News & Events Faculty Stories

February 22, 2011

For the last several years, Amherst College Professor of Philosophy Alexander George has been on a mission: to bring philosophy out of the ivory tower and into the public sphere.

September 9, 2010

At least thirteen years in the making, and covering more than 400 years of writings by 201 writers, The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature, set for release on Sept. 13, is being hailed as a powerful contribution to American literary culture by authorities such as Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and author Barbara Kingsolver.

September 3, 2010

Physics professor David Hall and his group of undergraduate researchers have invented a new technique for examining the behavior of rotating matter at the coldest temperatures in the universe.

The method—which involves an apparatus that refrigerates atoms to billionths of a degree above absolute zero—enabled them to create the first-ever movies of vortex motion in individual Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). And they developed the technique in Hall’s very own campus laboratory.

August 25, 2010

Challenging the widespread belief that rare and endangered plants and animals are unhealthy, a new study has found they in fact harbor a lower number and diversity of disease-causing parasites than non-threatened, close relatives of the same family, according to Amherst College biology professor Michael Hood and his research team.

Studying Slime Mold Yields Insight into Cellular Behavior

August 19, 2010

It may sound like something out of a Far Side cartoon, but it’s serious science. Amherst College biology professor David Ratner and several of his students have spent this summer examining how Dictyostelium discoideum—a cellular slime mold—behaves. The bigger goal is to explore the research frontiers of gene expression and protein degradation. It all adds up to an intense summer research experience for students and professor alike, as well as insights into how the degradation of proteins influences the division of all cells, whether normal and healthy or mutated and malfunctioning.

In this video, Ratner, along with students Benjamin Garmezy ’11 and Elizabeth “Molly” Scott ’13, discuss their research, the altruistic qualities of the slime mold and the considerable advantages of studying science at a liberal arts college such as Amherst.

August 11, 2010

Model Nazi, a new biography about Arthur Greiser and his cruel oversight of western Poland between 1939 and 1945, sheds light on a relatively unknown yet influential figure in Nazi Germany–the man who initiated the first mass gassing of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.

The book’s author, Amherst College history professor Catherine Epstein, says Greiser’s upbringing and personality has parallels to other individuals who ended up playing key roles in genocides throughout history.

August 2, 2010

By Peter Rooney

The goal more than 20 years ago was both straightforward and audacious.

Not content with launching a new Amherst program, with planning the first legal studies department at a liberal arts college or with pursuing their individual research, Professor Austin Sarat and then- colleague Thomas Kearns wanted to help shape a national discussion about the place of law in the liberal arts and put their conception of interdisciplinary legal scholarship on the map in a big way.

July 8, 2010

As the Deepwater Horizon oil spill recovery effort in the Gulf of Mexico drags on, economics professor Kate Sims has some promising news for proponents of greater environmental regulation.

June 2010

In the Merrill Science Center lab of Associate Professor of Physics Jonathan Friedman, you’ll find magnets consisting of only one molecule each and student researchers who custom-build much of their own equipment. With the support of a recent grant from the National Science Foundation, this summer the professor and his students are continuing their cutting-edge research of quantum mechanical effects in single-molecule nanomagnets and superconducting devices.

June 2010

Chemistry professor Karena McKinney hopes that we will all one day breathe a little easier now that she has gotten the green light to purchase a rare, high-tech piece of machinery for her research on air pollutants.

May 18, 2010

AMHERST, Mass. — The world’s leading online resource for questions about the meaning of life, ethics and other existential matters has now launched an app for mobile devices such as the iPhone and Android phones.

April 14, 2010                       

AMHERST, Mass.—Groups who move together in time during an exercise (such as soldiers marching, sports teams warming up for a game or warriors performing a ritualistic dance prior to a hunt) don’t just strengthen their relationships with one another—they actually sharpen their individual skills and perform better as a unit as a result, according to new research conducted by Amherst College psychology professor Piercarlo Valdesolo; his student, Amherst senior Jennifer Ouyang; and Northeastern University psychology professor David DeSteno.

March 26, 2010                                 

AMHERST, Mass.—Explanations for the differences in appearance and behavior between males and females of many animal species may still elude scientists, but Amherst College biology professor Ethan Temeles and his colleagues are two steps closer to understanding how hummingbirds of both sexes eat and mate.

Professor Brandes spoke in honor of her appointment to the Georges Lurcy Professorship, on Thursday, March 4, 2010.

On March 9, 2010, Professor Martha Umphrey led a discussion in Converse Hall about the controversies surrounding the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prohibits openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the armed forces.

Play audio below, or download the MP3.