President Anthony W. Marx meets with parents during Family Weekend on Oct. 30, 2010. In this conversation, he discusses topics such as plans for a new science center, diversity at Amherst and the presidential transition process. He also fields questions about Valentine Dining Hall, the Lord Jeff Inn, career prospects for graduating seniors and what he’s learned as Amherst’s 18th president.
Richard Soffer '54 has formed a remarkable and extensive collection of books about birds, with particular attention to the various methods and techniques that have been used to reproduce illustrations. These books provide examples of every type of illustrative technique: hand painting, woodcut and wood engraving, etching and engraving, lithography, and modern photomechanical methods. A large portion of his collection now resides at Amherst, and he speaks about the Soffer Ornithology Collection as well as the College's magnificent set of Audubon's Birds of America.
Ilan Stavans, Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture (Spanish), leads the audience in an analysis of Pablo Neruda’s poem “I Explain a Few Things” and then uses the discussion to illustrate how and why his approach to teaching students remains flexible and fresh.
While Marcel Proust unleashed a flood of memories with one taste of a madeleine, Deborah B. Gewertz, the G. Henry Whitcomb 1874 Professor of Anthropology, explores the memories evoked by Ramen and other instant noodles in NPR listeners, Amherst College students and (in stark contrast) Japanese and Papua New Guineans.