Professor Trapani has been an incredible mentor. I’ve presented my work at a national neuroscience conference, published an article in a scientifc journal and collaborated with a lab in Germany, which involved their sending zebrafsh larvae in thermoses across the Atlantic Ocean. Now I know what I’m capable of.”

Josef Trapani, assistant professor of biology Alexander Ordoobadi: junior; Washington, D.C.; neuroscience major; head of Amherst College Emergency Medical Services Razina Aziz-Bose: senior; Lexington, Mass; neuroscience major; research assistant, Massachusetts General Hospital

34 35 Making History It happens fairly often here, sometimes at tens of billionths of degrees above absolute zero. David Hall, for example, led M an international research team working with ultracold atomic gases. In Hall’s lab, Majors the team observed a Dirac monopole, We ofer 40 majors. Typically, about 45 which is related to the as-yet-unobserved percent of our students double major; a magnetic monopole, an isolated north or number create their own interdisciplinary south magnetic pole. This work is progress majors. In addition to a wide choice toward an ultimate result that could be of majors, our open curriculum gives you as revolutionary as the discovery of the the fexibility to pursue your intellectual electron. “We pursued these experiments passions, and the freedom to be the because of student interest in the theory,” architect of your education. says Professor Hall. “It is personally American Studies gratifying to see students graduate after Anthropology having built apparatus and written theses Architectural Studies based on their scientifc work in my Art and the History of Art Asian Languages and Civilizations laboratory.” Astronomy Biochemistry and Biophysics David Hall ’91, the Paula R. and David J. Biology Avenius 1941 Professor of Physics Black Studies Chemistry Classical Civilization Classics “Man, you gotta relax.” Computer Science What men’s soccer coach Justin Serpone Economics says to his players, often. This turns out English Environmental Studies to be what you have to say to players on European Studies a team that routinely wins New England Film and Media Studies Small College Athletic Conference French (NESCAC) championships, qualifes for Geology the NCAA tournament, captures an NCAA German National Championship and simultaneously Greek History attempts to do world-class work in every Interdisciplinary/Independent other area of life. You say: Relax. Do your Latin best. Enjoy the process. Then move on to Latinx and Latin American Studies the next great thing you’re doing. Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought Mathematics Music Neuroscience Marsh Cofee Haus Philosophy A regular performance series hosted by Physics the Marsh Arts House, a theme Political Science Psychology community at the top of The Hill. The Religion Cofee Haus features singer-songwriters, Russian poets and other artists, many of whom Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies are students, some of whom are local or Sociology national touring acts. Spanish Statistics Theater and Dance

