Amherst College Political Science Professor Javier Corrales Advises Congress on Venezuela Policy

October 24, 2008               

AMHERST, Mass.—It is critical that the United States develop a counter-strategy to the “social power” diplomacy deployed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his government, but a hard-line response—such as military or economic aggression—is most certainly not the answer to Chavez’s rhetoric, Amherst College’s Javier Corrales, professor of political science, told a House Committee on Foreign Affairs subcommittee recently.

Amherst College Professor Ilán Stavans and Institute of Training and Development Receive $600K Grant to Promote Exchange Among U.S. and Latin American Countries

October 24, 2008           

AMHERST, Mass.—Ilán Stavans, Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture and Five College 40th Anniversary Professor, has received a $600,000 grant from the U.S. State Department in support of an arts exchange program he will be directing for the Institute for Training and Development (ITD) in Amherst.

Amherst College Chemistry Professors Helen O. Leung and Mark D. Marshall Awarded Three-Year, $377,936 NSF Grant

October 10, 2008   
Contact: Emanuel Costache ’09
Media Relations Intern
413/542-2321

AMHERST, Mass.—Helen O. Leung and Mark D. Marshall, professors of chemistry at Amherst College, have been awarded a three-year, $377,936 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Amherst College Professor Thomas Dumm Publishes Inquiry into the Nature of Loneliness

October 1, 2008               
Contact: Emanuel Costache ’09
Media Relations Intern
413/542-2321

AMHERST, Mass.—Thomas Dumm, professor of political science at Amherst College, has just published Loneliness as a Way of Life ($24, Harvard University Press, 2008), an inquiry into what he calls “modern loneliness,” “loneliness that has permeated the modern world.”

Family Weekend Offers Fun, Folks, Food for Thought

October 27, 2008

The last time Joe and Marian Murphy saw their daughter Sinead ’12 was when she left their Minnesota home for orientation at Amherst in August. So when they finally caught up with their first-year student at the college’s Family Weekend Oct. 24-26, they were excited for the chance to spend some quality time with her as well as to sample a little bit of what her new school and community have to offer.

Experts Explore “The Ethical Use of Biotechnology” at Amherst College

October 17, 2008

AMHERST, Mass.—Michael Sandel, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, and Peter Singer, the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University, opened the 2008-09 Amherst College Colloquium Series (ACCS) with a lecture titled “The Ethical Use of Biotechnology: Debating the Science of Perfecting Humans” on Friday, Oct. 17, at 4:30 p.m. The talk, which took place in Cole Assembly Room of Amherst’s Converse Hall, was free and open to the public.

Washington Post Editor: Candidates’ Lives, Media Big Factors in Campaign

October 2, 2008
Contact: John D’Angelo ’10
Public Affairs Intern
413/542-2195

audio
 Listen to an audio recording of Bennett’s talk
Transcript
 Read a transcript of Bennett's talk
video
 Watch a video interview between Prof. William Taubman and Bennett

AMHERST, Mass.—“The story we have all been following … is one of competing narratives,” Philip Bennett, managing editor of The Washington Post, told an engaged audience in the Babbott Room of Amherst’s Octagon Wednesday, Oct.1, during a discussion of the presidential election. “We are witnessing a contest for control of the story between the traditional news media, new sources of news and information, the campaigns themselves, special interests and interested and often anonymous parties.”

Philip Bennett, Top Washington Post Editor, Discusses the Presidential Race at Amherst College Oct. 1

September 12, 2008    

audio
Listen to an audio recording of Bennett's talk

AMHERST, Mass. – Philip Bennett, managing editor of The Washington Post, will discuss “The Presidential Race: What’s the Story?” as well as his paper’s coverage of the 2008 campaign on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. in the Babbott Room of the Octagon at Amherst College. Sponsored by the Victor S. Johnson Lectureship Fund at Amherst, Bennett’s talk is free and open to the public.

Tokyo String Quartet to Open 2008-09 Music at Amherst Series on Oct. 3

September 12, 2008
Contact: Sara R. Leonard
Concert and Production Manager
413/542-2195

AMHERST, Mass. – The Music at Amherst Series will open its 2008-09 season with the acclaimed Tokyo String Quartet on Friday, Oct. 3, at 8 p.m. in Buckley Recital Hall of the Arms Music Center at Amherst College.

Faultlines Jazz Festival Presents Marty Ehrlich and Jason Robinson Oct. 7

September 18, 2008
Contact: Sara R. Leonard
Concert and Production Manager
413/542-2195

AMHERST, Mass.—The yearlong Amherst College music festival, Faultlines: Mapping Jazz in the 21st  Century, will continue on Tuesday, Oct. 7, with a free concert featuring woodwind multi-instrumentalist Marty Ehrlich and saxophonist Jason Robinson at 8:30 p.m. in the Mead Art Museum. The pair will be performing together for the first time.

Author William Jay Smith to Read His Work at Amherst College Oct. 8

September 19, 2008                                              
                                   
AMHERST, Mass. — Author William Jay Smith will read from his work at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8, in Pruyne Lecture Hall of Amherst College’s Fayerweather Hall. Sponsored by the Amherst College Creative Writing Center, the event is open to the public at no charge.

Amherst College Faultlines Festival to Feature Lecture and Concert by Koto Player Miya Masaoka on Oct. 15

September 19, 2008
Contact: Sara R. Leonard
Concert and Production Manager
413/542-2195

The yearlong Amherst College Music festival Faultlines: Mapping Jazz in the 21st Century will continue on Wednesday, Oct. 15, with a concert and lecture by critically acclaimed New York-based composer and koto performer Miya Masaoka. Masaoka’s lecture, titled “Laser Strings, Insects and Bodies,” will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 212 of the Arms Music Center at Amherst College, while the concert will begin at 8:30 p.m. in Buckley Recital Hall in the Center. The latter will include improvisations and compositions for solo koto, as well as Masaoka’s signature laser/electro-acoustic processing of the instrument. Both events are free and open to the public.

Amherst College and Town Libraries Marking 250th Anniversary of Noah Webster’s Birth with Special Exhibits

September 17, 2008               

AMHERST, Mass.—The Archives and Special Collections Department of the Robert Frost Library at Amherst College and the Jones Library in the town of Amherst are together celebrating the life and accomplishments of Noah Webster, one of the founders of the college and a 10-year resident of the area, with exhibits on display through January and a birthday reception at Frost’s Archives and Special Collections Department on Thursday, Oct. 16. The exhibits—which commemorate the 250th anniversary of Webster’s birth on Oct. 16, 1758—represent the first time the Frost and Jones libraries have collaborated on a project. Both the exhibits and the reception are free and open to the public.