Non Satis Scire: winter 2010 by Hampshire College

Non Satis Scire T O K N O W I S N O T E N O U G H CONTENTS 40TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE WINTER 2010

Ralph J. Hexter Forty and Forward PAGE 4

Colleague PAGE 5

Alan Goodman Connecting Worlds PAGE 7

Shelley Johnson Carey 72F Ahead of the Curve PAGE 9

of Individuality PAGE 9

Rebecca Carroll 89F Turning Points PAGE 13

Elizabeth Brundage 78F Yours to Keep PAGE 14 World? PAGE 15

PAGE 19

19 21

11 13

Melissa Scheid Frantz

25 27

David Axel Kurtz 06F PAGE 22

Daliza Nova 07F PAGE 23

David Mansfield 06F PAGE 23

Michael

James S. Crown 71F “Get Involved”

Stephen Gardner 94F

30 Alumni News and Events 31 Bookshelf 33 Notes from Alums

Taliesin Nyala 07F PAGE

29 31 32

Deborah Gorlin Lock, Stock, and Barrel PAGE 24

Marci Riseman 88F The Hampshire Way PAGE 26

Jenner Furst 02F

Paul Sternberg 74F Inquisitive Explorer PAGE 34

of the Mighty La Collete 380 Miles in 22 Days PAGE 36

Alexis Eynon 96F Building Green PAGE 40

Paradizo Dance Hampshire’s Got Talent

The Hampshire College Farm Center And Another Birthday PAGE 29

Jerelyn Cunningham Creutz 71F Why International

Marcel Houtzager Q&A: A Parent’s Perspective PAGE 27

Influences and Independence PAGE 29

CAMPUS AND COMMUNIT Y

Trinity Weiss 06F PAGE

Edward Humes 75F Getting Distance PAGE 25 Business Needs Hampshire PAGE 25

Ken

Zena Clift 90F Two Anniversaries to Celebrate

Erin Dozier 86F Celebrating Turning Forty Together PAGE 20

Jamie Citron 01F The Quickest Way to Change the

Words: The Hampshire Fund, Financial Aid, and Our Future

Rayane Moreira The Value

Jeff Sharlet 90F “Read Me” PAGE 14

Another Significant Hampshire Anniversary PAGE 21 In Their

PAGE 28

Salman Hameed Science

John Watts A Continuing Experiment PAGE 12

Clay Ballantine Campus Renewal Initiative PAGE 18

Railway Birthday PAGE 21

24 26 28

6 8

Benjamin Oyama 09F

Pamela Shea World Languages and Global Community PAGE 16

Samuels 09F Found in Translation PAGE 17 PAGE 18

Charles R. Longsworth The Building of a College PAGE 10

Rosenthal “Hampshire Is Always Teaching Me” PAGE 11

Lise Shapiro Sanders 90F From Student to

Polina Barskova Contemplating Hampshire Students PAGE 6

One New Voice PAGE 6 & Religion PAGE 8

The Crew

Ari Shapiro 02F A Term of Service PAGE 39

NSS Editor Elaine Thomas, director of communications Coeditor Killara Burn, director of alumni and family relations Designer Kim Holloway, director of design Copy Editor Doris Troy Contributors Matt Krefting 99F, Michael Medeiros, Taliesin Nyala 07F, Aaron RichmondHavel 09F, Cynthia Lepage, Beth Ward, Cheri Butler, Bridget Leung-Ingram 94F, Henry Eberhardt, Steven Frischling. Non Satis Scire is published by the Hampshire College Office of Alumni and Family Relations. Diverse views are presented and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or the official policies of Hampshire College. Non Satis Scire is distributed to Hampshire alums, current students and their parents, and donors and friends of the College. Editorial correspondence may be directed to communications@hampshire.edu or Non Satis Scire, Office of Communications, Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002. The office of alumni and family relations can be reached at 413.559.6638 or alumni@ hampshire.edu. Hampshire College is a founding member of Project Pericles, an association of colleges that actively pursue social awareness and responsible citizenship as core elements of their educational mission. Non Satis Scire is printed on 10 percent post-consumer fiber paper using linseed oil-based inks. Vegetable based inks are made from renewable resources and low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The paper is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified. Hampshire uses 100 percent digital photography to minimize use of chemicals. Please recycle your copy of this magazine.

From the Director of Alumni and Family Relations Hampshire is 40 and fit! Yes, the economy and budget pressures are a challenge for your college, just as they are everywhere else, but the College is strong. And Hampshire alums are awesome. You are innovative, bold, trendsetting individuals who make a difference all over the world, create visual and audio masterpieces, design and build off-the-grid homes, run organic farms, win international awards, care for and heal the sick, expose political chicanery, launch companies, run not-forprofits worldwide, stay weeks on the New York Times best-sellers list, find cures for diseases, are fantastic teachers, make sick children laugh, and document America’s heroes, history, and ideas. And you keep pushing, trying new things, learning. For you, doing the same old same old is non satis! Forty percent of you go to grad school, according to the statistics we have (based on what you tell us). Every time I meet with alums, however, I learn about more of you (in or just out of grad school) who aren’t part of that statistic. I learn about new writers, filmmakers, lawyers, inventors, parents, and international public policy makers. Please make it a priority to keep your college in the loop: tell us about your new adventures, your house moves, grad school, jobs, your stories—alumni@ hampshire.edu. Asking this of you leads me to tell you about an(other) exciting 40th-anniversary initiative: a new alumni directory (that will include, too, stories, photos, and notes alums send in). Harris Connect, a very old company but brand new to Hampshire, is going to be sending an online questionnaire to each Hampshire alum, asking you to correct and update your information. Please allow Harris to help Hampshire! This whole year is a celebration, and we count on seeing you at events “on the road to the 40th” across the country (see alumni.hampshire.edu/events) and especially on June 11–13 (anniversary.hampshire.edu). Hundreds of alums are already helping put together the weekend—please join them and us to make sure the weekend is one you want to be a big part of, and that will be a Hampshire milestone. Be here!

Killara Burn

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

40 Voices: Varied traditions and literatures place special significance on the number 40—as a symbol for renewal, a time marked by the fulfillment of promise, or the time when one attains understanding. As Hampshire prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary June 11–13, we thought we would have some fun with our own understandings of 40. Forty individuals within the Hampshire family—alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents, and friends—were asked to reflect in various ways on this moment in the College’s history. From a poet challenged to capture the heart of Hampshire in 40 words to a past president and founder whose latest writing project is on the building of the College, from alumni trustees to a first-year student immersed in the study of languages, we guarantee you will find their voices compelling.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

1Forty and Forward President Ralph J. Hexter

Forty years is a milestone by any measure, whether in the life of a person or in the life of an institution. For an individual, the 40-year mark signifies that one has entered the ripest and most vigorous part of adulthood, and many of us use this birthday to look forward to new opportunities while reflecting on the challenges and accomplishments of the past. For an institution, 40 years is still quite young, yet it is no less important an anniversary, because its achievement testifies to the fact that the institution has reached maturity. With maturity comes opportunity and responsibility—to evolve meaningfully in an ever-changing world and offer long-term relevance and intellectual sustenance. When Hampshire College opened its doors in 1970, it stood forth as a radical departure in higher education. It was recognized as a bold experiment, with a future that was bright and hopeful. Inescapable was the uncertainty of newness. Today, after 40 years, Hampshire is well established, no longer a question mark but still always questioning, because an ethos of inventiveness and experimentation is woven into the very fabric of this institution. As Hampshire’s president, it is my privilege every day to experience the immense creativity and talent of our students, faculty, and staff. I am inspired by the intelligence, curiosity, 4

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

resourcefulness, and boldness of one and all. Likewise, I have the great good fortune to spend considerable time visiting with Hampshire’s alumni. After but 40 years, the count of Hampshire’s graduates is 9,000 and growing. I see or hear of their work everywhere—in the food I eat, the films I watch, the books I read, the art I appreciate, the political influence I witness in the public arena, the science that informs my world— truly, in every realm imaginable. Seeing what a Hampshire education helps our students and alumni make of themselves is one of the great pleasures of my professional life. I consider it a tremendous honor and responsibility to be associated with Hampshire College. A number of “alternative” colleges were created in the tumult of the 1960s, but not all have survived. Hampshire, on the other hand, has become a standardbearer, with many of its most treasured innovations adopted and adapted elsewhere: self-directed courses of study, students working closely with faculty on research and creative endeavors, profound interdisciplinarity across the curriculum, capstone projects, and a pedagogy informed by real-world issues and infused with social justice. Such emulation presents us with the unique challenge of continuing to be distinctive and on the cutting edge in an environment where these claims are now commonplace, all the while retaining and fostering our core values.

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

One of the most amazing features of Hampshire is how much this college has done with so little. Despite deeply constrained financial circumstances—including being undercapitalized at its founding and having an endowment that is only a fraction of that of most of its true peers—the past 40 years have witnessed astonishing growth, for which we can thank all the people who believe in Hampshire: its alumni, students, faculty, staff, current and past parents and grandparents, friends, and grant-makers. I see the depth of their commitment and resourcefulness in fundraising initiatives such as the Community Scholars Fund for Educational Opportunity, the James Baldwin Scholars Program, and many other efforts to support diversity and access through financial aid. I see it in the spirit of collaboration that pervades Hampshire’s relationships, from the opportunity students have to work one on one with professors, to the development of interdisciplinary ventures such as the Culture, Brain, and Development and the Design, Art, and Technology programs, to Hampshire’s involvement in the Five College Consortium.

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

And I see it in the intellectual passion and incredible dedication that typify Hampshire’s faculty, whether they have been here since the College’s founding or have recently embarked on their academic careers. Commitment, resourcefulness, and creative investment will prove all the more important as Hampshire moves into the next 40 years and beyond. The global economy and the patterns of funding for higher education are changing dramatically, requiring us to call upon all our creativity and idealism, our dedication and discipline. Most especially, alumni and friends must translate their belief in Hampshire as never before into increased and sustained philanthropic support. I am confident that we, as individuals and as an extended community, will succeed. As Hampshire College celebrates its 40th year, we renew our commitment to its founding mission. This is a moment to look to the past and express our gratitude to and admiration for those who first envisioned this remarkable college. It is equally the moment to look to the future and see Hampshire thriving ever more vibrantly over the decades to come. On to the 80th!

FROM STUDENT TO COLLEAGUE Lise Shapiro Sanders 90F, assistant professor of English literature and cultural studies

Hampshire fundamentally shaped who I am as an intellectual and a person. I came here as a transfer student from UCLA, seeking an institution where I could pursue my interests in literature, history, women’s studies, and film. My Division III enabled me to work closely with several faculty members whom I am honored to now call colleagues. In the intervening years, I completed a master’s and Ph.D. in English literature at the University of Chicago, and I’ve often felt that my Division III demanded a level of research and critical thinking typically found only in graduate school. To me, that is one of Hampshire’s hallmarks: the ability to do original, rigorous research at the undergraduate level. Now, my courses provide me with numerous opportunities to grow as a scholar as well as a teacher. Whenever I have a new research project—at the moment, for example, I’m branching out from Victorian literature into the 1920s—I try to develop courses that will allow me to explore new texts and issues with my students. I feel I learn as much from my students as I’m able to teach them. To me, this is the rare and wonderful quality of a Hampshire education: The mutual exchange of knowledge results in a collaborative learning environment.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

CONTEMPLATING HAMPSHIRE STUDENTS Enter a classroom to meet this brave new world of questions. Skeptical, brilliant, pierced, smiling—their faces tease your thoughts, breathe difficult knowledge. Their voices are never in unison: in maddening polyphony the answer arrives, shocking as the first snow. —Polina Barskova, assistant professor of Russian literature Widely recognized as one of the best Russian poets under the age of 40, Professor Barskova responded to our challenge to write a 40-word poem capturing the heart of Hampshire.