36 37 LAUREN: “One night we stayed up The Mead Mr. Gad’s The New Standard until, like, three in the morning talking Art Museum House of Improv “This is a community where your experi- to each other in Spanish. We both had ence and your intellectual and personal class early the next day, but neither of Named for its founder, renowned Legendary student improv group. (The character are respected—but also held to us wanted to stop talking. There was so architect William Rutherford Mead, origin of the troupe’s name is revealed new and higher standards. Amherst has much laughing, we probably woke up Class of 1867. An expansive museum, only to its members.) Attracts overfow made me a better intellectual, but it has the neighbors.” tucked into the main quad and featuring crowds of students to its performances, also challenged me to be a better person, more than 19,000 objects spanning ofering interactive antics and miscella- with a greater sense of responsibility to frst-year; Queens 5,000 years of world culture: Mexican neous mayhem. Making Amherst laugh Lauren Carter: my community—and an accompanying Village, N.Y.; member of Rhythm and ceramics, Tibetan scroll paintings, since 1989. greater sense of hope.” Shoes; proud resident of Stearns 308 ancient Assyrian carvings, Russian avant-garde art, West African sculpture, Irma Zamora: frst-year; Santa Ana, Kyra Ellis-Moore: junior; Albuquerque, Japanese prints, American and European Calif.; tutor at El Arco Iris; proud resident The Multicultural N.M.; double major in law, jurisprudence paintings. Including work by artists of Stearns 308 and social thought and sexuality, wom- as varied as Mary Ellen Mark, Andy Resource Center en’s and gender studies; Peer Advocate Warhol, Takashi Murakami and Andres Born out of student activism, a space of Sexual Respect; Amherst Dance; sen- Serrano. A laboratory for innovative, of guidance, growth, awareness and ator, Association of Amherst Students interdisciplinary research and teaching, community, across and within cultures. incorporating original works of art Located in Keefe Campus Center, at across academic disciplines. A visually the heart of campus, which is far more stunning venue for concerts, lectures than geographic symbolism. Diversity— New Roommates and midnight study breaks. A dynamic including a multicultural, polyphonic IRMA: “There are so many things I’ve O hub for a vibrant community. student body—is at the core of who grown to love about Lauren. She’s always we are. entertaining. She knows what to say and The Octagon when to say it. She’s patient with me; A yellow building—technically an she listens to my annoying rants. I take Meiklejohn Fellows eight-sided polygon—on a steep hill her to La Causa events; she took me to overlooking the main campus entrance. Program New York—my frst time there.” Inspired by Orson Squire Fowler, An initiative of the Career Center, Class of 1834, a proponent of the mid- LAUREN: “Irma not only puts up with providing generous resources, 19th-century “octagonal architecture” my craziness, she actually seems to get a opportunities and support to low- movement. Originally (in 1848) home to kick out of it. If I show her a weird Monty income and/or frst-generation the astronomy and geology departments; N Python video that I fnd HILARIOUS, she students. Meiklejohn Fellows beneft currently home to the Black Students will be right there laughing with me.” from guaranteed funding for summer NCAA Titles Union and the Gerald Penny ’77 Black experiences (such as internships Cultural Center. Also home to the two- Meaning national Division III titles. IRMA: “Once, after a stressful day of and research), as well as specialized story, burgundy-carpeted Babbott Room, Our student-athletes have won classes, I came home and saw Lauren advising, programming and career a lovely place to attend a seminar or 80 individual titles and 13 team standing in the middle of the room, and development support to enhance a reading. professional preparation and foster a championships. To be specifc: she says, ‘Hey, Irma, wanna see me sense of belonging to a community- dance High School Musical?’ And she within-a-community. A refection Men’s soccer, 2015 just starts dancing and singing ‘We’re All of the College’s commitment to the Men’s tennis, 2014, 2011 in This Together.’ Totally made me forget foundational principle that all Amherst Men’s basketball, 2013, 2007 my stressful day.” students should have access to the Women’s basketball, 2018, 2017, 2011 opportunities needed to gain the Women’s ice hockey, 2010, 2009 knowledge, skills and experiences that Women’s cross-country, 2007 contribute to success during college Women’s lacrosse, 2003 and beyond. Women’s tennis, 1999

38 39 graduation, 98 percent of graduates The Open had started either jobs, graduate Curriculum school or fellowship programs. Most The open curriculum is one of the boldest, popular areas of employment? Business most productive experiments in higher and fnance, education, science and education. It ensures that each classroom technology, consulting, medical research is flled with fully engaged students, and health professions, arts and media committed to the topic at hand. We don’t communications, government and non- have distribution requirements. We don’t proft, law and legal services. have a core curriculum. What we do have is more than 850 courses (actually, thanks to our membership in the Five Pratt Field College Consortium, more like several The third-oldest NCAA football-playing thousand) and 1,850 students with the site in the country—and now, thanks to a vision and the courage to choose the recent renovation, a high-performance, courses that matter most to them. And— 21st-century marvel. Featuring a state- crucially—faculty who are committed to of-the-art turf feld; an eight-lane, all- serving as advisors and mentors during weather track that meets International the course selection process. Association of Athletics Federations standards; a 15,000-square-foot athletic building; and a press box that looks like a classic but functions like the digital nexus that it is.

