Released: 29-May-2012 12:00 PM EDT
Three Percent of US Executions Since 1900 Were Botched
Amherst College

Of approximately 9,000 executions that took place from 1900 to 2011, 270 of them involved some problem, according to a study by Amherst College professor Austin Sarat, who created a database of all the “departures from the protocol of killing someone sentenced to death” in the past 111 years.

Released: 21-Feb-2013 4:30 PM EST
Particle Physics Research Sheds New Light on Possible “Fifth Force of Nature”
Amherst College

Scientists at Amherst College and The University of Texas at Austin have established new limits on “long-range spin-spin interactions” between atomic particles. To make the study possible, the team created the first map of electron polarization within Earth induced by the planet’s geomagnetic field.

Released: 29-Mar-2013 3:00 PM EDT
Amherst College Faculty Vote Backs Open-Access Movement
Amherst College

In keeping with a global trend toward making information open to all, the faculty at Amherst College voted this month overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution that will effectively offer their forthcoming scholarly articles online for free.

Released: 9-Apr-2013 11:30 AM EDT
Alum Gives Amherst College a Dryosaurus Altus Dinosaur
Amherst College

John and Leigh Middleton have given Amherst College a Dryosaurus altus. When it is installed, the specimen—which is arguably the most complete and best preserved skeleton of that species in existence today—will be one of two Dryosaurus skeletons in the world on display as a free-standing 3-D mount.

Released: 8-May-2013 11:00 AM EDT
In Speed Test, Quantum Beats Conventional Computing
Amherst College

A quantum computer system is “thousands of times faster” than conventional computing in solving an important problem type, an Amherst College computer science professor finds.

Released: 24-May-2013 1:00 PM EDT
WW II Vet’s Memorial Day Gift: His Diploma, Finally
Amherst College

WWII forced Arthur Ourieff to cut short his undergraduate education and leave Amherst College two years early. He didn’t attend his graduation, and never received his diploma. That will change on May 26, when the 89-year-old will be awarded his B.A. along with the 464 members of the Class of 2013.

Released: 12-Jul-2013 11:15 AM EDT
App’s Goal: Track Wildflower STD That Intrigued Darwin
Amherst College

Combine a new app with an STD in wildflowers that a prominent scientist calls the best model system for studying disease and what do you get? A project that could give the world a better understanding about how illness is spread in natural populations, according to biology professor Michael Hood.

Released: 20-Aug-2013 2:00 PM EDT
Ramen Noodles: A Possible Solution to World Hunger?
Amherst College

In The Noodle Narratives: The Global Rise of an Industrial Food into the Twenty-First Century, Amherst College professor Deborah Gewertz and her co-authors examine the history, manufacturing and consumption of instant noodles and argue that the food will play a more vital role in the world’s future.

29-Jan-2014 1:00 PM EST
Amherst College and Aalto University Scientists Discover Long-Awaited Synthetic Particle
Amherst College

Researchers have created and photographed synthetic magnetic monopoles under lab conditions. The development lays the foundation for the underlying structure of the natural magnetic monopole – the detection of which would be a revolutionary event comparable to the discovery of the electron.

Released: 28-Apr-2014 3:30 PM EDT
Amherst College Launches Sports Analytics Initiative, Seeking to Leverage Success of its “Moneyball” Alumni
Amherst College

Amherst College is introducing students to the analytical side of college athletics, and, in the process, reinforcing its pipeline to the business of sports.

Released: 29-Jul-2014 3:00 PM EDT
Amherst College Professor’s Bold Experiment Takes Aim at Malnutrition in India
Amherst College

Amherst College economics professor Prakarsh Singh been awarded a competitive $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to run an ambitious 18-month experiment evaluating the use of monetary incentives to combat childhood malnutrition in India.