ONE NEW VOICE Musician Benjamin Oyama 09F brought lyrical skill and humor to the college application process. The transfer student gave us permission to share an excerpt from his admittedly over-the-top A Love Letter to Hampshire College. “Enough of this beating around the bushery! Oh, Hampshire, how I have longed to be with you, how I have struggled to be accepted to your world of interdisciplinary academia, how I have pined for the solid yet surprisingly unfettered embrace of your Divisional system, how I have sojourned the globe, searching for the type of place I could study the influence of the Ukulele on the Jewish diaspora. “Hampshire, I have longed to be touched by your attentive professors in a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio environment and to, in turn, touch your passionate curvaceous student body in a moment of ecstasy, to join said student body—to become one with it, to become consecrated in one crystal moment in that most holy of unions—matriculation. Sweet, sweet matriculation.”

Opposite: Alan Goodman with anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

Connecting Worlds: Culture and Biology, Hampshire and Me Alan Goodman, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty

I had a memorable discussion 35 years ago with Joan Gero, a new classmate and future Peruvian archaeologist. I had come to anthropology having studied psychology and zoology, and was complaining about time wasted studying other fields. Joan had been a schoolteacher and bookstore owner for a decade. She was also new to anthropology. Upbeat, she told me that her prior experience would make her a better archaeologist, and between sips of coffee before class, she assured me that my background would make me a better anthropologist. Once in anthropology, I found that my intuition had chosen well. I could combine interests in the social and biological sciences. I suppose that I chose dual degrees in psychology and zoology because back then I didn’t know about interdisciplinary majors. I really should have gone to Hampshire! I began constructing my niche in studies of how global historical processes intersect with local ecologies and cultures, and how local cultures/ecologies influence health and nutrition. My studies now include studying Coca-colonization of Yucatec Mayans, the stresses of enslavement in 18th-century New York, and the health consequences of racism. I know what excites me and I know that I want my work to be thoughtful and useful. However, while it might sound like I have arrived, I am still becoming. It is a truism that learning never ends. Joan was right about the importance of a diverse background and following a passion, but why? And what does this have to do with Hampshire? First, I find that many of my prospective Division II and III students think their precise interests should all fit perfectly together at the beginning of their studies. Their angst reminds me of the way I felt going to graduate school. One lesson is that to start you do not have to know precisely what you are passionate about or want to do with it. Excitement and a general direction

are sufficient. Not starting is a problem. You do figure it out as you go. You make yourself by thinking and doing. Second, a less obvious lesson is to be open to supportive mentors and exciting projects. I had both in George Armelagos, a lovely mentor, and I was thrilled to be working on bones of longdeceased people in an eerie room. Note to Hampshire students: seek out mentors and opportunities. They count immensely. Third, encourage an appreciation for complexities, context, and connections. From psychology, I gained a sense of how the brain and body interconnect. From zoology, I gained a sense of how the organisms construct themselves from multiple genes and environments. From anthropological fieldwork, I got a sense of connections between the local and the global, the material and the symbolic, and especially the biological and cultural. I came to Hampshire in 1985 (Hampshire’s 40th is my 25th!). I loved it because as a faculty member I could use my breadth and my own work to support students in thinking beyond borders of many types. I took a side trip to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in international nutrition, and took students with me to Mexico. Mexico blew my circuits. The political-economic causes and biological consequences of undernutrition were so plain that I could not help but be further politicized. I realized that particular culture–biology connections interested me most: how poverty, which I saw aplenty in Mexico, and inequalities and racism, which I see aplenty in the United States, inscribed themselves on and into bodies. Now, as dean of faculty, I love having the chance to work at a meta level on the academic program to provide to Hampshire undergraduates some of what most helped me. I want students to have a vibrant, challenging intellectual community. I want students to get engaged, both intellectually and experientially. I want students to think critically about explanations and to embrace multiple views. I want students to have a stake in showing contexts, connections, and complexities. Life is complex. Change is certain. So keep your senses open and remain skeptical. Learn how to learn. Our motto, “To know is not enough,” is in the right direction. Perhaps it should be: “To engage critically is to know better.” When you try to change the world, you will change yourself.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

Science & Religion Salman Hameed, assistant professor of integrated science and humanities

It has been an honor to hold Hampshire’s Endowed Chair of Integrated Science and Humanities since fall 2005. My background training is in astronomy, but the broad nature of the position allows me to shape my research and teaching interests in the direction of science and religion. This is timely, as rarely a day goes by without a news story on the subject—from the Intelligent Design controversy and Creation museums to scientific explanations of belief and empirical studies of religious experiences. The interdisciplinary nature, high public interest, and broad implications of science and religion make it an ideal topic for Hampshire. My recent work has focused on the reception of biological evolution in the Muslim world. I am using perceptions about evolution to explore how educated Muslims view the relationship between science and religion. A recently awarded $372,500 National Science Foundation grant will fund a three-year study of Muslim physicians and medical students in five Muslim-majority countries (Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey) and three Diasporas in the West (Germany, United Kingdom, United States). Other team members are two science-education researchers, a sociologist, a philosopher, and a recent Hampshire graduate, Don Everhart 05F. In October, Hampshire hosted an international conference on Darwin and Evolution in the Muslim World, sponsored by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The first of its kind in the United States, the conference attracted scholars from Lebanon, Turkey, Pakistan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and placed Hampshire at the forefront of research on science in the contemporary Muslim world. Hampshire’s intellectual climate enables me to integrate my research and teaching. For the past few years, I have taught a Science in the Islamic World course. It traces the development of science and philosophy in Islamic lands in medieval times and also looks at the state of science in contemporary Muslim countries. The last month of the class is spent exploring contemporary Muslim reactions to biological evolution. Hampshire also provides ample opportunities for collaborative teaching. I co-teach science and religion classes with a philosopher, Laura Sizer. We have taught intro-level courses as well as an upper-level seminar on the History and Philosophy of Science and Religion. In conjunction with our classes, Professor Sizer and I run a lecture series, bringing to Hampshire some of the world’s top scholars in the important new field of science and religion. Among the speakers are historians, scientists, and philosophers. Topics range from the origins of the universe to a discussion of ethics and the origins of religion itself. We make these lectures available to a wider audience online. The area of science and religion is new, exciting, and relevant to cultural debates taking place in the United States and abroad. At the same time, there are no departments of science and religion. Hampshire College, perhaps, is one of the few places in the country where one can pursue interdisciplinary research of this nature. Darwin and Evolution in the Muslim World conference http://evolutionandislam. hampshire.edu Science and Religion lecture series http://scienceandreligion.hampshire.edu

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

AHEAD OF THE CURVE Shelley Johnson Carey 72F, alumni trustee

For many years, I viewed my Hampshire College education through a rearview mirror. I would think about my classes and professors when I updated my résumé, but I never truly reflected on all that I’d gained from attending the school. Now, as the editor of Peer Review journal, published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), I think about Hampshire often as I research and write about the best practices in higher education. AAC&U’s mission is to promote liberal education for all students, measured by the attainment of essential learning outcomes and delivered through effective high-impact practices. Since the first student’s hand-painted VW bus rolled onto campus in fall 1970— almost 40 years ago—Hampshire was ahead of the curve in offering many of today’s most valuable teaching and learning tools. For example: • Schools across the country are now promoting the use of portfolios to collect student work and assess academic growth. Hampshire has used student portfolios since its inception. • Many campuses currently embrace learning communities that involve students with big questions. The Hampshire campus has always had formal and informal learning communities that take on the big questions of society—our motto, Non Satis Scire (to know is not enough), embodies this kind of thinking. • Capstone projects are now accepted as one of the most effective means of helping students integrate their academic interests and knowledge. All Hampshire graduates—from 70F to our most recent graduating class—have benefited from this type of culminating experience through design and completion of their Division III projects. Hampshire’s innovative model of education is as relevant and effective now as it was at its founding. Because a Hampshire education deepens students’ abilities to learn and connect, Hampshire alums draw upon the fruits of these lessons many years after graduation as we navigate life’s challenges and rewards.

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

Also begun in 1970: National Public Radio was founded, with the first broadcast the following y e a r.

THE VALUE OF INDIVIDUALITY Rayane Moreira, assistant professor of organic chemistry

My research focuses on developing catalysts for the environmentally benign synthesis of materials and medicines, and I teach a variety of courses in organic chemistry, chemical and enzymatic catalysis, environmental biochemistry, and alternative energy. Although coming to Hampshire was a very conscious decision for me, when I joined the School of Natural Science four years ago I couldn’t imagine how transformative the experience would be. The active communication across disciplines and the endless opportunities to guide collaborative and independent student projects have made my experience a fantastic adventure in learning, from students, faculty, and others. A complex mixture creates the intense and joyful learning environment we have at Hampshire, but to me, one element that seems unique and especially precious is a love of individuality. The value placed on individuality here creates respect for difference and fosters a community that is refreshingly outspoken and a level of creativity that I haven’t seen anywhere else I’ve been. It encourages students to develop themselves freely, actively, and fully. Being with them through that transformation, and seeing the work they produce, is magical.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

9 The Building of a College Charles R. Longsworth, president emeritus

When Franklin Patterson and I were beating the bushes for money to help start Hampshire, I called on a foundation president in New York City. His office at the top of a midtown building had a commanding view south, overlooking hundreds of other buildings. “Do you see all those buildings down there?” he asked. “We take those buildings for granted. But how did they get there?” Then, answering his own question, he said, “Someone had to make happen each of those buildings and what goes on in them.” That seemed pretty simple but his observation has stuck with me. We take our built environment for granted, not knowing or recognizing the imagination, Planning meeting: John R. Boettiger, Kenneth Rosenthal, Charles R. Longsworth, Franklin Patterson, work, money, and faith that went Susan Severtson, Robert Taylor, Howard Paul. into each of the libraries, colleges, churches, and office buildings that funding, asked if the idea was still a good one; and Franklin we see and use every day, nor the ideas and commitments that Patterson, the charismatic first president of Hampshire and spawned the need for the buildings. principal author of The Making of a College, the book that gave The thought inspired me to write a brief history of the origins Hampshire standing and notoriety. and founding of Hampshire College, now about to celebrate its These pioneers, with their faith in an exciting idea, are why 40th birthday and a presence the younger of us may take for Hampshire began. I intend to describe the role of each of them, granted. But some people made it happen and it is their story I and, insofar as I knew them, what kind of people they were, and wish to record. the sequence of events which led to our opening convocation, on I feel the weight of this responsibility as I am the sole survivor October 3, 1970. of the first small group of men (yes, they all were) who brought I shall also vouch for and sing the praises of all of the Hampshire into being. There were just a few—Phil Coombs, at pioneering faculty, staff, and trustees who were committed the Ford Foundation, who proposed a new college in the midst to starting the new college and built physically and of the four colleges; Charles Cole, Amherst president, who led programmatically through its difficult early years. This is a story the other three presidents in the Valley to look favorably on the of imaginative, determined, and dedicated people. They are idea and who cultivated Harold Johnson, Amherst graduate, as what made Hampshire happen. a benefactor; Sidney Packard, C. L. Barber, Donald Sheehan, Stuart Stoke, and Shannon McCune, four college faculty Chuck Longsworth, one of the pioneers who brought Hampshire members who wrote The New College Plan, which proposed College into being, served as its second president, an office he held a radically different design for a new college and described from 1971 to 1977. He is co-author of The Making of a College how it might work; Calvin Plimpton, Amherst president and is currently working on a book on The Building of a College. (Cole’s successor), who seized the moment when Harold Johnson, who had the means and imagination to provide initial

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

“ … when one t h inks that H ampshir e College a dmitted its first s t udents in 1970, i t s tr emendous s t r engths and r e markable t r ack r ecor d ar e n othing shor t of p henomenal.” —President Ralph J. Hexter

“HAMPSHIRE IS ALWAYS TEACHING ME” Ken Rosenthal, trustee

Contemplating Hampshire College at 40, I feel at once like a proud parent and a wondering child. I was fortunate to be at Hampshire almost at its conception, to help in its planning and development, and then, once the first students arrived, to become its treasurer and corporate secretary. And to teach law a little. And now, decades later, one of my daughters is a Hampshire graduate and I am a college trustee. So it’s easy to see the proud parent in me. But the wondering child? It’s because Hampshire is always teaching me something, helping me to continue to grow a little in so many ways.