P Putting Students and Alumni in Touch The Powerhouse Whether participating in Career Originally the College’s centralized Center oferings (like the Alumni-in- steam plant and home to its ancient Residence Program and the Amherst coal-fred boilers. Decommissioned Careers-In Program), engaging with in the 1960s. Reinvented in 2014 as alumni at Homecoming, or reaching out a versatile social space. With its raw, directly through the Amherst Alumni industrial interior, now enhanced by Directory, current students can easily state-of-the-art lighting and sound connect with our tight-knit community systems, the Powerhouse is perfect of active, dedicated alumni. The goal? for nightlife: concerts, dances, parties, Efectively linking the past, the present dinners, cofee houses, food truck and the future of Amherst. The result? nights—you name it. Designed for Alumni leverage their experience to help collaboration and inclusivity. Run by new generations of Amherst students; students, for students. students receive valuable, real-world advice; and good work (including, often, internships and jobs) starts to get done. Practical Outcomes Amherst students graduate ready to embrace the opportunities of the world. Last year, within six months of

40 41 Q

A Q&A WITH A PROFESSOR AND A STUDENT IN “FROM EDO TO TOKYO: JAPANESE ART FROM 1600 TO THE PRESENT” How did modernization and westernization change Tokyo—and how did visual artists represent that change?

JONATHAN: “Westernization created a in traditional styles. Others worked confict for Japanese artists who searched in traditional formats such as the for a balance between conventional woodblock print, but in styles directly artistic styles and new Western ideals. borrowed from the West. A third You can see the impact of westernization group enthusiastically embraced new in the transformation of the way in which processes such as lithography and artists depicted Mount Fuji. In early photography, but trained their eye on depictions, they displayed the mountain distinctively Japanese subject matter. as a symbol of national pride and For each group, preserving something portrayed its religious signifcance. As of their Japanese cultural identity was modernization arrived in Japan, artists of crucial importance.” set Mount Fuji in the background of their work. Their focus shifted to Jonathan Ramirez: sophomore; the westernized aspects of Tokyo— Wyckof, N.J.; double major in the railroads and consumer culture.” economics and (soon) art and the history of art; participant in Amherst PROFESSOR MORSE: “Japanese artists College Athlete Bible Study; outfelder were fascinated by Western modes of for varsity baseball representation that were introduced to Sam Morse, Howard M. and Martha P. the country in the late 19th and early Mitchell Professor of the History of Art 20th centuries. Some incorporated and Asian Languages and Civilizations; Western elements (vanishing-point faculty liaison to the women’s ice perspective, cast shadows) into works hockey team