Released: 5-Jan-2015 5:15 PM EST
Amherst College Astronomy Professor Detects Record-Breaking Black Hole Outburst
Amherst College

Last September, after years of watching, a team of scientists led by Amherst College astronomy professor Daryl Haggard observed and recorded the largest-ever flare in X-rays from a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Released: 30-Apr-2015 2:00 PM EDT
Amherst College Professor David Hall and Team Observe Quantum-Mechanical Monopoles
Amherst College

Amherst College professor David S. Hall and a team of collaborators have experimentally identified a pointlike monopole in a quantum field for the first time. The discovery gives scientists insight into the monopole magnet, an elementary particle that they believe exists but have not yet seen.

Release date: 20-Oct-2015 4:05 PM EDT
a new room for emily dickinson amherst poet s bedroom undergoes historic renovation
Amherst College

Plans for restoring the home of Amherst-born poet Emily Dickinson have been underway since 2003, when Amherst College acquired the house next door (owned by Emily’s brother Austin) and merged the two historic homes to create the Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and The Evergreens.

Released: 27-Jan-2016 10:05 AM EST
Physics Professor David Hall and Team First to Tie Knots in Quantum Matter
Amherst College

Physicists have long predicted the possibility of tying knots in quantum fields. But no one has been able to make or observe a three-dimensional quantum knot, until now. In a breakthrough discovery explored in a paper published in Nature Physics, one of the most prestigious journals in physics, a scientific team led by Amherst Physics Professor David S. Hall ’91 and Aalto University (Finland) Professor Mikko Möttönen have found a way to create knotted solitary waves in a quantum-mechanical field.

Released: 17-Feb-2016 3:30 PM EST
Amherst College LitFest 2016 to Feature Authors Michael Chabon, Lauren Groff and Other Acclaimed Writers March 3 to 6
Amherst College

In addition to featuring hailed authors and editors, Amherst College LitFest 2016 will celebrate the National Book Award on Campus program—a partnership between the National Book Foundation, Amherst and The Common literary magazine—and a new collaboration between the College and MacDowell Colony.

Released: 15-Mar-2016 2:45 PM EDT
Expert Supreme Court Discussion, 3/17: When to Fill a Vacancy, and Does It Matter?
Amherst College

Four Amherst College Supreme Court experts--including two former clerks to justices--will discuss the filling of Antonin Scalia’s seat

Release date: 2-Jun-2016 12:05 PM EDT
amherst college awarded 1 million cooke prize to continue work with outstanding low income students
Amherst College

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced Amherst College as the 2016 recipient of the $1 million Cooke Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence.

Released: 22-Jul-2016 12:30 PM EDT
Improving Diversity and College Access for Low-Income Native American Students Amherst Hosts College Horizons Summit
Amherst College

Making good on a pledge to even further expand on its commitment to student diversity, Amherst College recently hosted a group of Native American high school students for a weeklong summit intent on helping students get to college.

Release date: 12-Sep-2016 1:05 PM EDT
bringing home lessons of supreme court friendships
Amherst College

Paul Smith ’76 has argued such landmark cases as Lawrence vs. Texas, but some of his greatest lessons on tolerance have come from the justices themselves.

Release date: 11-Oct-2016 11:05 AM EDT
environmental leaders the next generation
Amherst College

Paving the way for innovative energy conservation efforts and other sustainability initiatives on campus, Prince Albert Grimaldi ’81 of Monaco establishes the Green Revolving Fund.

Released: 24-Oct-2016 12:05 PM EDT
Alumnus Prince Albert Grimaldi of Monaco Establishes a Green Revolving Fund for Amherst College
Amherst College

Grimaldi’s gift—the single largest donation ever recorded for any similar fund—will help pave the way for innovative energy conservation efforts and other sustainability initiatives at his alma mater.

Released: 6-Dec-2016 12:05 PM EST
Let Your Kids Lose
Amherst College

When children are falsely successful at games and other challenges, it can lead them to ignore important information in and about the world around them, according to a new study by an Amherst College professor.

Release date: 9-Feb-2017 2:05 PM EST
jeb bush addresses capacity crowd in johnson chapel
Amherst College

The former Florida governor and presidential candidate spoke about American values, political divides and the best ways to grow the economy.

