News & Events Amherst in Videos

This video series features President Elliott in conversation with a member of the community about all things Amherst. Check out the latest episode!

Alena Smith, playwright, TV writer, and creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the streaming series Dickinson, presented the 2023 DeMott lecture, claiming, “I believe the Emily Dickinsons of the 21st century are sitting in this room.”

Hosted by Susan Daniels, associate in public speaking, ten thesis students, nominated by their departments, compete to communicate the significance of their research in three minutes or less.

This presentation explored questions such as: What is Amherst College’s historical relationship to slavery and racism? And, how have Black people in Amherst and Holyoke resisted oppression and built communities and vibrant cultures? 

Keynote address by attorney and author Kenneth Stern, director of Bard College’s Center for the Study of Hate and former executive director of the division on antisemitism and extremism at the American Jewish Committee.

The Black History Month Planning Committee presented a panel discussion reflecting on the events of the Amherst Uprising of 2015. Panelists included Felipe Rico ’16, Irma Zamora ’17, Mercedes MacAlpine ’16, and Nayah Mullins ’17.

”From the Classroom to the Streets: The Struggle for Justice Continues,“ with Nekima Levy Armstrong, an award-winning civil rights attorney, activist and racial justice advocate.

LitFest, Amherst College's annual literary festival, now in its 8th year, was held on Thursday, February 23 - Sunday, February 26, 2023. 

Director of Sustainability Weston Dripps, joined by 4 Sustainability Interns, discusses the relationship between environmental, racial and socio-economic injustices and the need to approach these issues from a systems perspective. 

Amherst College is hosting a series of virtual discussions about Russia's Invasion of Ukaine.  If you missed the events, the videos are available for viewing.

Maida Ives, manager of farm education and operations, provides an overview of the Book and Plow Farm at Amherst College.

Nicola Courtright, William McCall Vickery 1957 Professor of the History of Art at Amherst College reflects on how she adapted to hybrid-teaching during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Videos from Virtual Black Alumni Week, April 12 -18, 2021. A conversation with Kellie Jones ’81, H’18, Thomas Mitchell ’87, hosted by Ayo Lewis ’21, and conversation with Dr. Angela Y. Davis, moderated by Dr. Kimberly Bain '14.

This virtual lecture series examines our current crossroads, both nationally and globally, from the perspective of opinion writers, poets, activists, linguists and historians.

Relive a bit of LitFest 2021 with these videos of some of the fiction and poetry readings and discussions by our invited guest speakers.

AC Votes goes above and beyond to get students engaged in voting, as well as post-elections reflections by members of the Amherst community.

Our senior celebration included video messages from the community, photo highlights from the past four years, an appearance by the student commencement speaker and the Choral Society, and a surprise special guest.

As part of our unprecedented virtual celebration for the class of 2020, our Mammoth processed across the main quad and received an Amherst College diploma. A mammoth congratulations to the class of 2020!

Oncologist and bioethicist Zeke Emanuel ’79, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress joins President Biddy Martin.

Arthur C. Brooks, Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School in conversation with Trustee Phil Jackson ’85, Priest-in-Charge and Vicar of Trinity Church Wall Street in NYC.

Nobel Prize-winner Harold Varmus ’61 joins Trustee Emeritus David Kessler ’73, for a discussion hosted by Trustee Shirley Tilghman H’08.

Trustee Emeritus Joseph Stiglitz ’64 H’74, Nobel Prize-winning economist and professor of economics at Columbia University, talks with private equity executive and Amherst trustee David Novak ’91.

What exactly is the Amherst experience is all about? This short video highlights our beautiful campus and, more importantly, what makes this community feel like home. 

Hosted by Susan Daniels, associate in public speaking, ten thesis students, nominated by their departments, competed to communicate the significance of their research in three minutes or less.

Speaking contests and prizes have a long history at Amherst. The tradition continued on Feb. 18, 2020. Presented here are eight student speeches on the theme of "Justice."