42 43 Respect Rosanne Japan. Doshisha was founded in 1875 by an Amherst graduate—which tells We’re committed to fostering a culture Haggerty ’82 you something about the depth of our of respect on campus. Our community- Internationally recognized leader in commitment to international experience. generated Honor Code sets out standards housing and community development. Plus, because 10 percent of our students R of integrity in and out of the classroom. are international, and we live in a region Founder of Common Ground Community We work together to build trust and and Community Solutions to restore with thousands of other international mutual understanding in every arena— Research deteriorated hotels and other residences college students, just being here is a personal, social and academic. An undergraduate college experience for occupancy by low-income and little like a study-abroad experience. Some of the events, organizations and that embraces serious research homeless persons. Won a MacArthur centers that help do that work: the across the disciplines. Done at an Fellowship (“genius grant”), as well as Cadigan Center for Religious Life, the exceptionally high level, using state-of- a Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and SURF the-art resources, in collaboration with College Council, the Multicultural Activism. Summer Undergraduate Research a professor who understands why this Resource Center, the Ofice of Diversity Fellowship. Sophomores and juniors experience matters, is committed to & Inclusion, Peer Advocates of Sexual spend the summer immersed in giving you the time and the attention to Respect, Pride Week, the Queer Resource hands-on, collaborative research make the most of it and, maybe most Center, Student Health Educators, the with faculty in biology, chemistry, importantly, treats you like a partner Women’s and Gender Center. physics, biochemistry/biophysics, in a shared enterprise, like someone neuroscience, geology, environmental who’s capable of making a meaningful studies, psychology, computer contribution to the world’s body of The Rilke/Salomé S science, mathematics and statistics. knowledge. Which you are.16 Bathrooms Exceptional research experience, (See Becoming the Future.) The Singing College The bathrooms on B Level of Frost on-campus housing, a weekly stipend That’s one of our nicknames, and for Library, whose walls students have and connections to a vibrant vanguard good reason: We have enough singers in covered with excerpts from the letters community of scientists. SURF’s up! our student body to populate a Chorus, of Rainer Maria Rilke and the diaries of Residential Life a Glee Club, a Concert Choir, a Gospel his intellectual and romantic partner Choir, a madrigal ensemble and—at We guarantee housing for all students Lou Andreas-Salomé. Not to be last count—six a cappella groups. And for all four years. Nearly all our students confused with the Joyce bathroom in enough fans of singing to fll the seats of (98 percent) reside on campus, and all Johnson Chapel (featuring excerpts Johnson Chapel at their shows. frst-year students live in dormitories on from Ulysses) or the Rowling bathroom our First-Year Quad, right in the heart in Chapin Hall (featuring quotes from the of campus. Our 34 residential buildings Harry Potter books). It’s not grafiti; it’s range in size from 10 to 125 students, The Spring Concert T love and admiration. and several of them include theme A highly anticipated evening each year communities. The latest additions to when a big-name musical act comes to Theme Communities our housing options are the Greenway campus—as do hundreds of fans from all Students sharing an interest, living Residence Halls, four sleek, eco-friendly around the Five College Consortium. together and enriching the educational, buildings linked by bridges and a central Headliners in recent years have included cultural and residential life of the courtyard, tucked into the hillside and of- DRAM, Chelsea Cutler, The Main campus. Current theme communities: fering iconic views of the Holyoke Range. Squeeze, No Coast and A$AP Ferg. Asian Culture House, Charles Drew Not just a place to live, but a center of House (black culture), Humphries community and a home away from home. House (cooperative living), Health Study Abroad and Wellness Quarter, La Casa (Latinx culture), Marsh Arts House About 45 percent of our students study (home of the Marsh Cofee Haus), 16. Case in point: Austin Sarat, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of abroad, choosing from more than 150 Sylvia Rivera Community (queer Jurisprudence and Political Science, worked closely with four Amherst programs around the world, from Cuba and trans culture), plus the language students in researching and writing Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions to Sri Lanka, from Mali to Madagascar, and America’s Death Penalty. He stated in the introduction, “While the houses—Chinese-Japanese, French, and including an exchange program conventions of publishing required that my name appear alone on the front German, Russian, Spanish. cover, our collaboration is manifest on every page.” with Doshisha University in Kyoto,

