Saturday, October 28, 2017: “Poetry and Politics: A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of President John F. Kennedy”

John F. Kennedy at Amherst College
This year marks the 100th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s birth. To celebrate that occasion and also President Kennedy’s Oct. 26, 1963, visit to, and speech at, Amherst College, the College will host a forum on “Poetry and Politics.” The forum will trace the thread connecting President Kennedy’s concerns with the College’s current interest in, to use President Martin’s words, setting “an example of community characterized by openness and respect, freedom with responsibility, and politics inflected by poetry.”

Schedule of Events

1 p.m.

Introduction to the JFK 100 Day of Events by President Biddy Martin
Cole Assembly Room 

1:15 p.m.

Film of JFK’s Speech at Amherst 
Cole Assembly Room             

1:45-2:45 p.m.

JFK at Amherst College: Amherst Student Reflections
Cole Assembly Room       

  • Dakota Foster ’18
  • Gabrielle Francois ’19
  • Noor Qasim ’18
  • Ted Nelson ’64
  • Mark Sandler ’64
  • Moderator: Suzanne Coffey

2:45-3 p.m.

Break w/ refreshments

3-4 p.m.

Bringing Poetry to Politics: Faculty Panel
Cole Assembly Room  

  • Andrew Poe, Political Science
  • Rhonda Cobham-Sander, Black Studies & English
  • Geoffrey Sanborn, English
  • Moderator: Catherine Epstein      

4:15-5:15 p.m.

Keynote Address: Congressman Joseph Kennedy III
Steps of the Frost Library

  • Introduced by President Biddy Martin 

5:15-6:15 p.m.      

Reception & Exhibition
Friendly Reading Room, Frost Library