Students who were at Hampshire 10, 20, and even 40 years ago and visit now will find the College very much the same. Not just physically, but as a self-reflective and questioning place. It is still evolving, developing its academic programs and establishing its place in the academic world. The debates go on. Some of the ideas put forward make sense to me, others do not. Hampshire continues to teach me the value of tolerance of other people and their opinions, no matter how unreasonable

they may seem to me. It reminds me that what I may view as necessary may not be the most desirable solution for a Hampshire problem, that others perceive Hampshire differently and it’s my obligation to understand. The child in me continues to wonder, and to try to learn. Founding President Franklin Patterson said Hampshire College would be a series of “successive approximations” as we (then and now) tried to help it become more perfect. Hampshire remains not quite finished, and may it always be so.

Charles R. and Polly Longsworth, Ken Rosenthal

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

1 1 A Continuing Experiment John Watts

Nearly 40 years ago, I was a 30-plus-year-old banker, fresh from Navy duty, an MBA, and a bit of teaching and researchfirm experience. One evening Harry Knight, a recruiter and Amherst alum whom I’d met, telephoned. He suggested that I attend an event at “an experimenting college,” affiliated with the other schools in the Valley, to see if I might want to help and support it: in effect be a substitute alumnus because the College was new. Surprised, I asked why he thought I might be interested. After 10 years in military service and graduate school, I was not a prime donor prospect. Harry asserted his confidence that by meeting the founding leaders, some students, and professors, I’d become captured by the ideas behind the Hampshire venture. I drove up; walked the campus; met students, teachers, and trustees; imagined that I might somehow be helpful to experimenting pioneers such as Ken Rosenthal, Chuck Longsworth, and Franklin Patterson; and fell in love with the whole enterprise. Some years later, after a number of campus visits, work on a few projects, and what in West Texas we’d call “witnessing” as an advocate of Hampshire’s ideas, ideals, and accomplishments, I was asked to join the board. I was honored. Sixteen years of fun, exciting leaders and teachers, inspiring students, great discussions, some difficult board decisions, and deep friendships, and then my term as trustee came to an end. My enthusiasm continues and grows. I cherish occasional reimmersions—the recent Liebling Center dedication, for example. I’ve asked myself why Harry’s confident prediction was correct—that I would delight in the College— and why I believe Hampshire’s teaching concepts are so important. Gradually, I realized that those concepts fit what I have absorbed about the process of learning. Based on my experience with involvement in other schools, in education ventures, during my Navy years, and from building an investment firm based on new approaches, and now investing in technologies and enterprises aimed at the CO2 challenge, I realized that I “learned by doing” something about the process of learning. 12

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

There are, it seems to me, two basic approaches to learning. Traditional education stands a teacher at the front of the room to deliver concepts and other “stuff” to relatively passive sitting customers. What is to be done with the knowledge transmitted is a detached, subsequent matter. Another approach, typical of most human learning, is the interchange between an apprentice and more-experienced workers. It takes place without benefit of schools, principals, or provosts. It goes on continually, on the construction site, in the operating room, among young and older hunters tracking game for dinner, in the courtroom between litigators and their associates and the judges and their clerks. However, learning by doing, as we all know, has its limitations. Many limbs lost on offshore drilling rigs, or enterprises sunk by negligent boards or executives, illustrate the dangers of overreliance on on-the-job training. Hampshire seems to me a continuing experiment in marrying the intense experience of a seeker of learning who sees a clear need to know with the impact of a great teacher who knows— probably from long experimenting—when and how to provide that knowledge. As in any experiment on questions important to human society, Hampshire recognizes its responsibility to teach, not only by example but also by providing to others some “course work” about what we have learned that they might adapt and use. The impact of Hampshire’s impressive graduates has already been recognized as unique and potentially relevant to understanding both the accomplishments and failures of our “knowledge-based” Western society. Our graduates’ success brings a responsibility. I can’t forget what the president of one of the other great, less traditional colleges said to me many years ago: “We cherish and envy Hampshire’s apparent success with its experiments; please provide us with more reporting about what you have discovered so that we can learn from it and apply it.” I am proud that the College is now doing more to assess what can be reported about the connection between our model of teaching and its impact. Clearly it is difficult to map the DNA of the magical spark between a student keen for knowledge needed to accomplish a project and a great teacher who has learned how to supply the necessary “scire.” Nonetheless, I am confident that Hampshire will bring even more evaluation and assessment to our teaching and learning process. This effort can help our country, and the world, meet the challenges to educate wiser and more-capable citizens. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of this great experiment.

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

TURNING POINTS “I turned forty this year and it was, as are such things, a major turning point—I realized I was walking full stride within myself and that all of my past work had made this strangely fantastic mosaic of cultural influences for me to reference moving forward—as a writer, editor, mother, wife, and all the rest,” says Rebecca Carroll 89F. Carroll is a prolific and award-winning author, an editor, and a former producer at the Charlie Rose Show. As she reflects on her own life’s turning point, she has an eye on both the past and the future. “I think probably one of the strongest influences in my life has been my dad, who has been my model of integrity since I first asked him the definition of the word,” she says. “He writes about the natural world; I write about race—and as seemingly different as those two subjects may be, we approach them with equal measures of passion, yearning, and hopefulness. He wants to change the way people think about the natural world … I want to change the way people think about race.” Carroll has been challenging people’s perceptions of race in her writing since graduating from Hampshire, having interviewed some of the most notable black artists and scholars of our day. Part of that stems from her own personal narrative—Carroll, who is black, was adopted and raised by white parents—and part comes from her approach to interviewing and writing. “My [interview] style is to be inquisitive and curious but also to be conversational, to honor these folks and bring some things to the table as well,” she says. “As a reader, the interesting conversations are the ones that are alive between people.”

As the author of five books, a founding editor of Africana.com (which later became BlackVoices.com after being bought by Time Warner/ AOL), editor in chief of The Independent Film & Video Monthly Magazine, and most recently managing editor at PAPER Magazine, Carroll has known professional success. What she wants to carry with her as she moves forward, however, is “the faith that both of my parents have always had in me,” she says. “Not that I would necessarily accomplish traditional success, but that I would create a meaningful life and live it well. I want to take with me my country childhood—scrappy, organic, naive—and my city adulthood—ambitious, manufactured, cynical.” Carroll adds that she’d be less likely to move forward at all without her husband, Chris, a sociology professor, and son, Kofi, who is four, and, she says, “my resilience.” —Taliesin Nyala 07F

NEWS

Featured Course Cognitive Science 260: Video Game Design Students enrolled in this course during fall semester built video games from scratch on iPhones. “Using the iPhone is fun for students—and for the instructor,” said Professor Paul Dickson, “while at the same time providing a great platform for fundamental computer science.” Cameron Kingsley 07F, one of the 17 students in Dickson’s class, agreed: “Working on the iPhone platform is great because even your grandmother knows what it is—and probably has one.”

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

“READ ME” Jeff Sharlet 90F

It was a Hampshire course, Michael Lesy’s Writing to Be Read, that made me want to be a writer. But by the time I wrote my second book, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, I was no longer thinking about readers. I knew I could make a living writing for magazines; this book, I decided, would be written not for some imagined public but just as I understood the story to be. The result is a dense, sometimes esoteric exploration of a little-known movement of American fundamentalism’s self-described avantgarde, a strange subject and a stranger book. My favorite review said The Family

YOURS TO KEEP Elizabeth Brundage 78F

Hampshire encourages students to find their voices and not be afraid to make some noise. As a graduate, you are not defined by your diploma, but rather by your voice, intelligence, compassion, devotion, energy, integrity, ambition, confidence, and power. Unlike at more-traditional schools where a student’s progress is measured with credits and grade point averages, students at Hampshire decide for themselves how much is enough to know. Some people assume that no grades means less academic rigor, but any Hampshire student will tell you this

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

is not so. In fact, students work harder, set their own critical boundaries, even, perhaps, “over-research” a topic. This education has served me well as a fiction writer. It is less about enduring required classes and more about charting your own course. This is perhaps the most valuable lesson for the Hampshire student. Your successes and failures are yours to keep. One of the things I have noticed about myself over the years is my ability to work independently. I am certain I learned this at Hampshire. When I got to graduate school at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, perhaps I hadn’t read all the classics, but I had important skills that others lacked. I had the strength to take risks in my work and a belief in my own voice. I was certain I had something to say and I was not afraid to say it. The social environment at Hampshire encourages an awareness of the larger world, and an appreciation that the global community is worth

does for fundamentalism what Greil Marcus’s Lipstick Traces —which I began reading at Hampshire on Lesy’s recommendation—did for punk. Nobody finished Lipstick Traces, either. Then fate and scandal intervened. Just as the paperback edition was hitting the stores this summer, first one, then another, and then another “family values” Republican got caught covering up affairs. All three were linked to the Family and its secretive Capitol Hill “C Street House.” I’m the only writer to have been inside. As I write, The Family is three months on the best-seller list. I suspect it’s the most eccentrically radical book on there.* Moral: Stay weird, Hampshirites, and wait for the world to catch up with you. *But not the only Hampshire book! At the moment [of this writing], there are two others on the hardcover list: Jon Krakauer’s 72F Where Men Win Glory and Ken Burns’s 71F The National Parks.

understanding. I honestly believe I wouldn’t have become the sort of writer I am, writing stories about social issues, if I had not gone to Hampshire. Elizabeth Brundage and her husband, Dr. R. Scott Morris 79F, are the parents of current Hampshire student Hannah E. Morris 08F.