44 45 Three profound sentences about exploring the building

blocks of the universe 18. “When I started in the lab, I had no special technical training or expertise. Now I’m working on my own research project with cutting-edge equipment and the mentorship and support of truly excellent professors. I’ve spent more than a year on my project—and it’s nowhere near complete. No one has 17 PROFESSOR LEUNG: “The molecule doesn’t lie.” previously studied my complex, and I’ve been able to work on almost every aspect of a rotational HANNAH: “Research doesn’t happen overnight.”18 spectroscopy research project. I feel such a strong sense of ownership and responsibility for the work— JOEY: “There’s no answer key for the questions we’re asking.”19 which probably explains why I’m planning to continue it this summer.” —Hannah Tandon: sophomore; San Marino, Calif.; chemistry major; volunteer with Amherst College Emergency Medical Services 1 7. “You might not know what it’s saying, but it doesn’t lie. So you make hypotheses that must be 19. “We create the answers ourselves. My senior thesis looked at the complex between vinyl chloride checked against the results of your experiments. With Joey and Hannah, we’re investigating the and HCl. And I found results that were highly surprising. Previous work on the topic had found that manner in which two molecules interact and trying to understand the relative importance of several these complexes were planar, but my work showed that the HCl is actually located above the plane of competing efects on the nature of the interaction. I expect students to think creatively about their vinyl chloride. This was unexpected and cool, and, as you might imagine, it makes us question what work, to test their thinking against the data, to work together and support each other. Science is best we know about these complexes. So now we’re less sure of what’s going on—but we’ve also created a done collaboratively.” new opportunity.” —Helen Leung, the George H. Corey 1988 Professor of Chemistry —Joey Messinger: senior; Berkeley, Calif.; chemistry major 46 47 of Fame; and the town of Northampton, TYPO “Use-value doesn’t which is only 15 minutes from campus Take Your Professor Out, in which a diminish intellectual and like a sister college town to group of classmates can take their Amherst. The Valley is home to more professor to dinner in the Town of value.” college students and cultural events Amherst and the College pays. There’s A quote from chemistry professor Sheila than any region in New England outside W also TYSO, for students to dine out with Jaswal (who also teaches the innovative, of metro Boston. (Speaking of which: college staf—the custodian who looks interactive course “Being Human in Amherst is 90 miles from Boston.) The Wildlife Sanctuary after your dorm, the cook who serves STEM”). Meaning: It’s possible to do Five College Consortium is here; the Open felds, wetlands, woods and up your lasagna in the dining hall, the work that is both immediately applicable Iron Horse Music Hall is here (motto: ponds—500 acres (yes, 500 acres) of librarian who locates research materials in the wider world and theoretically “Music alone shall live”); the Montague natural bliss, literally part of campus, so for your thesis. An all-but-guaranteed mind-blowing. She also said: “Asking Bookmill is here (motto: “Books you you’re never more than a short walk from bonding experience. the fundamental questions moves things don’t need in a place you can’t fnd”); its glories. Highlights: the Fort River, a forward in ways we can’t foresee.” And high-tech start-ups, entrepreneurial trail system, downy woodpeckers, brown then she said: “I’m excited by the marvel ventures and grassroots community thrashers, a drumlin, two tulip trees and of life and what we don’t know about it.” projects are here. The people here tend the Book Tree. Good conversation. Great professor. to think broadly, work together, live close to the land and put new ideas to work, starting now. We call it the Happy Valley, Wolf Fitness Center and we are completely serious. U Eight thousand square feet of top-shelf cardiovascular, Bodymaster and free- URL weight equipment, in the heart of our You can check out our Ofice of Visionaries such as athletics complex. One of the most Admission at amherst.edu/admission. V actively (in every sense of the word) Madeline Janis ’82 used spaces on campus. You’ll fnd student blogs, a virtual tour One of the country’s most efective and profles of our tour guides and Valentine grassroots activist, committed to diversity interns, plus the most current Dining Hall building an equitable, sustainable information and guidance about cost, Known to its friends as Val. A society. Co-founder of the Los Angeles fnancial aid, visiting and applying. centralized dining hall ofering a range Alliance for a New Economy, which of dietary options, with food sourced spearheaded passage of one of the frst from local farms, including our very own living-wage laws in the United States. Undergraduate Book & Plow Farm. Works cooperatively Most recently, co-founder and director of College with local community shelters, charities Jobs to Move America, dedicated to the X and survival centers to provide donated creation of economically secure, climate- We’re an undergraduate college—that’s food throughout the year. Home of the safe jobs for all working people. an essential part of our identity as an X Factor Val-Sit, an informal contest to see how institution and our work in the world. Commonly described as “a variable in a long you can hang around in Val, talking Professors come to Amherst because given situation that could have the most with friends, after you’ve fnished eating. they want to teach and work with Visiting signifcant impact on the outcome.” Because the real reason to come to Val undergraduates. Our students have A fantastic idea. We’re 90 miles west Described here as our alumni. They’re is to be together. access to opportunities (conducting of Boston and 150 miles north of New leaders in industries and communities research alongside renowned York City. Take a student-led tour, attend around the world. They also have a professors, using state-of-the-art an information session, observe a class considerable impact on the lives of our equipment, publishing in major journals, The Valley and walk around town. Find out more: students. They serve as mentors, ofer attending national conferences) that in Our part of Western Massachusetts. It amherst.edu/visiting. internships, give presentations on their work and generally make sure that a university setting would typically be includes some of the state’s prettiest reserved for graduate students. mountains and New England’s longest Amherst students have the resources river; historic sites, ski resorts, white- and support they need to become the water rafting, hiking trails; the city of next X factor. Springfeld, home to the Basketball Hall