Release date: 7-Mar-2017 4:05 PM EST
a math professor studies the internal clocks in hibernating grizzlies
Amherst College

It’s fair to say that mathematicians rarely get to work with bears. “Wow, that’s kind of cool and different,” said Associate Professor of Mathematics Tanya Leise on being asked to co-author a study on whether their circadian clocks “keep ticking” during their winter dormancy period.

Release date: 15-Mar-2017 10:05 AM EDT
conversations with literary luminaries
Amherst College

During Amherst’s second annual literary festival, four distinguished authors shared sentiments on friendship, history and hallmarks of great writing.

Released: 6-Apr-2017 9:50 AM EDT
Professor’s Career in Research and Outreach Earns $500,000 Grant
Amherst College

In awarding her the grant, the National Science Foundation noted that Ashley Carter's work was notable both for its investigation of DNA folding and for her efforts to recruit women into STEM fields.

Released: 12-Jun-2017 8:05 AM EDT
Amherst President Asserts Commitment to Climate Goals
Amherst College

Biddy Martin is among more than 1,200 leaders to sign a new statement about the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.

Released: 15-Aug-2017 3:55 PM EDT
Amherst College’s Folger Shakespeare Library Awarded $1.5M Grant for Collaborative Research Project
Amherst College

Amherst College’s Folger Shakespeare Library has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a collaborative research project, Before Farm to Table: Early Modern Foodways and Cultures.

Release date: 9-Oct-2017 12:05 PM EDT
how to thrive in medicine
Amherst College

Last week I had the privilege of speaking to Amherst pre-meds about my life as a doctor, in a talk I called “Thriving in a Career in Medicine.”

Released: 16-Nov-2017 10:05 AM EST
Amherst Offers Visiting Program for Students from Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands
Amherst College

Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Katharine Fretwell ’81 has spent her morning discussing Early Decision applications—it’s a busy time of year for her staff—but another type of candidate is weighing heavily on her mind: students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Released: 4-Jan-2018 12:05 PM EST
Queen of Arts
Amherst College

Was King Henry IV of France a feminist? Probably not. But new research by Professor Nicola Courtright aims to show how the art and architecture of his royal residences

Released: 16-Feb-2018 4:40 PM EST
Amherst College Wins $500K Mellon Grant to Support Humanities Students and Diversity in Higher Ed
Amherst College

The grant will be used to attract and prepare Amherst students from underrepresented groups for graduate study and academic positions in the humanities, and contribute to the Mellon Foundation’s mission to diversify the faculty ranks of American colleges and universities.

Released: 18-Apr-2018 2:05 PM EDT
A Thesis Quicker Than a Boiled Egg
Amherst College

it’s not spiders or heights or open spaces. For most people, one of their biggest fears is the prospect of speaking in public. The fear is so deeply rooted that, when surveyed, people will even say they fear public speaking more than death.

Released: 19-Apr-2018 10:05 AM EDT
Five Leading Liberal Arts Colleges Partner to Create New Solar Energy Facility in Maine
Amherst College

Amherst, Bowdoin, Hampshire, Smith and Williams colleges have formed a partnership that will allow them to offset 46,000 megawatt hours per year of their collective electrical needs—enough to power 5,000 New England homes—with electricity created at a solar power facility to be built in Maine.

   
Released: 7-Jun-2018 4:40 PM EDT
“One of the Most Rewarding Experiences in My Life”
Amherst College

After learning how to incorporate documentary filmmaking into his teaching, Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez worked with students in his “Puerto Rico: Diaspora Nation” course to conduct oral histories of Puerto Ricans in nearby Holyoke, Mass.

Released: 15-Jun-2018 12:05 PM EDT
Surprise Environmental Return on Investment: Study Finds Paying Communities to Conserve Supports Social Relationships
Amherst College

Research by economists at Amherst College and Oregon State University is the first to study the social capital impacts of a national-scale, globally relevant forest conservation incentives program.