LitFest 2020: Obama aide Ben Rhodes, author of the best-selling book The World As It Is, and his Random House editor, Andy Ward ’94, in discussion with host Cullen Murphy ’74.

LitFest 2020: Professor Judith Frank, in conversation with National Book Award recipient Susan Choi and finalist Laila Lalami. 

Participants in this Interterm 2020 course worked collaboratively to photograph historical objects and dinosaur track-ways in the Beneski Museum.

When Booth and Greenough opened beloved brewpub The People’s Pint in Greenfield more than 20 years ago, area farmers weren’t accustomed to selling directly to restaurants.

Stanley Fish, Yeshiva University, in conversation with Ilan Stavans, Amherst College, discussing free speech on college campuses.

Environmentalist author Elizabeth Kolbert joined Professor Lawrence Douglas for a discussion on "Progressing Our Way to Mass Extinction?" as part of the Point/Counterpoint series.

An Amherst education doesn’t end with graduation. Here are five videos from the Alumni Colloquium - Amherst College History: Post-World War II to the Present held on November 15 - 16, 2019.

President Biddy Martin welcomes visiting families, answers questions from the audience, and shares anecdotes about recent events on campus.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined Amherst College President Biddy Martin for an onstage conversation.

John Michael Higgins ’85 talks about what he learned at Amherst College and how those lessons have helped him to succeed as a professional actor.

The 2019 DeMott Lecture was given by distinguished author, National Book Award finalist, and writer-in-residence, Min Jin Lee.

Assistant Professor of Biology Marc Edwards discusses why he became a scientist and a teacher, and the best advice he's ever received.

Lyndsey Scott ’06, actress and software engineer, embodies the driving curiosity and deep versatility of Amherst alumni.

What happened when Karu Kozuma, chief student affairs officer at Amherst College, and senior Megan Root ’19, shadowed each other for a week? Find out what they learned from this experiment.

Videos featuring talks by Jennifer Egan, Jamel Brinkley, Brandon Hobson, Charles Mann '76 and Elizabeth Kolbert are available to the Amherst community until May 4, 2019.

Judith Frank, Professor of English, talks about what it takes to succeed as a writer and touches on what students can expect from the creative writing program at Amherst College.

Chris Lehane ’90, head of global policy and communications for Airbnb, believes the company's home sharing mission is using technology to create community-wide economic benefits.

Hear remarks by Biddy Martin, President of Amherst College, during a celebration on October 20, 2018, of Amherst’s new Science Center.

Amartya Sen, economist and Lamont University Professor at Harvard University, joined Amherst College professor, and host of NEPR's In Contrast, Ilan Stavans for a Point/Counterpoint discussion.

Watch as Amherst Philosophy Professor Alexander George conducts a "little experiment in imagination and influence" on Katherine Duke ’05, assistant editor, Office of Communications.

Joseph E. Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University joined Amherst College professor, and host of NEPR's In Contrast, Ilan Stavans for a Point/Counterpoint discussion.

The Science Center opening celebration kicked off with a panel of alumni reflecting on their time at Amherst College. 

Author and contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times, Taseer discussed his experiences at Amherst,  and how they gave him a new perspective on his country of origin, India.

Before arriving in Cole Assembly Room to deliver a speech, Aatish Taseer ’03 stopped by Alumni House to answer questions about his work as a journalist and an author of fiction and nonfiction.

Darryl Harper ’90 discusses how he entered Amherst College as a psychology major but graduated with a commitment to pursuing a career as a professional musician.

President Biddy Martin addressed homecoming visitors on Saturday, Nov. 10 in Johnson Chapel.

Head Volleyball Coach Sue Everden reflects on her storied career and what keeps her motivated as a coach.

Saskia Sassen, professor of sociology at Columbia University,  joined Amherst's Ilan Stavans, Spanish professor, for "Globalism and Its Discontents," part of this year's Point/Counterpoint series.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George Will joined Professor Ilan Stavans the first installment of this year's Point/Counterpoint series.

