Amherst College Viewbook

30 Pages·2014·8.22 MB·English

Knowing
Amherst
1
On Knowing
You start by knowing something.
And then you wrestle with it, pull it apart,
connect it to other things, see it differently. 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
effective communities thrive. That’s how
learning at Amherst works.
We start by knowing this: Amherst is not
simply a preparation for your professional life.
1
It is a preparation for your lifelong journey
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 finding
information about topics that might be especially important to you.
2 2 3
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.
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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,
the country and around the world, an endlessly expanding list of people2
including places and populations that are you would want to talk to, work with
historically underrepresented in higher and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with
education. We offer one of the most as you advance the frontier of human
comprehensive, ambitious financial aid possibility. All together, an active force
programs in the country. for good, in the world and on campus.
(See Pathways.)
Advising
The Amherst Student
A signature of our academic
program. Students work with faculty One of many student-run publications.
members—some of the smartest, most From its (much-read) website: “Established
accomplished, most approachable in 1868, The Student is the oldest
people you’ll ever meet—to choose independent weekly college publication
courses and plan for research and in the country, with over 2,000 copies
internships and the world beyond. circulated per issue. As an independent
Related to our open curriculum, a publication, The Student and its staff are
distinctive opportunity that allows committed to a standard of conscientious
more independence and requires more reporting and quality writing.”
initiative than a typical curriculum.
2. To name just a few: Joseph Stiglitz ’64, Nobel Prize–winning economist.
Ana Salas Siegel ’91, vice president at Fox International Channels.
Andrea Dutton ’95, geoscientist at the vanguard of research on global sea
level. Kimmie Weeks ’05, founder of Youth Action International. Debby
Applegate ’89, author of a Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Henry Ward
Beecher (Class of 1834!).
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Amherst (the town), (fencing, mountain biking, Ultimate
Frisbee). We sponsor a leadership
Massachusetts
program for student-athletes, and a
liaison program with our Center for
Home to slightly more than 35,000
Community Engagement allows teams
politically engaged, culturally aware
to connect with the local community.
people; excellent coffee; affordable
Teams regularly host dinners where they
restaurants offering a range of national
talk about, for example, immigration
and international cuisines; an art cinema;
reform or the debt ceiling.
a town green; and, slightly off to the side,
a large shopping center with enough
retail options to serve the needs of B
thousands of students. Also home to
farms, country roads, farmers’ markets,
art festivals and Emily Dickinson’s house.
Frequently named “best college town
in America.” Here’s the amazing thing:
Our campus is essentially in town. No
fences, no gates. If you go to Amherst Beneski Museum of
College, you’re a neighbor in Amherst,
Natural History
Massachusetts.
Three floors of exhibits, more than
1,700 specimens on display, and tens
Amy Rosenzweig ’88
of thousands of specimens available for
use by scholars and researchers from
Pioneering interdisciplinary scientist,
across campus and around the world.
working at the crossroads of bio-
Highlights: the world’s largest collection
chemistry, molecular biology and
of dinosaur tracks, including “Noah’s
cell biology. Conducts research that
Raven,” the first confirmed evidence
many knowledgeable people (at the
of a dinosaur to be found in North
MacArthur Foundation, for example)
America; one of the premier vertebrate 3. In 1859. Against
believe will change the way we treat
paleontology collections in New England; Williams. We won,
a variety of diseases. 73-32, allegedly in 26
a mineralogy collection with nearly
innings. Good game.
10,000 items; and an exceedingly
4. Division III
Athletics friendly staff. All in the supermodern
athletic teams:
Beneski Earth Sciences building.
Baseball (M)
We have the oldest athletics program
Basketball (M,W)
in the country—and in 2014 we won our
Cross-Country (M,W)
10th NCAA team title. We played the Biddy Martin’s Field Hockey (W)
nation’s first intercollegiate baseball Football (M)
game,3 and in the past several years, Office Hours Golf (M,W)
Ice Hockey (M,W)
17 of our students have won Academic The president of the College holds Lacrosse (M,W)
All-America awards. Roughly 30 percent regular office hours, open to all. She can Soccer (M,W)
of our students play on our 27 Division III talk about almost anything, from Rilke to Softball (W)
teams,4 and about 80 percent are football. She’s also very good at listening. Squash (M,W)
involved in intramural or club sports Swimming/
Diving (M,W)
Tennis (M,W)
Track and Field
(Indoor) (M,W)
Track and Field
(Outdoor) (M,W)
Volleyball (W)
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Book &
Plow Farm
A 10-acre vegetable farm adjacent to campus.
Originally conceived by students; now annually
provides more than 16,000 pounds of vegetables
to Valentine Dining Hall, hosts student interns,
serves as a research site and co-facilitates an
environmental studies course.
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Book Tree
A hollow tree in the Wildlife Sanctuary
into which students place 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 defining space on campus. Breath-
taking views of athletic fields and
mountains. Ideal for profound reflection,
dreaming, napping, sledding, flying kites.
Buckley Recital Hall
A warm, acoustically generous
performance space in the Arms Music
Center. Hosts regular appearances by
student 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 acts (in recent
years: The Bad Plus, Meredith Monk and
Ying Quartet, among others).
