Amherst College faculty are foremost authorities in their fields, yet are exceptionally approachable. Our students work with them from their first year through graduation—and often beyond—to choose courses, conduct research and make career decisions.
I believe that shedding light on the history of racism and white supremacy in the U.S., which I do in my research and teaching, is an important step toward dismantling these forces and working toward racial justice.
I am a cultural anthropologist working at the intersection of science and technology studies, theories of gender and race, social studies of medicine, and bioethics.
ADAM R. LEVINE
Associate Professor of Art, Film and Media Studies
Students in my classes are not expected to imitate existing cultural forms but to think through their own relationships to media and, by extension, the world around them.
JARED LOGGINS
Assistant Professor of Black Studies and Political Science
In one way or another, all of my courses examine the various and conflicting political-philosophical horizons internal to Black Atlantic life in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
I believe it is important for aspiring writers to read books that cannot be found in the traditional literary canon, or on a bestseller or award list if they are to produce art that does more than uphold the status quo.
I consider my primary goals as a teacher to be helping students to develop strong economic reasoning, recognize the significance of each lesson beyond the classroom and develop a lasting curiosity about economics.
RICK A. LOPEZ
Anson D. Morse 1871 Professor of History and Professor of Environmental Studies (On Leave 7/1/2023 - 6/30/2024)
I urge students to push past the limits of presumptions and pre-conceived categories and, instead, to use historical evidence to figure out for themselves the relationships between particular groups, nations, ethnicities, and environments.
What’s special about Amherst is you’re coming here for a great education, but it’s a small liberal arts school. You should have people care for you inside and outside the classroom.
TRENT E. MAXEY
Professor of Asian Languages and Civilizations and History (On Leave 1/1/2023 - 12/31/2023)
Whether I am teaching a survey of pre-modern Japan or a seminar on the history and memory of the Asia-Pacific War, I like to connect the specificity of history to broader, critical conversations.
I encourage students to approach existing paradigms critically and enter the academic conversation boldly, challenging—as needed—the canon to develop new ideas.
Adopting multiple perspectives trains my students to treat received wisdom with skepticism and to expect that other explanations might be available to the initiated intellectual.
Karen and Brian Conway '80, P'18 Presidential Teaching Professor of American Studies and Sociology; Faculty Athletics Representative; Chair of American Studies
Karen and Brian Conway '80, P'18 Presidential Teaching Professor of American Studies and Sociology; Faculty Athletics Representative; Chair of American Studies
Karen and Brian Conway '80, P'18 Presidential Teaching Professor of American Studies and Sociology; Faculty Athletics Representative; Chair of American Studies