Explore Amherst

Amherst Voices

We can choose to indulge our fears and grab what we can from the weaker. But we cannot make those choices without a cost.

**Amherst President Biddy Martin** Speaking to the Class of 2016 during her annual Commencement address.

Videos, audio, speeches and photos from Amherst's 195th Commencement.

How could any of us have changed our minds–really changed our minds–had we not lived amongst one another and eaten meals together?

**Gregory Campeau ’11** **History major; English teacher**

Real learning and a real preparation for citizenship demand the intersection of different life stories and different sensibilities.

**Frank Bruni** *New York Times* columnist, writing about Amherst receiving the $1 million Cooke Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence. Read the Amherst College news story.

Reunion

Welcome back alumni and families! Reunion 2016 includes College and class sponsored programs, lectures, concerts and receptions. Catch up with classmates, stroll through campus or visit Shakespeare’s First Folio at the Mead Art Museum. For more information and a full schedule of events, please see our Reunion website.

Reunion by the Numbers

Welcome to Reunion

2242

Number of returning Amherst graduates and their families.

General Reunion Information

100+

Over 100 programs, lectures, concerts and receptions are planned for Reunion weekend.

Schedule of Events

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FAQS about Amherst

Accomplishments

Eleven Fulbright Scholars for 2016

Latest Videos

May 26, 2016

Eight graduating seniors from the Class of 2016 – Andrew Knox, Rachel Nghe, Servet Bayimli, Mercedes MacAlpine, Juan Gabriel Delgado Montes, Rachel Abernethy, Jason Paul and Sam Rosenblum – talk about what they will miss the most about Amherst College.

May 17, 2016

This year 21 Amherst faculty and students and faculty received prestigious national awards to continue their work in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Learn more about the 2016 recipients.

May 16, 2016

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced Amherst College as the 2016 recipient of the $1 million Cooke Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence. The award is the largest award in the nation given to to a selective college or university with an excellent record of admitting, supporting and graduating outstanding low-income students.

May 16, 2016

Senior Perspectives: President Biddy Martin sat down with three members of the Class of 2016 – Mercedes MacAlpine, Juan Gabriel Montes and Rachael Abernethy – and asked them to reflect on the classes that most affected them. (Watch the entire conversation, where they discuss their love for the College, Amherst Uprising, alumni mentorship and more. )

May 10, 2016

What does it really mean to go "into the woods"? In this interview, Jayson Paul ’16, physics and philosophy major, and Sam Rosenblum ’16, political science major, along with visiting director Scott Perry, sat down with President Biddy Martin to discuss producing a musical, Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, at Amherst College. Watch additional footage from this interview.

April 1, 2016

In January, professor Jason Robinson recorded a concert-length album, titled Resonant Geographies, which he says offers “a glimpse into research for someone like me.” Watch the video and read Making Music: A Glimpse into the Research of Professor Jason Robinson.

March 29, 2016

A recent exhibit in the Mead Art Museum celebrated the juncture of art and science in the work of 20th-century American artist, teacher and color practitioner Josef Albers, focusing on the influence of scientific concerns with visual perception.

March 14, 2016

Lawrence Douglas, Amherst's James J. Grosfeld Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought, talks about his new book, The Right Wrong Man: John Demjanjuk and the Last Great Nazi War Crimes Trial. See our news story also.

March 13, 2016

An interview with columnist and political commentator Charles Krauthammer, shortly before his presentation at Amherst entitled "Conservatism in the United States Today."

March 9, 2016

Look what happened when we asked our students to write down something they wanted to accomplish or experience before they graduate from Amherst.

Amherst Voices: Senior Reflections Video Interview

Distinctive Courses

Our open curriculum lets you choose among interesting classes taught by exceptional faculty.

Arts Science & Math Social Sciences Humanities

Our Majors

Music

Jazz History After 1945: Experimentalism, Pluralism and Traditionalism

Description

Explore the emergence of bebop in the 1940s, the shift of jazz's relationship with American popular culture after World War II and the dramatic pluralization of jazz practice after the 1950s

Mathematics

Mathematical Modeling

Description

Translate real world problems into mathematical expressions, analyze using mathematical tools and numerical simulations, and interpret results in context of the original problem.

Political Science

Religious Freedom & Islam in Europe

Description

Examine the history of Muslim migration to Europe and the development of religious freedom and secularity as foundational values of the polis.

French

Writing Exile & Return in the 20th Century

Description

Many 20th century writers and poets experienced exile, whether displaced by the violence, forced out of their country by an unbearable political situation, or simply led by their literary ambition.

Psychology

Development of Non-Verbal Communication

Description

Examine how nonverbal communication in humans compares to nonhuman species, and explore theoretical controversies surrounding the definition of "communication."

History

A Price for Everything: Making of a Market Society

Description

At the intersection of market and culture, people have struggled to arrange and institutionalize market exchange, and have sought to make sense of those changing relations.