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

The Quickest Way to Change the World? When The Advocate published a list of “Forty Under 40” last summer, it included Jamie Citron 01F as someone to watch in the world of politics. A special assistant in the Obama administration, Citron credits Hampshire College with developing his awareness that “public service and civic engagement are a responsibility, not a privilege.” He brings a critical yet open-minded intellect honed during his years at Hampshire to his current role as the special assistant in the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (the Partnership Center) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. His work focuses on creating and building partnerships between nonprofits and the government. The government has a “ten-thousand-foot view” of national concerns and interests, says Citron, whereas nonprofits have a local view of community needs. The Partnership Center tries “to plug the ten-thousand-foot view into the grassroots view” in order to foster change, he says. The Partnership Center brings together people from a variety of backgrounds to work on specific goals, such as promoting responsible fatherhood, reducing teen and unintended pregnancies, and strengthening community roles in economic recovery, among others, by “connecting nonprofits with the resources and information they need so that they don’t have to struggle,” says Citron. In his own background, Citron has worked for years on LGBT issues, and sees part of his role now as being a voice for the LGBT community at the Partnership Center. “As an openly gay man,” he says, “the reason I wanted to come to this office is because I wanted to work with people from… vastly different segments of American life who may have never encountered a gay person before.” “This work shows that we can all pull together and work on certain goals that have nothing to do with our differences but instead have everything to do with our similarities,” he says, pointing out that this is directly in line with President Obama’s stated belief that people’s similarities are greater than their differences. “If you find common ground, then you can find respect, and that’s where changes of hearts and minds begin,” Citron says. Though Citron was politically mindful before college, it was his Hampshire experience that put him on his current path. “Democracy doesn’t work unless you’re involved,” he says. “Hampshire introduced me to the power of grassroots politics— change initiates with the people, and people are the ones who force that up the chain to create legislative change.” “Hampshire is a thinking community instead of one beholden to special interests or rigid structure, and this allows Hampshire the flexibility and courage to have a strong voice. The cost of that is messy because people are constantly arguing, and conversation is long and arduous, but it’s also fulfilling and expanding,” says Citron. “What I look forward to in the next forty years of Hampshire graduates—a steady stream of fantastic, argumentative grads—is to see some alumni senators, alumni running for office,” Citron says. “I think we might just be the quickest way to change the world. If we have elected officials who are willing to listen and a constituency willing to push, good things will come of it.” —Taliesin Nyala 07F

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

Also begun in 1970: The first Gay Pride marches in Los Angeles a n d N e w Yo r k C i t y commemorated the one-year anniversar y of the Stonewall riots.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

WORLD LANGUAGES AND GLOBAL COMMUNITY Pamela Shea, director of world language enrichment and acquisition

There is a tremendous interest in language learning at Hampshire. I set out to establish the world language enrichment and acquisition office when I arrived on campus last spring. Our funding comes through an Andrew W. Mellon grant, and I quickly found that Hampshire is an ideal recipient. Students and faculty are encouraged to experiment and come up with new and exciting ways to introduce language into any kind of course. We really want to rethink traditional modes of language usage in the classroom. I also realized that Hampshire students want to be responsible global citizens, and language learning is an important tool to have when participating in the global community. The faculty, students, and staff are wonderful; they’re so willing to give their time for what they

believe in and have already shown incredible support for this language initiative. At the same time, we are working to build connections both on campus and throughout the Five College consortium. A big part of this program is outreach. I think there are a number of language learning opportunities out there that haven’t been tapped into yet. There’s so much we can do and accomplish and I look forward to working with the Hampshire community to achieve the goals set out in the grant.

NEWS

New Research Resource Faculty and student research and training will be supported by Hampshire’s acquisition this spring of an important scientific resource. The National Science Foundation has awarded Hampshire a $120,000 grant to acquire and install a new laser ablation chemistry system, a sophisticated instrument rarely found in the laboratories of undergraduate institutions. Chemistry professor Dula Amarasiriwardena and biological anthropology professor Alan Goodman are leading the grant-funded project. They pioneered the early use of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) in studies of changes in the chemistry of hair and teeth during an individual’s life, information that can help unravel scientific mysteries. For example, Amarasiriwardena will use the new laser ablation system in his collaborative work with researchers in Chile investigating potential arsenic and lead exposure in the hair and teeth of the world’s oldest mummies. Students will benefit from hands-on use of the system in analytical chemistry, anthropology, environmental science, plant physiology, and geology class projects.

H 16

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

I M P

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

Found in Translation Michael Samuels 09F

In my first semester I have found that Hampshire offers languages in a very different way from other schools. Traditional language courses are available, but students are also able to learn languages in interdisciplinary classes. For example, I am in a class on the thought and art of Albert Camus, taught by Professor of Humanities Bob Meagher. Some students in the class read books, plays, and essays in the original French; write reflections in French; and hold discussions in French. They are learning philosophy and literature, but also learning more advanced French in an immersive way. My parents read Camus’s The Stranger (L’Étranger) in French in college, but what they were taught about the meaning of the book was simplified and inaccurate because the thoughts and opinions put forward in Camus’s writings were not the point of their classes. My parents were just learning French. The students in my class, however, are gaining knowledge in multiple areas of thought, including language, in a way that uses each area to support and enhance the others. Reading, writing, and discussion provide real and challenging contexts in which

to practice and develop French. And reading Camus in his own language keeps his writing from losing anything in translation. The benefits of this model are available not only to intermediate and advanced language learners, but also to students without prior knowledge of a language. During spring semester, Associate Professor of Cognitive Science Joanna Morris will teach a course on The Structure of Words. According to its course description, the class will “look at the structure of words in the Semitic languages, Hebrew and Arabic, and consider how differences in word structure can influence the ways in which we read.” Students will learn about linguistics and the cognitive science of reading, and also familiarize themselves with Hebrew and Arabic, gaining a beginner’s knowledge of those two languages. None of this is to say that the traditionally structured language courses at Hampshire are not impressive. I’m taking Elementary Spanish (the absolutely, completely no-previousknowledge-allowed section), and in two months have learned almost as much as I did in a year of high school Latin. The class is engaging and effective, well taught by Maya Krinsky, from the International Language Institute of Massachusetts. One of my hallmates is taking Elementary Chinese and having a similar experience. Numerous languages are available to Hampshire students at other Five College campuses, and via the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages, among them such “less commonly taught languages” as Yoruba, Norwegian, and Kazakh. Good language classes can be expected at any good school, and the rich resources of the Five College consortium are available to students at all five schools. Hampshire sets itself apart by applying its interdisciplinary model to learning languages, by joining French with philosophy and Arabic with cognitive science (these are just two examples), to make the most of a single class, using two subjects from two different schools of thought in a way that enhances both.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

TWO ANNIVERSARIES TO CELEBRATE Zena Clift 90F, assistant dean of advising

It’s a little strange when I see students coming in who were born in 1990, the year I started at Hampshire. I still can’t believe I’ve been involved with the College for almost two decades. There have been changes, but the students now remind me a lot of my own classmates. Hampshire seems to attract people who are challenging in a very good way. As assistant dean of advising, I track the academic progress of all first-year students. We’re able to work with them and figure out how they can succeed at Hampshire. Sometimes that means going against the grain and not being conventional. That pays off when you see kids who, though you don’t really know what’s going to happen with them at first, end up really doing well. I’m looking forward to the 40th-anniversary year, and I can’t wait to see who will be at the reunion in June. I met my husband, Woody Clift 87F, at the 30th reunion, so it’s a ten-year anniversary for us. That’s exciting. And it will be fun to connect with people I haven’t seen in a long time, most of them probably since the 30th.

CAMPUS RENEWAL INITIATIVE Hampshire has much to celebrate as it turns 40, but four decades after the first buildings were constructed, the College’s physical plant needs renewal. Addressing deferred maintenance and facilities needs is critical for the recruitment of new students as well as in providing academic and research support to current students and faculty. “Hampshire is embarking on a serious commitment to campus infrastructure,” says Clay Ballantine, chief advancement officer. “The 40th Anniversary Campus Renewal Initiative recognizes that academic excellence and the quality of the student experience are linked to the quality of campus facilities. With this initiative, projects that remain beyond the scope of the annual budget can finally gain the support they deserve.” Among Campus Renewal Initiative projects are: renovation of Franklin Patterson Hall, a student computing center and high tech group study rooms, restoration of the solar panel structure in the Longsworth Art Village, and enhancement of the Cole Science Center laboratory. These and many more projects will enhance the student experience, add needed capacity to key facilities, increase building accessibility, and help make the campus a leader in sustainability. Donations to the 40th Anniversary Campus Renewal Initiative can be either set aside for specific projects or added to the general fund, which will address Hampshire’s most pressing infrastructure needs. More information about the Campus Renewal Initiative, and how you might help, can be found online at campusrenewal.hampshire.edu. Learn more by contacting Ballantine at 413.559.5647 or cballantine@hampshire.edu.

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

“Get Involved” James S. Crown 71F

When I arrived at Hampshire, nearly 40 years ago, construction on Merrill and Dakin was almost complete. The smell of fresh paint and just-delivered modular furniture overwhelmed the hallways as we tried to sort out so many new things all at once. Although those moments seem recent, this era has been relegated to a chapter in history. Scholars would reflect on such features as the Vietnam War, Watergate, an age-based culture clash, and the impeachment of a president when describing its lasting impact. Over the coming years, many graduation speakers would implore their young adult listeners to keep faith with a system of citizen participation and electoral politics. For many in that generation, political activism usually implied opposition to conventional institutions and processes. It was easy to be cynical, suspicious, contrary, or dismissive. In my last two years at Hampshire, however, I became fascinated with the workings of government. My favorite course work covered topics like the Constitution and political philosophy; I took a semester off to intern in a senator’s office on Capitol Hill. I had no burning desire to serve in public office, but I was transfixed by the interactions of the governing and the governed. So fast forward a few decades, and I find myself co-chair of the finance committee in the home state of a presidential candidate. Pretty conventional stuff … sort of. I met Barack Obama when he was an Illinois state senator and a lecturer at the University of Chicago. His unlikely run to become a

U.S. senator was an amazing accomplishment. Of course, his subsequent election as our 44th president exhausts a few more superlatives. Working on a political campaign (at least as a volunteer with a regular day job) can feel like tending to part of a huge timepiece from the inside. There is a lot going on that you don’t see or understand, but every now and then you can tell that your efforts are productive. It can be messy and chaotic—and the media ensure that everything is exaggerated—but electoral politics truly brings forward the voice of the engaged citizenry and thereby represents our collective will. My fascination with the political process that started at Hampshire continues, and those admonitions to “get involved” still strike me as good and important advice.

NEWS

Teaching an Increasingly Complicated Subject How can colleges and universities help students better comprehend biology? That’s the task Hampshire Professor of Ecology Charlene D’Avanzo plans to tackle with the support of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant aimed at improving the way introductory biology classes are taught nationwide. “Biology has just exploded in terms of discoveries in the last 20 years,” says Professor D’Avanzo. The $340,830 grant is for a collaborative research project with Michigan State University entitled “Improving General Biology Teaching with Diagnostic Question Clusters and Active Teaching.” It will allow D’Avanzo to expand on related work she began with a prior NSF-funded study focused on introductory ecology teaching.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

TURNING 40 TOGETHER Erin Dozier 88F

As Hampshire turns 40, so do I! I have often marveled at the fact that my major milestone birthdays always coincide with Hampshire’s significant anniversaries. When people ask me about my undergraduate school, if they haven’t heard of Hampshire, I often explain that it is a small New England liberal arts college with no grades, tests, majors, or credits; where we called all our professors by their first names; and where the very first entering class arrived on campus a few months after I was born.