48 49 Y “Yes!” What we say to unexpected ideas, sudden revelations, counterintuitive arguments—and to the will and the sweat needed to bring them into the world. Z Zoetic We absolutely love words, so feel free to use these next time you play Scrabble: Zastrugi (which you will see on campus). Zarzuela (which you will hear and taste on campus). Zyzzva (which you just might study on campus). Zaniness (which you will defnitely meet on campus). Zeniths (which you can absolutely begin to reach on campus). And zoetic, as in vital, or living. As in being a student at Amherst. As in Amherst.

50 51 Amherst, at a glance

Amherst 1821 50:50 850 College Founded Male-to-female ratio Courses 40 U.S. students of color: 46% Majors Oficial name of region in International students: 10% plus interdisciplinary/ Western Massachusetts: independent majors Dual-citizenship students: 8% The Valley

Seniors graduating Quasi-oficial name: last year with Student-faculty The Happy Valley honors theses: 38% ratio: 7:1 Distance from 45%+ Boston and New York: Students graduating Students studying abroad 90 miles, 150 miles last year with more Study-abroad programs: 150+ 57% than one major: First-year Students receiving retention rate: 97% fnancial aid from Amherst last year 45% Six-year 48 58 graduation rate: 96% States Countries Demonstrated represented represented fnancial need Curriculum: Open met: Student research Number of 1,850 frst-year seminars last year: The Five College Consortium: opportunities: Available courses: 6,000+ 100% Hundreds Students Students within a 10-mile radius: 30,000 Distribution of class size last year 34 2–9 32% Items in the libraries: 11 million+

10–19 39% 20–29 17% 22,000+ Division III athletic teams: 27 Amherst College students 30–39 6% Student organizations: 150+ taking courses through the

Students in class Students in class 40–49 3% Active Alumni Five College Consortium: 50%

50+ 2%

53 52 Legend Where to fnd information about 20 important topics:

Academics, 2, 8, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 25, 29, 33, 35, 36, 39, 40, 43, 45, 46, 48

Admission, 5, 48

Alumni, 5, 6, 12, 16, 22, 24, 31, 32, 36, 40, 44, 45, 49

Arts, 10, 16, 21, 32, 33, 36, 38, 45

Athletics, 6, 7, 36, 38, 40, 49

Career Center, 12, 22, 29, 31, 40

Diversity, 12, 16, 32, 38, 44, 45

Faculty, 2, 5, 19, 22, 25, 33, 35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 48

Financial Aid, 5, 12, 16, 22, 48

Five College Consortium, 2, 23, 40, 45

Internships, 2, 5, 8, 12, 29, 38, 40, 49

Liberal Arts, 2, 15

Location, 6, 10, 12, 23, 31, 40, 48, 49

Open Curriculum, 2, 5, 36, 40

Majors, 36

Research, 2, 5, 8, 23, 25, 35, 36, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48

Sciences, 6, 8, 23, 24, 35, 36, 45, 46, 47, 48

Student Life, 5, 10, 12, 16, 22, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 36, 38, 39, 40, 44, 45, 48, 49

Study Abroad, 45

Visiting, 48, 49

54 55 Ofice of Admission P.O. Box 5000 Amherst, MA 01002- 5000

(413) 542-2328 [email protected] amherst.edu/admission

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Statement of Non - Discrimination: Amherst College does not discriminate in admission, employment, or administration of its programs and activities on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex or gender (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity), age, disability, genetic information, military service, or any other characteristic or class protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Amherst College complies with all state and federal laws that prohibit discrimination, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Inquiries should be addressed to the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Oficer, Amherst College, P.O. Box 5000, Amherst, MA 01002- 5000.

Produced in collaboration with Generation, Brooklyn | Hudson, NY

Principal photography by Ryan Donnell. Additional photography by Meredith Heuer, Rob Mattson and Maria Stenzel.

58 January 2020