DeMott Summer Reading 2024
June 6, 2024
Dear Class of 2028 and New Transfer & Exchange Students,
We are tremendously excited that you will be joining us this fall!
In your hands, you hold this year’s DeMott Summer Reading for New Students, an invitation to the kind of lively and thought-provoking conversation that we expect will characterize your time at Amherst College. We hope you will enjoy How to Do Nothing and keep track of the questions it raises for you. On the final day of Orientation, author Jenny Odell will engage with your questions when she delivers the DeMott Lecture in Johnson Chapel.
As you prepare to begin your journey at Amherst, it may seem strange that we would send you a book about how to “do nothing.” But this book isn’t actually about doing as little as possible. It’s about slowing down, reclaiming your attention, and connecting with the richness of the world in ways that are true to you. Some of its ideas are provocative—and you may even find yourself disagreeing with some of what Odell writes. And that’s just fine. At Amherst, we’re committed, curious, and connected—to ideas, to one another, and to the world—but we aren’t here to tell you what to believe or exactly what you need to do. We believe in exploring new ideas, asking questions, and listening to each other. This book will be the first of many chances for you to do that together.
I’ll host small-group dinner conversations about the reading and lecture in early September (sign up here).
I look forward to welcoming you in person in August. In the meantime, I wish you a wonderful summer—and happy reading!
Sincerely,
Michael A. Elliott ’92