But I also explain that it was hard work forging your own path. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to be in almost all the same classes as a few other people who were pursuing the same major and needed to take all the same classes I did. Wouldn’t it be nice, I thought, to compare notes with someone, figure out if I was ahead or behind, or right where I should be. As we all learn after graduation, nobody in life is tallying up the points on whether your career is on track, whether it is interesting to you, whether you are pushing yourself hard enough, or whether you have enough balance between work and personal pursuits. None of these things can really be boiled down to a mathematical formula, certainly not one that is made up by someone other than yourself. The absence of grades, tests, majors, and credits forces you (at a very young age) to find other ways to measure progress, success, and happiness, gauges that are much more like the ones we need outside of academic life. I spent some time trying to think about the most significant things I took away from my years at Hampshire. Most of all, I learned that every environment or institution I came to would need to adjust to me as I adjusted to it. After my experience at Hampshire, it would never be enough to just show up anywhere and fit a mold—whatever mold was there was also going to have to change. Every organization I’ve been involved with—workplace, school, or volunteer post—has meant more to me because I took the time to try to change it, even if only a little bit. In 2010, Hampshire and I will celebrate our 40th birthdays having learned some things the hard way. I hope we will have the maturity and energy that make us well equipped to handle challenges that lie ahead. Happy birthday, Hampshire College! Erin Dozier is associate general counsel in the legal and regulatory affairs department of the National Association of Broadcasters, a trade association that advocates on behalf of thousands of local radio and television stations and broadcast networks.

Also begun in 19 7 0 : T h e f i r s t E a r t h D a y f o l l o w e d U.S. Senator Gaylo r d N e l s o n ’ s c a l l f o r a n a t i o n w i d e grassr oots demonstrat i o n o n b e h a l f o f t h e e n v i r o n m e n t .

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

RAILWAY BIRTHDAY Hampshire shares its 40th birthday with an unlikely companion: Amtrak also turns 40 in 2010, says Stephen Gardner 94F, Amtrak’s vice president of policy and development. “There were those who thought it would never last more than a few years, and we’ve managed to survive from that shaky start,” Gardner says. Though he’s talking about the federalization of the intercity passenger railroad network by the government, the parallels with Hampshire resonate. “Amtrak was definitely an experiment, different from any other

ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT HAMPSHIRE ANNIVERSARY For two decades the Cultural Center has created community and fostered dialogue. It opened on October 26, 1989, and on that day last fall a ceremony and tree planting celebrated its 20 years of contributions to social change. The Lebrón-Wiggins-Pran Cultural Center has been instrumental in helping to shape conversations on campus around diversity and race. “From what I know from my history and time here with the Cultural Center, there have been a range of expectations and opinions about this space and what it represents,” says Melissa Scheid Frantz, director of multicultural and international student services. “That is good. Conversations around race and diversity are needed, even if sometimes uncomfortable. The center has a very powerful legacy on this campus.”

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

transportation system we had in the United States,” he says. Railways are more than a vocation for Gardner, who in 1994 started his band Chessie as a way to “explore the railway environment through composition. The fundamental element of both music and railroads is motion—things moving at different paces within different frames of reference and perspectives.” In his free time, he continues to record and perform with Chessie. “Railways are a tangible and accessible network,” says Gardner, attractive in “their visible presence, having stitched the country together.” Drawing on his work as a train conductor and dispatcher, and eight years as a Congressional staffer in D.C. for the committees on transportation, he is well suited to help redefine Amtrak for the future. Hampshire, he says, is also at a pivotal point. “Hampshire and Amtrak both face the challenge of having somewhat won the battle, having proved their relevance,” says Gardner. Because of that, “defining Hampshire’s special niche is more challenging in some regards. That’s all the more reason that Hampshire must continue to embrace its experimental nature and find news ways to assert its importance in the coming decades.” —Taliesin Nyala 07F

Scheid Frantz joined Hampshire in 2002 as coordinator of the Cultural Center. A graduate of Hamline University, she holds a master’s degree from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. She studied international and intercultural management. Her vision for the future, for Hampshire at large, is, she says, “for this community to have a thoughtful, intentional conversation that leads to an approach or lens on what it means to build multicultural competencies within students, staff, and faculty. And to have a community-wide expectation for how that plays out in policies, practices, in and out of the classroom, and in the workplace.” A number of events throughout this year honor the Cultural Center’s anniversary, including an art and social activism program during Family & Friends weekend and a Five College workshop in March on Multiracial Strategies for Advancing Racial Justice. One project involves collection of the stories of the many ways that alumni, students, staff, and faculty have connected with and been touched by the Cultural Center. If you have memories, documents, photographs, video, audio, or ideas related to its history, please reach out via email to culturalcenter@hampshire.edu.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

In Their Words The Hampshire Fund, Financial Aid, and Our Future

David Axel Kurtz 06F

I am a Division III. I could not afford to attend Hampshire—really, to attend any college at all—without the assistance of financial aid. I do not think I could attend any college but Hampshire, so I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity to do so. The three years that I have spent at Hampshire have been busy indeed. I came to Hampshire so that I could do independent, project-based work. A ten-page paper is all well and good, but as a young and capable man, I’d just as soon put myself to something that might have a bit more impact in the world. Something that will go farther, and take me farther, than the bottom of a professor’s desk drawer.

To this end I have written theses, articles, poetry, and prose. I have written grants for nonprofits and press releases for corporations. I have run student groups and managed campus publications. I have curated exhibits at public museums and taught classes for my fellow students. I wouldn’t have been able to participate in any of these activities without Hampshire’s financial aid. I shudder to think where I’d be right now without it! I really hope that I’m taking advantage of the opportunities available to me. I hope I’m getting your money’s worth. I’m trying, I really am. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to try.

Photo: Taliesin Nyala, David Mansfield, David Axel Kurtz

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

Trinity Weiss 06F

Being from New York City, with four siblings, my upbringing was eclectic and exciting. My father, a writer, and my mother, a teacher in the New York City school system, instilled in me a fierce intellectual curiosity and a sense of the limitations of certain academic settings. When I began to consider colleges, I knew I needed a school that would allow me to engage deeply in my studies and give me the freedom to explore academic disciplines such as art, philosophy, and politics, which are intrinsically linked. The notion of a major or of basic requirements seemed stifling to me. I was ready and willing to fully commit to a more complicated level of thought, one that would cause me to question and challenge my conceptions of the world. That place was Hampshire, and I was fortunate to have parents who supported

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

my conviction that Hampshire was where I needed to be, regardless of their economic limitations. But it was possible only because of generous donors, and your commitment to financial aid.

Daliza Nova 07F

I came to Hampshire in the fall of 2006 as a James Baldwin Scholar. The Baldwin Scholars Program was a great start to my college career because it allowed time for me to become acclimated to the academic workload and to Hampshire itself. I am a firstgeneration college student from Boston. Thanks to that first year as a James Baldwin Scholar, I didn’t have to worry about the financial burden of a private college education; however, coming without significant aid in the following years, I would not have been able to return. My mother and I could never have paid for the amazing education I am receiving here, and it is an incredibly fulfilling experience. I came to Hampshire with a background as a social justice organizer. I was Training and Unity Chair for the Boston Youth Organizing Project, an organization run by youth and supported by adults. We fight for educational reform in the city of Boston. I received two outstanding leadership awards and was invited to be a United States Delegate at the World-Youth Festival in Venezuela the summer of 2005. That was an experience I will forever carry with me. The following summer, I packed my bags and moved to western Massachusetts. Coming to Hampshire, I discovered possibilities I had never imagined. I’m concentrating in economics and I love it! I am primarily interested in microfinance and, although I have yet to gain experience in the field, I hope to have the opportunity to solidify my desire to pursue economics professionally with an internship or other hands-on learning.

If it weren’t for generous giving to the College, I would not have the privilege of being here and discovering my potential.

Taliesin Nyala 07F

As an independent student putting myself through college, the aid that I receive from Hampshire makes the difference between my being able to attend and not. In fall 2007, I transferred here from a community college in Arizona, where I had been taking courses part time since 2004 while working full time. I came to Hampshire because it was a dream of mine to go to a private college that would encourage my independence and challenge my intellect. Between working almost twenty hours a week and studying, this has been the hardest semester so far; yet, despite everything, I am happier now than I have ever been. Hampshire has given me the chance to realize my dreams to do work that is meaningful, and will allow me to give back to those who might not have had the same opportunities.

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

producing four comedic short films, acting in a David Mamet play, writing a weekly comic strip, writing several short stories that explore the fine line between discomfort and humor, contributing a satirical advice column to the College’s student-run free speech magazine, and writing and performing educational songs about science. I strongly believe that this is the best place I could possibly be right now, and I would not be able to be here without contributions like yours. Thank you for your help in keeping this amazing institution going.

Hampshire College is

committed to meeting the

I attend Hampshire with help from a comprehensive financial-aid package, and I am able to be here thanks to generous contributions. Attending Hampshire College has been an incredible experience for me, and I am extremely grateful to be here. My academic experience at Hampshire has been expansive and enriching. I have always had a passion for storytelling, and have been writing stories and making short films since I was a child. At Hampshire I have explored a broad range of storytelling forms. Highlights of my experience here include writing and illustrating a children’s book,

support to do so. Financial

David Mansfield 06F

financial need of deserving students such as David K., Trinity, Daliza, Taliesin, and David M., and needs your aid is the primary focus of the 2010 Hampshire Fund. Use the envelope contained in this magazine to make a tax-deductible gift or contact Director of Annual Giving Henry Eberhardt at 413.559.5638 or heberhardt@hampshire.edu.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

29 Lock, Stock, and Barrel Forty years after, Deborah Gorlin is talking about her generation, and the importance of critical thinking.

