News & Events Ask the Expert

January 22, 2013

Presidential Inauguration Day: For citizens of the U.S. and most other democracies, the event signifies either a peaceful transfer of power to another administration or the opportunity for a re-elected president to make cabinet changes. But in Venezuela, this year’s presidential inauguration day, Jan. 10, was mired in controversy.

January 18, 2013

Interview by Caroline Hanna

December 19, 2011

Travelers who have taken long flights eastward know it all too well: The sluggish, altogether unpleasant feeling one experiences waking up the first day in a new time zone. For some, that condition of desynchronosis, or jet lag, can be a mere annoyance. For others, it can be a real vacation headache, disrupting sleep patterns and digestion for days.

July 25, 2013

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Professor Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought Professor Martha Umphrey

On June 26 of this year, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) made landmark decisions in two cases related to same-sex marriage: United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry.

April 9, 2010

Dueling may seem to be the ultimate irrational act, whether pistols at 20 paces or a swashbuckling sword fight at much closer quarters. But an Amherst College professor believes that duels were dangerous games that participants played for very rational reasons having to do with creditworthiness, honor and maintaining one’s social standing.

March 31, 2010

On Dec. 17, 2010, a Tunisian street vendor set himself ablaze to protest political corruption and police brutality. One month later, following nationwide protests and strikes inspired by his self-immolation, Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali abruptly resigned, ending his 23 years of autocratic rule.

March 24, 2010

It’s job-hunting time for graduating seniors across the country, and AmherstCollege seniors are no exception.

February 25, 2010

As the Great Recession continues into 2010, one of its defining characteristics is persistent unemployment. Walter Nicholson, the Ward H. Patton Professor of Economics, is a leading expert on unemployment insurance systems, which not only help laid-off workers but also prop up economies by helping to replace lost purchasing power.

December 9, 2009

It’s Copenhagen or bust for two Copeland fellows this week. Chris Cuomo and Diana Pei Wu packed their bags and headed north to take part in the much-anticipated UN Climate Conference (COP15) in Denmark. Cuomo will participate with a delegation focused on the ethical dimensions of climate change, while Wu is affiliated with a delegation of grassroots community organizations pushing for “climate justice,” a movement aimed at eliminating unequal burdens that indigenous, low-income and other disadvantaged peoples suffer because of climate change.

November 19, 2009

AMHERST, Mass. — On assignment for Harper’s Magazine, an Amherst College professor with expertise in international war crimes is planning to travel to Munich, Germany in late November for what could be the last major World War II trial involving alleged Nazi perpetrators.

June 15, 2009

On his second day in office, President Obama signed an executive order committing to close the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by January 2010 and to review the legal status of the “enemy combatants” detained there. It was a development closely followed by Amherst’s Nasser Hussain, associate professor of law, jurisprudence and social thought, who has spent years writing about the writ of habeas corpus (the judicial mandate requiring that prisoners be brought before the court to determine whether the government has the right to continue detaining them) and the use of emergency powers. He spoke with Public Affairs’ Caroline Hanna recently about his work and the new administration’s policy on detainee treatment.

Fall means more to Professor Jan Dizard than a return to teaching, grading, advising and other academic tasks. For Dizard, the Charles Hamilton Houston Professor in American Culture, autumn also signifies another hunting season. It means weekends spent in the woods of New England and beyond, accompanied by his birddog, Dee, stalking feathered prey such as ruffed grouse, woodcock, pheasants and wild turkey.

The press conference announced last week by NASA promised to reveal details about “an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.”

The news, that researchers conducting tests in the harsh environment of Mono Lake in  California had, according to NASA , “discovered the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic,” was indeed intriguing.

Watch videos of the lectures »

Amherst College Professor of Philosophy Alexander George will deliver three lectures later this month as part of the prestigious 2011-12 Romanell Professorship, awarded by Phi Beta Kappa to one leading philosophy scholar each year. George has taught at Amherst since 1988, holds degrees from Harvard and Columbia Universities and is himself a member of Phi Beta Kappa.