Danielle Allen, the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University & Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, delivered the 2018 lecture. 

All 492 of them participated in six days of Orientation activities designed to introduce them to the campus, the faculty and staff, and to each other, the members of the Class of ’22. Go Mammoths!

A team of six students from across several fields of study spent part of the summer assembling Eugene, a soccer-playing robot.

Eboo Patel visited Amherst College on February 27, 2018. His presentation explained why diversity and pluralism are more important now than ever before.

For Matt Glickman ’87, entrepreneurship is not about creating something new, but about taking the best ideas from a wide range of disciplines and apply them in new places.

Wieland's unique art collection engages 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.

Noor Meloy Qasim ’18 was chosen by her class to speak at Commencement.

Watch the video and read a transcript of President Biddy Martin’s address to the Class of 2018.

This talk explored Russian gay identity through two literary works, a scene from Mikhail Kuzmin’s 1906 coming out novel, Wings, and Evgeny Kharitonov’s “Leaflet.”

Sergey Glebov, Associate Professor of History and Kathleen Smith ’87, Professor of Teaching, Center for Eurasian, Russian & East European Studies (Georgetown), discuss Russian politics and culture.

Bryn Geffert, Librarian of the College and Catherine Ciepiela ’83, Professor of Russian and Director of the Amherst Center for Russian Culture discuss Russian politics and culture.

Luciana Duarte ’93, currently the VP and Global Head of Employee Experience at HP,  discusses how her liberal arts degree from Amherst College prepared her perfectly for her career.

Interviews with the speakers in the "Trump: Point/Counterpoint Series" as well as full presentations by two of the speakers.

Zimbabwean writer and international lawyer Petina Gappah spoke at Amherst on Feb. 14, 2018: “ Writing Africa Today: On The Intersection Between Truth, Justice and Reality in Contested Spaces." 

Kirk Johnson ’82 discusses his journey from Amherst College to Sant Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Honoring the theme of “Beloved Community,” poet and activist Sonia Sanchez delivered the keynote address at the second annual Dr. Martin Luther King Legacy Symposium on January 27th.

As part of its interdisciplinary exploration of the Trump Administration, an Amherst course featured a conversation series with four guest speakers.

Sebastian Junger, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm and co-director of the documentary Restrepo visited Amherst College on Nov. 14, 2017.

Kwame Anthony Appiah's talk, “How Not to Think About Race, Culture and Class,” available to the campus community (password protected) until Jan. 29, 2018, and an interview by Stefan Yong ’18.

A celebration of the life and poetry of Richard Wilbur, includeding poems, songs, images, memories and conversation.

On October 20, 2017, the new mammoth mascot will make its debut at 8:00 p.m. on the Valentine Quad.

Catherine Brownstein ’97 discusses how her liberal arts education prepared her for a profession that didn't even exist when she started her undergraduate journey.

Pulitzer Prize Winner William Taubman discusses his newly released book, Gorbachev: His Life and Times, with Pavel Machala, the Charles E. Merrill 1908 Professor of Political Science.

An interview with William Taubman, Bertrand Snell Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, the author of Gorbachev: His Life and Times.

The 489 newest Amherst students arrived on campus Aug. 29, many with families in tow. These first-year and transfer students graduated from 388 secondary schools and speak more than 45 languages.

“We have to dedicate ourselves as strongly as ever, perhaps more strongly than ever, to truth-seeking.” Watch President Martin’s full Convocation address.

Scheduled to open in the fall of 2018, the state-of-the-art Science Center will be a home for teaching and research and offer additional classrooms and gathering spaces for the entire campus. 

Professor Andrew Dole talks about his efforts to create spaces for students and professors to read without distractions, and about using virtual reality to enhance academic focus.

Amherst didn’t have a department of Jewish studies, or even a class on Judaism, so Rabbi Peter Rubinstein ’64 took a theology class with Professor Pemberton instead.