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C
Teaching” and “Regulating Citizenship,”
which is taught in a correctional facility
and enrolls both Amherst students and
facility residents. Students serve as
engagement advisors to clubs, athletic
teams and peers. The CCE also runs
a popular (and often transformative)
Carnivals/Festivals
three-day orientation trip in the fall.
In fall and winter and spring. In which Like the Multicultural Resource Center,
we meet on Valentine Quad or Memorial it’s located in the middle of our campus
Field and run through an inflatable center—for a reason.
obstacle course or ride a mechanical
surfboard or make s’mores or eat cotton
Charles Drew ’26
candy or carve pumpkins. A time of
unapologetic hokeyness. And, more to
Discovered the chemical method for
the point, community.
preserving blood and later became
director of the first American blood
bank. Organized the blood-plasma
Career Center
programs of the United States and
Ready for use as soon as you step on Great Britain in the early years of World
campus. A place to reflect on what’s War II. Advocated for the elimination
important to you, what you’re doing of discriminatory practices in plasma-
here and where you want to go. A supply networks (e.g., excluding the
place with the resources (databases blood of African Americans). One of
and human networks for internships those unsung heroes who do the hard,
and jobs), the professionals, and practical work of blazing trails. One of
the programs (career fairs, alumni our theme houses, dedicated to black
networking events, skills workshops) culture, is named in his honor.
to get you there. A lifelong benefit.
The Condition
Center for
of Being All In
Community
“Everyone here is incredibly passionate
Engagement about what they do. They’re excited
about learning new things; they’re The Cost of Attendance
A resource for people who want to put
open to new experiences. Writing a
their education to work for the common thesis, playing a sport, combating social It’s in the low $60,000 range.5 Significantly, the majority
good. Provides funding for student injustice—we go all in.” of our students pay less—often far less—than the cost of
and faculty projects and stipends to attendance. Under our need-blind admission policy,
cover unpaid summer internships in Tierra Wilkins: junior; Wilmington, N.C.; 60 percent of our students receive financial aid. Last year,
the nonprofit sector. Offers internship English and Black Studies double major; our average financial aid award was more than $46,500.
programs and volunteer opportunities
executive board member, Pride Alliance
across the Pioneer Valley and around
the world. Collaborates on community-
based learning courses, including
“Hydrogeology,” “Reading, Writing and
5. That figure includes tuition, room and board, student fees, travel, books and
supplies, health insurance and personal expenses. See our financial aid pages at
amherst.edu/go/financialaid for the most current figures—and for information
about our financial aid program, which is (we’re not going to be modest here)
one of the most generous and progressive programs in the country.
1144 1155
The Culture of
the Liberal Arts
It’s a culture of intellectual exuberance. To us, a liberal arts
education—an Amherst education—is rooted in habits,
practices and skills that are at once timeless and urgently
needed: effective communication, strong writing ability,
insightful problem solving, and creative, analytical thinking.
This is an education that allows you to be flexible, nimble, to
change and adapt to new opportunities, new information. In a
world that is endlessly renewing itself, this is an education that
is endlessly relevant.
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D
part of an Amherst education. By any
measure, we’re one of the most diverse
liberal arts colleges in the country.
More than 40 percent of our U.S.
students self-identify as students of
color. About 10 percent of our students
are international, from 55 countries;
Dancing and
another 5 percent are dual citizens. 60
Stepping at percent of our students receive need-
based financial aid, and 23 percent are
Amherst College
Pell Grant recipients. 17 percent of our
A selective performance group, students are the first members of their
affectionately called DASAC. Produces families to attend college. We believe
student-choreographed, biannual dance that a great intellectual community
and step shows—among the most popular should look like the world, and with
cultural events on campus. Another every incoming student, that community
popular option is Amherst Dance, comes to life here.
offering an even broader range of styles.
And thanks to the Five College Dance E
Department, students have access to
dance programs across the Consortium.6
David Foster
Wallace ’85
Excellence
Polymathic, critical-minded,
compassionate, digressive, blazingly Often mentioned at Amherst in
self-aware. Completed theses in statements such as: “We strive for
English and philosophy. Played for the excellence in everything we do.” What
varsity tennis team. Went on to write it means to us is that we are unwilling
astonishingly ambitious fiction (Infinite simply to do something mechanically
Jest, Brief Interviews with Hideous well. The research project, the
Men) and wide-ranging, unclassifiable performance, the game, the internship,
nonfiction (A Supposedly Fun Thing the road trip—we want to do these things
I’ll Never Do Again). Among the most with as much life, as much joy, as much
influential writers of his generation.7 intensity as possible. We do not settle;
we are not interested in “good enough.”
The result is that a student might, for
Diversity instance, conduct groundbreaking
research or produce an original play—
An engine of innovation. The natural
or both. Excellence is multidimensional.
condition of the modern world. And,
not coincidentally, a foundational
6. The Five College Dance Department pools the distinctive dance offerings
of all five 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 influential: He turned footnotes into a literary
tool of the highest order. Respect.
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