Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Office of Faculty Equity and Inclusion

Sony began his career at Amherst in 2018.  His scholarship is situated at the intersection of Hispanic studies, ethnic studies, colonial and postcolonial studies, disability studies, sexuality and gender studies, and queer studies—focusing on Hispano-Filipino literature and cultural production, and intersections of Latinx and Filipinx studies, literature, and culture.  Crip Colony: Mestizaje, U.S. Imperialism, and the Queer Politics of Disability in the Philippines, his first book, is set to be published by Duke University Press this spring.  Beyond his myriad contributions as a greatly admired teacher and member of his department, Sony is an engaged citizen of the college.  He has served on the Committee on Student Fellowships, the Faculty Leadership Committee for the Anti-Racism Plan, and the advisory board of the Center for Humanistic Inquiry, among other committees, and has participated in the Summer Bridge Research Institute.  He has also played a central and foundational role in the Latinx and Latin American Studies Program. 

Ivan began his career at Amherst in 2018. He focuses his scholarship on mathematical physics, primarily quantum field theory, including the study of Poisson, symplectic, and infinite dimensional differential geometry. An excellent teacher, Ivan is known for his talents as a lecturer and skill at explaining difficult concepts, for building students’ confidence in their mathematical abilities, and for creating a welcoming and inclusive classroom environment.  His ability to incorporate Amherst students into a cutting-edge research program in mathematics is highly unusual, and is seen as an impressive synergy between research and teaching.

Ivan is also an engaged citizen of his department, the college, and his field. He has served as the co-coordinator of the Math Fellows Program and as his department’s diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator; is Amherst’s representative on the Faculty Council of the Liberal Arts Collaborative for Digital Innovation; has co-taught a course for international students who work over the summer under the Curriculum Practical Training authorization; and has mentored students in the college’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) Program. In 2023, Ivan served as the lead organizer for the ninth annual “Gone Fishing” conference in North America, which focuses on the presentation and discussion of new ideas and results in Poisson geometry, and which was held at Amherst for the first time. He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Zürich, an MSc. in mathematics from Utrecht University, and a B.S. in mathematics from the Universidad de los Andes.