About 20 years ago, my niece was given an assignment in high school, to interview a person who had experienced a monumental historical event. In our family she had some readymade subjects: two grandfathers, soldiers in World War II and witnesses to the race riots in Newark in l967; her own father, a draft resister during the Vietnam War and a civil rights activist in Alabama; cousins who were Holocaust survivors. But instead, she chose to interview Aunt Debby, who, at 17, had gone to Woodstock the summer before starting college. Apparently, glamour trumped the more obvious cards of barbarism, racism, and violence. Her initial questions elicited my standard account of the experience. But with a five-year-old daughter, a new baby, a husband in graduate school, and increasing responsibilities, that story, it suddenly occurred to me, was a canned, idealized version, the one everyone wanted to hear. To my surprise, I heard myself saying that Woodstock had not been Eden for me, and up until this time, I feared admitting that. My tack had been to sustain the illusion. But now, that narrative was over. I went to Woodstock with three people, two very good friends from high school, a woman and a man, two years my senior, and another acquaintance, whose name and face I can’t recall. The woman was a beauty who was of great interest to the two men, neither of whom interested her. All through the weekend, the men were highly solicitous, attending to her every need, offering a dry sleeping bag, an extra shirt. Who was I? Chopped liver? In the middle of Jefferson Airplane’s set, when the stranger next to me kept pressing me to eat smoked clams, take tokes from his eternal joint, and admire his prowess with an illuminated yo-yo, I picked a hangnail on my big toe, which soon after became badly infected. I hobbled around and had to get it lanced once I got home. A few times I lost my bearings, when I would roam in circles for hours in a panic looking for my party, seated in that ocean of beings, enthralled by music. There were no landmarks or signs or aisles. Blasphemously, I slept through Jimi Hendrix’s performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” too exhausted to care. In our mildewed tent, we ran out of dry clothes and had to wear our wet ones. I remember sinking to my ankles in mud from the incessant rain. While the atmosphere had its pockets of love and generosity, for me, although I wouldn’t admit it at the time, there was

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

intense pressure, an unspoken coercion, ironically enough, to be natural, loving, free. What was the matter with me? While a bevy of women cavorted naked, skinny-dipping in one of the many muddy ponds, I kept on my jeans and T-shirt. When a guy asked me to come to his tent and “hang out,” I said no, because I knew he was being literal. I was irritated that someone knocked down our tent, stealing one of the stakes so it collapsed. I was so miserable at one point, I even thought of calling my parents to pick me up to take me home. Clearly, I was a failure as a Woodstocker, a wannabe hippie. As I spoke with my niece, though, I was able to come to understand this so-called handicap, vindicate myself, and speak truth to power, at long last! It seemed to me that Woodstock, in the long run, symbolized just another form of oppression, a movement, a philosophy, a code of conduct meant for us to obey. For an impressionable, eager-to-please young woman, Woodstock gave me an instant self, one that I didn’t have to develop through trial and error, painful reexamination, through my relationships with others and the world. It did not involve much in the way of

critical thinking. My mother, upset by the rebellious sixties and the challenges they presented to her authority as a parent (a de facto enemy), would admonish me: “Sooner or later you’re going to have to conform.” The irony was that I had already. In part, Woodstock was our generation’s form of political correctness. Did this weekend of music, peace, and love change me? Yes, it did, but way after the fact, and just in time—when I realized as the mother of two young children, that the best lesson I could give them was to have not only the courage to be, but also the patience to become, themselves, even if it meant they had to dispel myths, lose friends, and wait and see. Deb Gorlin is codirector of Hampshire’s Writing Center and a former NSS writer/editor.

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

GETTING DISTANCE Excerpted with the permission of author Edward Humes 75F from Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet

For many years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sponsored a contest called SpaceSet, in which high school students designed elaborate colonies for thousands of men and women on Mars or the moon, using real science and existing technologies. These annual competitions produced some remarkable examples of innovative Humes kayaking with his engineering, ecology, industry, son, Eben, 11. and sociology, as student teams worldwide spent months collaborating on and modeling these cities in space. The winning entries all tended to share some basic characteristics worth noting. These extraterrestrial colonies did not equip their citizens

WHY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEEDS HAMPSHIRE Jerelyn Cunningham Creutz 71F

A chance encounter with an old farmer on a rainy Sunday in 1970 was the beginning. Today I have my own international business consulting company, dividing my time between Europe and California. Back then, I was an angry small-town kid who wanted to change the world—antiwar, anti-capitalist, and decidedly anti-college. A friend told me about Hampshire, so I drove up to check it out. There wasn’t much to see, and the admissions office was

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

with vehicles that filled the air supply with toxic and cancercausing fumes. They did not rely on inefficient transportation technology that wasted 80 percent of the energy it expended. They did not rely on finite supplies of fuels that had to be extracted from the ground thousands of miles away from the colony, then transported at great expense aboard massive, leakprone tankers. They did not place colonists’ homes and workplaces many miles apart, requiring long commutes and expenditure of energy. They did not permit the use of archaic and wasteful lightbulbs and appliances based on obsolete technology. They did not offer tax benefits to encourage wasteful and polluting transportation technologies over efficient and clean ones. They did not dump their chemical and biological wastes in the colony’s water, food, and air supplies. In other words, the most successful space colony designers looked at how human civilization works on earth, and pretty much did the opposite. Sometimes in order to comprehend a problem, a little distance is needed (in this case, the 238,400 miles separating the earth from the moon): The way we live would quickly be fatal in the self-contained environment of a space colony. Clean, efficient technology, zero emissions, and recycling of waste isn’t just a good idea when settling the moon or Mars, but a matter of life or death. This has turned out to be no less true on earth, notwithstanding long years of denial and a naive misconception that the world offers limitless bounty.

closed. As I turned to leave, Bob Stiles (the aforementioned old farmer) spotted me. “Are you here about the school?” he asked. “It’s going to be amazing, a whole new kind of education.” Thirty minutes later, I was hooked. I studied science and literature and anthropology, but what I really studied was why people view the world the way they do. I learned how to learn, and how to look for the universal human themes buried beneath the divergent social and cultural contexts in which we operate. I never expected to end up in business, but my Hampshire experience had prepared me well. Fundamentally, international business is about getting past differences in order to find common ground, be it with partners or customers. And that’s what I help my clients do. My continuing qualms about capitalism notwithstanding, I believe international business can—and should—be a vehicle for bridging cultural divides. They don’t teach it in MBA programs, but this perspective makes me better at what I do, and it makes for better business.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

THE HAMPSHIRE WAY Marci Riseman 88F, trustee

A fellow Hampshire trustee once said, “I credit Hampshire with giving me the skills to perform jobs for which I am not qualified.” That’s the Hampshire gift: the ability to walk into a novel situation and figure out how to excel. How? Because the skills Hampshire teaches are not so much technical, industryspecific ones but rather whole-person skills: how to learn, how to make connections, how not to be petrified by one’s own ignorance. At Hampshire I studied ecological architecture, community organizing, and sustainable development. I also studied music, infectious disease, literature, and composting toilet technology. I took a semester off and lived on a commune. I sheared sheep, practiced karate, and played flute with the Marchin’ Band. Since Hampshire I have been a community organizer, a nonprofit manager, an ecological designer, and a real estate developer. Now, about to turn 40, I’m a writer. I write under a pen name—not because I write porn or risqué detective stories but because I write about my child. The pen name is a compromise I make for love, for safety, and because it’s the right thing to do. Hampshire taught me this too: flexibility. How to work out solutions that make sense, even if they are not the first ones that come to mind or those others would choose. As my college and I turn 40 together, as we reach what for me is midlife and for Hampshire is mere infancy, we continue to learn, to experiment, to find new paths to being uniquely ourselves. That’s the Hampshire way.

NEWS

A Philosophy Professor Recognized for Arts Writing The Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation awarded Hampshire philosophy professor Christoph Cox an Arts Writers Grant. Professor Cox will research and write an article entitled “Conceptual Art and the Sonic Turn.” The grant program is an international competition. It supports projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, recognizing recipients for their dual commitment to the craft of writing and the advancement of critical discourse on contemporary visual art.

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

33 Q&A: A Parent’s Perspective Marcel Houtzager

Q. As the parent of a Hampshire student, what do you see as the College’s strengths? Membership in the Five College consortium is absolutely critical. Students have the advantage of a small liberal arts experience but are also part of a giant “university,” and one that is world class. Q. You have said your daughter “found” Hampshire completely on her own. Tania knew what she wanted—liberal arts, East Coast, a strong art department. That narrowed the choices to five to ten schools. She was seeking a college with a high percentage of students who incorporate art into their majors but don’t necessarily major in arts. She also wanted academic freedom and a lot of choice: hence, the five colleges, and within the five colleges, Hampshire. She did a lot of research and visited the College twice before making her final decision. Q. You work in management services but own an art gallery, an interesting juxtaposition of “worlds.” Do you think this influenced Tania’s choice? Growing up she was able, I hope, to see that being multidimensional is a good thing—neither 100 percent in business nor 100 percent in the not-for-profit world. Tania has always been interested in anatomy and art, and at Hampshire she has had the freedom to explore lots of different disciplines. She is in her third year, and it looks as though her Div III will combine art with the history of medical science. Q. Do you think your daughter found what she hoped to find at Hampshire? She has definitely found what she hoped to find at Hampshire. She has taken full advantage of the five colleges and has taken classes at the other schools. Her artwork is hanging in the Amherst College art gallery and, in addition to her Hampshire Div III, she will leave with a teaching credential from Mount Holyoke. She has traveled extensively. Through Hampshire, she did a semester in New Zealand, studying Maori art and education, and a summer in Greece, where she studied Greek history and art. She also did a summer program in Europe through Berkeley, studying Dutch and Belgian history, culture, and art. Q. Any advice for other Hampshire parents? To succeed at Hampshire, students have to want to be productive. There is great freedom, but if students are not serious about taking advantage of the opportunity, and about working hard, they should not go to Hampshire. Fortunately, Tania has been very passionate about her work, and as a result we think she is getting more out of Hampshire than she would have anywhere else.

Art by Tania Houtzager 07F

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

HAMPSHIRE’S GOT TALENT David Paris 89F and Zoe Klein 97F are Paradizo Dance, an acrobatic dance company based in New York City. Paradizo Dance teaches and performs all over the world. Says Klein, “It’s like doing Div IIIs continuously, over and over again.” The duo advanced to the semifinals of the hit show America’s Got Talent during summer 2009. “The show was the most challenging and stressful experience of our lives, yet immensely rewarding as we got to showcase our style of acrobatic dance to the whole world,” Klein says. “We showed ourselves and our talent, completely unique, but because we graduated from Hampshire, pursuing a unique path was very familiar.” Their advice for Hampshire students? “Don’t sell yourself short. At Hampshire, you’re not just a student. You are an inventor, a leader, an activator. If you don’t see your study program out there, then at Hampshire you get to invent your own with the support you need to grow, transform, and activate your dream!” Klein says. Visit paradizodance.com for more. Paradizo Dance will perform at Hampshire’s 40th celebration in June.

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

H A M P S H I R E C E L E B R AT E S

40 YEARS, 40 VOICES

INFLUENCES AND INDEPENDENCE

PRATEEK RAJBHANDARI

Jenner Furst 02F

And another birthday: The Hampshire College Farm Center is 30 years old. “The Farm Center is a living laboratory, integral to many professors’ and students’ research interests,” says Associate Professor of Cell Biology Chris Jarvis, dean of the School of Natural Science. “It is used by all five Schools at Hampshire, and it serves as a kind of social center and community center for people picking up their farm shares or working on their research.”

I have spent the last couple of years as a conscientious workaholic, headfirst in the documentary Captured and the docu-series Brick City. Three pivotal forces of my college career continue to influence me: Craft nonfiction like fiction, Michael Lesy (literary journalism professor). Strive for the work to be a text, Mary Russo (literature and critical theory professor). Leave the preconceptions of the work at the door, Abraham Ravett (film professor). My experience of perpetual outsider nourished an independent spirit, ironically hurtling me toward the core ideals of the Hampshire education. Currently on a collision course with my own grandiose expectations, the work is my solace. Amateur’s passion advises this journey. Honored at a young age to be surrounded by talent and guidance from veterans in my field, I recently wrote and directed my first feature film, Dirty Old Town. The film will be completed during 2010.

PRATEEK RAJBHANDARI

Furst was an associate producer and series editor for Brick City, a Sundance Channel documentary series on the striving of Newark, New Jersey, to become “a better, safer, stronger place to live.”

