Amherst Voices

“ These Wade Fellows helped show us how to reconcile the blessings and burden of our education, to take it and do something for our communities. ”

Adrienne White-Faines
Adrienne White-Faines ’82 White-Faines, speaking of the College’s Wade Fellows. Since 1977, black alumni Wade Fellows have returned to campus to engage with current students as informal career counselors, mentors and role models.
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Amherst Voices

“ I never tell anyone at a cocktail party that I’m an expert on regrets. ”

Amy Summerville
Amy Summerville ’02 Summerville, a social psychologist, leads the Regret Lab at Miami University in Ohio.
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Amherst Voices

“ It was like we were waiting for paint to dry. Literally. ”

Rilla McKeegan ’21
Rilla McKeegan ’21 McKeegan, on coloring sections of a Slinky toy for a design-your-own-adventure project for Physics 123 “The Newtonian Synthesis: Dynamics of Particles and Systems, Waves”
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The Liberal Arts

A liberal-arts education develops an individual’s potential for understanding possibilities, perceiving consequences, creating novel connections and making life-altering choices. It fosters innovative and critical thinking as well as strong writing and speaking skills. The liberal arts prepare students for many possible careers, meaningful lives and service to society.

Facts You Should Know

More Facts

80%

Percentage of Amherst alumni who report that they have attended graduate or professional school

Our Alumni

84%

Percentage of Amherst courses that have fewer than 30 students

Liberal Arts
Amherst in Pictures

Latest Videos

May 31, 2018

Interview with Art Collector John Wieland ’58

John Wieland, Amherst College class of 1958, discusses his unique art collection on view at the Mead Art Museum Feb. 8–July 1, 2018. HOUSE: Selections from the Collection of John and Sue Wieland draws on the couple’s trove of more than 400 contemporary artworks by over 300 artists, all of which engage with the idea of the house as a fundamental element of people’s lives, an interest driven by John’s professional life as a home-builder.

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March 26, 2018

ALUMNI IN THE FIELD:  As part of our on-going Alumni in the Field series, where alumni reflect on their career paths and how their Amherst experience shaped their lives, meet Luciana Duarte ‘93, a native Brazilian, who was originally set on being a literature major, but found herself adding a new subject after an experience many fellow alumni can relate to: she took a class and fell in love with anthropology.

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March 1, 2018

NEW SCIENCE CENTER: Amherst’s new science center is scheduled to open in the fall of 2018. The state-of-the-art building will be a home for teaching and research and offer additional classrooms and gathering spaces for the entire campus. The science center also will set a new standard in energy efficiency. The average science building uses 250 kilo BTUs per square foot per year; we intend to reduce that number by 73%. [Video transcript]

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HOUSE: Selections from the Collection of John and Sue Wieland (new page)
Noor Meloy Quasim ’18 speaking at Commencement (new page)
Biddy Martin speaking at Commencement 2018 (new page)
Luciana Duarte: Alumni in the Field Video (new page)
The new Science Center under construction (new page)

Distinctive Courses

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

Humanities Social Sciences Science & Math Arts
Our Majors
Art & the History of Art; Asian Language & Civilizations

Arts of China

Description

Get to know Chinese art and its cultural contexts from neolithic times until the late 20th century. Topics include ritual bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, Buddha imagery, painting and calligraphy.

Anthropology & Sociology; Environmental Studies

Environmental Movements

Description

Draw upon sociological research to understand diverse global environmental movements and proposed environmental solutions, which reflect a wide range of perspectives and interests, as well as social inequalities.

English; Film & Media Studies

Videogames and the Boundaries of Narrative

Description

Explore how video gaming helps us conceptualize the boundaries between our experiences of the world and representations thereof. Play and analyze games while engaging texts from other critical and creative disciplines.

Geology

Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology

Description

Study igneous and metamorphic processes and environments. Apply chemical principles and experimental data to igneous and metamorphic rocks. Identify, analyze and map rocks in the laboratory and field.

Black Studies; History; Mathematics & Statistics

≠ (Inequality)

Description

Examine inequality in K-12 math education. How is variation in accomplishment in mathematics related to race, gender and socioeconomic class? How do public attitudes toward math affect student learning?

Spanish

Puerto Rico: Diaspora Nation

Description

Examine the literary and cultural manifestations of the Puerto Rican diaspora. In partnership with the Holyoke Public Library, conduct oral history interviews in Holyoke, Mass., and in Puerto Rico during spring break.

Happening at Amherst

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