Point/Counter Point Seminars
Amherst courses regularly feature the exploration of competing ideas in ways that model the norms of civility and reasoned analysis that are necessary for constructive public discourse. Funding is available to support the development and teaching of seminars that center on this approach. Interested faculty select a topic—a pressing matter of public concern, for example—and develop the intellectual framework that gives coherence to the seminar’s debates and discussions. Funding through this program enables Amherst professors to be joined (as often as they desire) by visitors who have opposing points of view on the topic of the seminar. The visitors are not expected to live on campus, but are required to be available to students outside class hours. Ideally, the visitors—either together or separately—offer at least one public presentation during their time at Amherst. The following support is available for each seminar: up to $30,000 for the guests’ honoraria; $10,000 for their travel and lodging expenses; and $10,000 for course development or other course expenses (planning meetings, potential field trips, funds to support an additional lecturer, and/or other course-related activities). There are no honoraria offered for faculty who participate in this program. Proposals for these seminars are solicited by the dean of the faculty on an annual basis and include a one-page description of the seminar, including the names of potential visitors who would be invited, and a detailed budget.