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY ALUMNI NEWS

40 Nights on the Road to the 40th Night #19: Jeff Sharlet 90F, New York Times best-selling author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power and a contributing editor for Harper’s and Rolling Stone, has been writing about the intersection of religion, politics, and culture for more than a decade. His writing on religion has earned him praise from writers such as Barbara Ehrenreich, who calls The Family “one of the most compelling and brilliantly researched exposés you’ll ever read,” and condemnation from the likes of Ann Coulter, who declares Sharlet one of the “stupidest” journalists in America. (See Sharlet’s piece on page 14.) In October, in the beautiful lower Manhattan home of Gina Goldman 83F, her husband Walter Schupfer and their children, Sharlet talked to alums, families, and friends about his book and his relationship with Hampshire.

Affinity groups

Night #21: Alums in public policy met in Washington, D.C., on November 9. The group comprises alums working in nonprofits, education, government, lobbying, social activism, law, and related areas. The next meeting will be in March. To receive more information, email alumni@hampshire.edu. Erin Dozier 88F, Alex Kreit 97F, Peter Mamacos 87F, Ellen Sturgis 77F, Shelley Johnson-Carey 72F, Chris Ruge 92F, Devon Chaffee 97F, Angela Campbell 72F, and Jordan Strauss 96F organize this professional network. Nights #12 and #24: Alums in writing and publishing met in October and December and will meet again in February. Led by Paul Morris 90F, Joanna Yas 91F, and now also Manny Castro 03F and Nancy Festinger 72F, this affinity group comprises journalists, novelists, literary agents, translators, publishers, and anyone else who is interested. It meets every other month in New York City.

Save t h e D a te 4 0 t h A n n ive rs a r y Ce l e b ra t i o n J u n e 11–13 , 2010

That’s Hampshire!

Pictured at the event: Rachel Gross 04F; her fiancé, Noam HurvitzPrinz 04F; and Emily Geminder 04F.

Retirement Party

Chemistry professor Nancy Lowry, African-American literature professor Robert Coles, biology professor Merle Bruno, and theater professor Wayne Kramer at the retirement party held for them all in May.

Upcoming Events February: West Hartford and New York City March: Boston and London April: Alumni Reel 2009 in New York City; Washington D.C.; and San Mateo and Los Angeles, CA May: Div Free party for 2010 graduates June: That’s Hampshire! 40th Anniversary Celebration For updates on upcoming events throughout the year: http://hampshire.edu/alumni, for the 40th weekend: http://anniversary.hampshire.edu

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

Bookshelf

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer 72F. New York: Doubleday, 2009. Chronicling the odyssey of football player Pat Tillman, Krakauer highlights his character and examines the circumstances of his tragic death.

Rock, Water, Wild by Nancy Lord 70F. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009. Alaska’s writer laureate proves an excellent guide to the challenges and pleasures of making oneself at home on the earth.

Notes from No Man’s Land by Eula Biss 95F. Saint Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 2009. This collection of short essays on race in America won the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize.

Women, Power, Politics: The Hidden Story of Canada’s Unfinished Democracy by Sylvia Bashevkin 72F. Ontario: Oxford University Press, 2009. Bashevkin describes what she calls the “women plus power equals discomfort” equation.

Opening Doors Wider edited by Sylvia Bashevkin 72F. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2009. Essays examine progress made in the last 40 years to raise women’s involvement in public life in Canada.

From Polders to Postmodernism by John Ridener 94F. Duluth: Litwin Books, 2009. Ridener examines key archival thinkers and codifiers in the context of their time and culture.

Reconciliation by Peter Orvetti 92F. Denver: Outskirts Press, 2009. This memoir takes readers on a voyage into the contemporary soul, characterized by a constant searching for spiritual wholeness.

Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf 84F. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2009. This book is at once an affecting memoir and a thorough survey of the subculture of fantasy gaming.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

Get the Job You Want, Even When No Oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hiring by Ford R. Myers 72S. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Myers maps the new world of job search and reveals a bold approach to career success.

Chic Metal: Modern Metal Jewelry to Make at Home by Victoria Tillotson 85F. New York: Potter Craft, 2009. Tillotson provides simple techniques for creating your own metal jewelry.

Chicken Butt! by Erica S. Perl 86F. New York: Abrams, 2009. A little boy uses silly rhymes to get his distracted dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention.

If you would like your recently released book to be considered for the Bookshelf section of the next issue of Non Satis Scire, please send a copy to: Office of Alumni Relations c/o NSS Bookshelf Hampshire College 893 West Street Amherst, MA 01002

Vampires Today by Joseph Laycock 98F. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2009. Exploring the modern world of vampirism, this book is about real vampires and the communities they have formed.

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming 93F. New York: Amy Einhorn Books/ Putnam, 2009. This novel is a love story set at the dawn of the mechanical age, featuring Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and J. P. Morgan.

Please note: Non Satis Scire publishes every six months. Due to space limitations, books will not be included in Bookshelf if they are not recent publications or if they are self-published. All books can be posted in class notes online (go to http://alumni.hampshire.edu/alumni).

Notes from Alums Class notes printed here reached us since the last issue of NSS. Alumni can post their own class notes on the Hampshire Alumni website, and can view each other’s posts there. Please go to alumni.hampshire.edu and then click on Making Connections. You will need to set up an account and, when authenticated, log in to view the notes already there and write your own. Having set up an account, you can also now update your own directory entry and view other alums’ entries, as long as those alums have given permission for their information to be displayed. We are in the process of improving and updating the website, which will make things easier, but if you have any trouble at all, please email us at alumni@hampshire.edu.

1970 Carl Goldman is co-owner, with his wife, Jodi, of Santa Clarita, California’s KHTS AM-1220, and was named Santa Clarita Valley Man of the Year.

1971 Chris Hall is curator of exhibits at Maine Maritime Museum, in Bath.

1972 Celia Alvarez writes, “Hi everyone… just want to share with you the new website for the newly named Ananda College of Living Wisdom, where I have been working on developing the curriculum and AA and BA program of study, as well as teaching as professor of world cultures and consciousness. Would love to hear from you. Feel free to share and pass on to others. www. anandauniversity.org.”

1973 Steve Nadis writes, “I’m the last holdout: still no cell phone! I was the last on my block to get an answering machine too and am now the only one on my block who still has one. Life for me has been busy but hectic. I keep up with my blog, floss regularly, and resist daily efforts by so-called friends to get me to join Facebook. And I’m proud to say that I’ve never Tweeted. But I suspect that those are already accomplishments enough, as I’m sure no one wants me to go on boasting. 617.876.7143 stevenadis@ comcast.net.

Larry Parnass became editor in chief of Northampton-based Daily Hampshire Gazette.

1974 Ellen M. Rollins writes, “Criminal defense and trial lawyer practicing throughout Southern California.”

1976 Clark Suprynowicz writes, “After a peripatetic Hampshire experience that included studies with jazz bassist Dave Holland, I moved to the Bay Area shortly after graduating, and wound up with a lot of gigs and recording projects, the most illustrious being, I suppose, the soundtrack to a Jim Jarmusch film called A Night on Earth, which I did with Tom Waits. “Meanwhile, my own composing was gathering steam, and that’s what I do today. My opera Chrysalis (with librettist John O’Keefe) was premiered by Berkeley Opera in 2006, and got strong notices. There are several other pieces of singing theater in the wings, including one about the Black Panther Party, a collaboration with New York playwright Tanya Barfield. “I’ve been in residence with the Berkeley Symphony this past year, and the Berkeley Opera is carving out a spot in its 2011 season for an adaptation of The Tempest, featuring tenor John Duyker, and penned by my wife, singer/ performer Amanda Moody. This is a piece we’ve had in development for almost ten years.

Clark Suprynowicz 76F

“The SF Conservatory hired me to teach its Summer Music West composition intensive, one of a couple of places I’m now on staff, working with young people who have a yen to write music. Another is the John Adams Young Composers Program, which launched just two years ago. “It’s great to hear what everyone is doing, especially the music and theater crowd. For the curious, I have a website at famousbrandmusic.com, and a MySpace page at www.myspace. com/clarksuprynowicz.”

1977 Rebecca Holland was elected alumni trustee, representing fellow alums on the Hampshire College Board of Trustees. She is an attorney, currently working as the associate university compliance officer at New York University, where she specializes in regulatory and public policy.

Kathleen Kelley writes, “I wanted to update you on my latest adventure. I received my master’s degree from Oregon Health and Sciences University in June, and have opened a private practice as a family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. I offer psychotherapy and medication management, and seem to be building a practice of primarily women with young children, a population that I have spent most of my career serving as a community health nurse. I will be continuing my training through a yearlong child-parent psychotherapy program, which I am very excited about. This is the culmination of a long-held dream, and at 51, I finally feel ready. My kids are grown and doing amazing things (my daughter graduated from Hampshire!). Life is good.” Jeffrey C. Markham was one of four recipients of a 2009 Olmstead Prize, a national recognition presented annually by Williams College for high school teaching excellence. Members of the Williams graduating class nominate secondary school teachers who inspired them. Markham teaches at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

In his career, Paul Sternberg 74F, professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, has trained and mentored 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with the aim, he says, of “trying to understand the mysteries of life by focusing specifically on one very small piece of biology.” That small piece of biology is the transparent roundworm, and Sternberg admits an obsession with the one-millimeterlong worms. But don’t worry, he says, “it’s a healthy obsession because you can learn a lot from them.” This species of worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, is ideal for research: “The pathways by which cells communicate between humans and these worms are similar,” so understanding the ways cells signal one another gives us insight into, for example, the molecular circuitry of cancer cells, Sternberg says. “There are all sorts of experiments you can do on [C. elegans].” He is now trying to understand roundworm behavior, how parasitic ones find their hosts, and how one sex finds the other. Sternberg’s approach to science is one of inquisitive explorer, wandering up to an interesting idea and studying it to find out all he can learn. “What generally happens is that I’ll set out to study something that seems interesting and not worry too much about the practical side,” he says. Sternberg’s research instincts, though, are right on— his work has shed new insight into cancer cells, and he has garnered considerable recognition within the science community. Concurrently with his professorship, Sternberg is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and last spring he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. “What I learned at Hampshire was not to be afraid of what I don’t know but to go out and learn it,” Sternberg says. “Thirty years out, I’m still doing that. You just can’t wait around until you learn everything before trying something.” Confidence and inspiration guide him, but he also learns a lot from his research team of six graduate students, 10 postdoctoral fellows, and a handful of undergraduates and high school students. “I take people at the face value of what they know and not their status,” Sternberg says. “I try to maintain that because it allows me to learn from everyone around me.” Of his students, he says, “I hope in the next half of my academic career to train at least another forty.” —Taliesin Nyala 07F

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

COURTESY OF CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

INQUISITIVE EXPLORER

Kathryn Tucker writes, “Greetings from Sun Valley, Idaho! We moved here last fall so the kids (Torin, 16; Montana, 13) could train and race with the Sun Valley Ski Team (Nordic), a great program. We love living here: small town, BIG outdoors. Hundreds of K for trail running/XC skiing right out the door. I am still legal director with Compassion & Choices; my spouse, Scott, is director of footwear at Scott USA, which is based here in Ketchum. If you come through this town, give a shout.” (Susan) Lianne Schoenwiesner née Lynch writes, “Hoping my business continues to go well despite the economy… I’m currently developing training for social service agencies implementing a collaborative program for at-risk kids. My favorite work for a great cause! At home there is another woman in the house—our older daughter, who somehow turned 14! And a 10-year-old budding scientist —watch out, Lynn Miller—she is even more argumentative than I was!”