Released: 12-Sep-2018 3:35 AM EDT
Sciences on the Move
Amherst College

The breakables were carefully wrapped. Boxes were packed and labeled. The movers were called.

Released: 30-Nov-2018 1:05 PM EST
Stories Since the Storm
Amherst College

The latest issue of The Common presents writing from and about Puerto Rico, a year after Hurricane María.

Released: 20-Dec-2018 5:05 PM EST
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novelist Jennifer Egan to Headline Amherst College Litfest 2019, February 27–March 2
Amherst College

Amherst College will host LitFest 2019 celebrating fiction, nonfiction, poetry and spoken-word performance on Feb. 27-March 2. The festival will feature readings, conversations and book signings with writers Jennifer Egan, Elizabeth Kolbert, Charles C. Mann, Jamel Brinkley and Brandon Hobson.

Release date: 11-Feb-2019 1:05 PM EST
kasich addresses students in johnson chapel
Amherst College

The ephemeral nature of life was on John Kasich’s mind as he stepped in front of a packed house at Johnson Chapel on Thursday night.

Released: 21-Mar-2019 2:00 AM EDT
Litfest 2019, the College’s Fourth Annual Literary Festival, Brought a Collection of Acclaimed Writers to Campus
Amherst College

LitFest attendees gathered in Johnson Chapel on Friday, March 1, to hear from Jennifer Egan, winner of a 2011 Pulitzer Prize for her novel A Visit from the Goon Squad. Professor Martha Umphrey, director of Amherst’s Center for Humanistic Inquiry, introduced Egan as “a chameleon with literary form”—not only an innovative novelist but a short-fiction writer and journalist whose articles have frequently appeared in The New York Times Magazine.

Released: 4-Apr-2019 11:05 AM EDT
Protect the land and jobs will grow, new study finds
Amherst College

In a first-of-its-kind analysis, Amherst College economics professor Katharine Sims and colleagues found that when land protection in New England increased, employment rates also rose modestly over the next five-year period even when controlling for other associated factors.

Release date: 24-Jun-2019 3:05 PM EDT
case closed recovered set of dinosaur footprints finds new home at amherst
Amherst College

It had all the elements of a heist movie: A (pre)historic treasure. A robbery that took place under a veil of darkness. The arrest of two thieves. The recovery of the stolen object.

Release date: 8-Aug-2019 10:05 AM EDT
170 works of contemporary art given to mead art museum
Amherst College

The anonymous gift includes works by Mark Bradford, Karen Kilimnik, Mona Hatoum, Christian Marclay, Laura Owens, Aaron Young, and more

Released: 8-Aug-2019 10:05 AM EDT
170 Works of Contemporary Art Given to Mead Art Museum
Amherst College

The anonymous gift includes works by Mark Bradford, Karen Kilimnik, Mona Hatoum, Christian Marclay, Laura Owens, Aaron Young, and more

Released: 25-Sep-2020 3:45 PM EDT
Amherst, Wesleyan Presidents Lead Group of Higher Ed Leaders in Urging Dept of Ed to End Investigation of Princeton
Amherst College

More than 80 college and university leaders have signed onto a statement co-authored by Presidents Biddy Martin of Amherst College and Michael S. Roth of Wesleyan University urging the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to abandon its announced civil rights investigation into Princeton University.

Released: 20-Nov-2020 3:20 PM EST
Artist Sonya Clark Launches “Solidarity Book Project,” a Racism, History & Social Justice Initiative
Amherst College

Sonya Clark, award-winning professor of art and the history of art at Amherst College, has launched the Solidarity Book Project, a collaborative, community-based artwork and activist initiative that invites participants to stand in solidarity with Black and Indigenous communities.

Released: 8-Oct-2021 11:20 AM EDT
Q&A: Solsiree del Moral
Amherst College

In the midst of National Hispanic Heritage Month, a professor of American studies and Black studies reflects on primary sources, intersectional identities and the new generation of Puerto Rican activists.


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