1978 Tom Stoner has been named president and CEO of Evergreen Energy Inc., a green energy technology solutions company.

1981 An exhibit of microscopy by artist Andrew Paul Leonard was shown at Pfizer’s corporate headquarters in New York City (235 East 42nd Street). Among subjects photographed through a scanning electron microscope were dendritic cells, neurons, marine biological samples, and parakeet feathers.

1982 Levin Chen writes (on his daughter’s behalf ), “Hi, my name is Ujin Rose Luna Chen! I was born August 18, 5:55 a.m., at our home in Los Angeles. I weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces at birth (2.8 kilos.) Mom and Dad just moved here in May, so it’s a new home for all of us… we love it! Thanks for visiting me; I hope we can play together someday! I’ll have lots more photos to share with you soon! For now, see the slideshow at www.levichen.com/ujin.asp.”

Ujin Rose Luna Chen, daughter of Levi Chen 82F

1983 Chris Groobey became a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in its Washington, D.C., office.

Pla n ning a g i f t f or Ha mp shir e’s f utur e As Hampshire celebrates being 40, we have set a goal to add 40 names during 2010 to the list of those who have provided for the College in their wills or estate plans. Wills are wise to have in place at any age. You can direct a specific amount to Hampshire or just a portion of whatever remains after your beneficiaries are taken care of—taxfree, of course. Also, did you know that you can make a gift to Hampshire that returns payments to you? The IRS allows and encourages these creative plans that can stretch your giving ability and be a smart move in your financial plan, and Hampshire can now make such gifts simple to arrange. To learn more, visit the planned giving website at plannedgiving.hampshire.edu or contact Cheri Butler in the institutional advancement office at 413.559.5588 or cbutler@hampshire.edu.

The Gra dua te s Gi f t Pr ogra m

was created by a student who wanted to show his gratitude for his Hampshire experience. Five years later, the program is thriving. A generous anonymous alum has issued a challenge to the 2010 graduates: Each student gift of $20.10 or more, up to 120 students, will be matched with $500, totaling $60,000. This will mark 40 percent participation from the graduating class, in recognition of Hampshire’s 40th anniversary. Once the 40 percent goal is met, a bonus of $40,000 will be added, bringing the potential match to $100,000.

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

380 MILES IN 22 DAYS By the Crew of the Mighty La Collete

“… there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” —Huckleberry Finn In August, five past and present Hampshire students—Devin Roark 04F, Josiah AikenDrake 04F, Minke Nord 04F, Dean Colpack 04F, and Felix Lufkin 04F—embarked on a journey down the Hudson River on a homemade raft. Our destination: New York City. After spending the early summer on different continents and coasts, we converged on Burlington, Vermont, and stuffed a rented van with salvaged lumber and insulating foam. We spent a week at a campsite conceiving and assembling the 12-x-18-foot boat. After acquiring a 48-year-old outboard on Craigslist and christening the raft La Collete, we set sail on picturesque, lukewarm Lake Champlain only a few miles from the Quebec border. Lake Champlain is wide, deep, glacial, clean, and clear. Lined with white cedars and full of delicious fish, it is rumored to be the home of Champ, a prehistoric beast who has outlived all family and friends. We made our way through the upper, wider lake, learning along the way the virtues of seamanship, discipline, and how to live in tight quarters. Champ remained elusive, yet many curious hominids were encountered. Because it was difficult to speak over the roar of the engine, the crew descended into our own reflections—whittling, doodling, reading, drinking, singing, and crosswords. At its southern point, the lake becomes narrow and murky. After reaching Whitehall, New York, we entered the hundred-mile, PCB-infested Champlain Canal, uniting the lake with the Hudson River. The raft passed through 12 impressive locks, which raised and lowered 500,000 gallons of water in a matter of minutes—dropping about 20 feet each time—until we reached the last lock at the Troy Dam, only 4 feet above sea level. The now tidal river pulled La Collete inexorably toward her destination. Barges of mindboggling proportions barged past, encounters with the Coast Guard increased, and the crew drifted slowly through beautiful upstate New York as if in a dream. The water became saltier. As we puttered under the Tappan Zee Bridge, the skyline of Manhattan was finally visible. Rounding the southern tip of the city, dodging tour boats, ferries, and water police, the raft endured its biggest wave yet. Still afloat, we arrived at long last in Brooklyn.

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

1984 Jen Kogan writes, “I am living in D.C. with my husband, Craig, and kids Nick (11) and Lia (8). I am in private (psychotherapy) practice seeing new parents and families. Last month, I was so pleased to host Carol Hansen 85F, Natalie Cuchel 85F, and Marnie Berk 85F and their families here in D.C. It was the first time we had all spent time together as a group in about 15 years! I would love to hear from other Hampshire friends. Email me!” Jennifer Spear writes, “My book, Race, Sex & Social Order in Early New Orleans, an analysis of racial formation in 18th- and early-19th-century New Orleans, was published in April as I was also finishing up my first year of teaching American history at Simon Fraser University, just outside Vancouver, British Columbia.” Charles A. Villee writes, “I have been appointed to the Grafton Board of Library Trustees. The appointment is good until next year, and then I will have to run for election to a one-year term in 2010 and reelection to a three-year term in 2011. I still belong to two other commissions in Grafton, the Recreation Commission and the Commission on Disabilities. My term in those two offices expires on June 30, 2011. Daughter Abigail is 12 and will start the seventh grade this fall. She grows more beautiful every day.” Alex Vitale writes, “My book City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics is now out in paperback. www.cityofdisorder. com.”

1986 Sarah Mount writes, “On September 6, 2008, Joseph Elewononi and I were married at the church where I serve as pastor, Wesley United Methodist in Medford, Massachusetts. Joe originally emigrated from Nigeria to attend graduate school

HAMP

4 0TH AN N IVERS ARY

ANNIVERS

RE C O

HAMPSHIRE

EGE

40TH A

HAMPSHIRE

EGE

40TH A

HAMPS

40TH A

HAMPS

As Hampshire alumni, your cre0T AR H ANNIVERS ativity is proven: You designed your own courses of study. You RE C O HI designed your own Div IIIs. Day gradient color pattern by day, you design Div IVsthrough of letter distinction. What could be more 0T AR H ANNIVERS Hampshire than putting your RE C own creative stamp on the 40th O HI logo? Just go to the 40th anniversary website photo with black letter 40thlogo.hampshire.edu and download the logo, then innovate! Use the envelope in this magazine to send in your logo0TcreationR or A H ANNIVERS email it to alumni@hampshire.edu. We will display your outstandingly creative responses during the 40th celebration in June. photo through letter

In Memoriam Since the last issue of NSS, we have been saddened to learn of the deaths of the following members of the Hampshire community. If you would like more information, please contact us at alumni@ hampshire.edu. We may begradient able to provide an obituary or put you through letter in touch with family or friends of the deceased.

1989 Joeff Davis writes, “I was named 2008 Photojournalist of the Year in Atlanta by the Atlanta Press Club, a panel of journalists from print, radio, and television outlets. You can check out the winning pictures as well as some of my favorite images from 2008 at www.joeff. com/c/joeff/gallery-list (click on Photojournalist of the Year).”

40TH A

EGE

HAMPS

0T H

black and white pattern

EGE

photo through letter

Cr eate Yo u r O w n 40th Lo g o

1988 Jeremy Lyons writes, “I have recently released a CD entitled Jeremy Lyons’ Delta-Silly Music for Kids, consisting mostly of fun, acoustic folk music. In the past few years since relocating from New Orleans to Cambridge, Massachusetts, I have been doing a lot of music with young people, including summer camp jobs, performances and workshops at the Boston Children’s Museum and the Children’s Museum of Louisiana, and weekly sing-alongs at Stellabella Toys in Cambridge. The CD has been well received (by parents as well as kids). For more information, check out the website: www.deltasillymusic.com. For those of you interested in my music for grown-ups, check out www.deltabilly.com. I still perform in New Orleans from time to time, and will be gigging down there again this spring.

ANNIVERS

0T H

EGE

Craig Laurance Gidney released his debut collection of short fiction, called Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories. The book is a finalist for the 2008 Lambda Literary Award in the Science Fiction/ Fantasy/Horror category. Gidney is also the managing editor for Lethe Press.

solid

at Syracuse University in 1985. Present at the wedding were Zach Woods 87S and his wife, Deb, and many others including several from other countries. Wesley UMC is a multicultural, bilingual congregation serving Korean immigrants in Korean as well as Anglo and African Americans and other immigrants in English. I serve there part time while continuing to work on my doctorate and as a TA for courses in worship and preaching at Boston University. I have enjoyed finding many Hampshire friends on Facebook.”

photo with black letter

Alums Mary Bernadette Powers 71F Wayne Goldstein 73S Leslie Dawn Cole 73F Tricia Collins-Levi 74F William F. Fitzgerald 77F David Evans Kingston 78F Monette Maria Stewart 79F Melissa Grace Mulcahy 85F Jude Michael Peterson 86S David H. Crawford 90F Koji S. Kamada 96F

Faculty and staff

Carol A. Boardway, Merrill House coordinator and administrative assistant, institutional advancement office, 1969-2004 Edward Weber, mechanical specialist, 1982-1994

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

1997

Roxana Ruth, daughter of Jeff Sharlet 90F

1990 Jeff Sharlet writes, “Roxana Ruth Sharlet, 8 pounds 3 ounces, 19 inches tall, was born just after midnight, April 1. “She has her mother’s eyes, my nose, and she was born looking backwards, so maybe she’ll be a historian like Julie (Rabig 92F). She was a week overdue and delivered only under duress, so maybe she’ll be chronically late like her father. We know she’ll be wonderful, because she already is.”

1993

Jewelry artist Coco Dunmire has been awarded the Talente Prize 2009 at the Munich International Trade Fair. Talente is Europe’s most prestigious juried competitive exhibition, showing work by young and emerging artists working in crafts, design, and technology. Dunmire won for three brooches of resin and iron. Her work is exhibited and sold through 511 Gallery in New York City and Lake Placid, and she was chosen from more than 99 exhibitors who had been pre-selected for the show. Two of her works were acquired for the permanent collection of the Pinakothek der Moderne, in Munich, one of the greatest collections of 20th- and 21st century art, with four museums representing art, works on paper, architecture, and design.

Shannon McKay-Cook 97F and her husband Jonathan Abraham 97F

1998 Alex Fountain writes, “I recently joined the forces of the SEO (search-engine optimization) world, learning about the dark side so that I can use it for good. I am also editing an independent feature with a soundtrack by Iron & Wine. Keep an eye out for the trailer in this year’s alumni reel.”

Shannon McKay Cook and Jonathon Abraham were married on October 18, 2008, at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York. They are both pursuing graduate degrees. They live in Jersey City, New Jersey, with their children: a dog and a cat

1999 Danny Holt writes, “Many of you know about this already, but some of you haven’t heard from me in years. I’m very excited to announce that my solo CD Fast Jump (see opposite) is now available on Innova Recordings. The disc is jam-packed with music by some of my favorite composers: David Lang, Lona Kozik, Graham Fitkin, Caleb Burhans, and Jascha Narveson. The recording was produced by my friend and mentor Mike Garson (pianist for David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, and others, and a fantastic composer/improviser). Have a listen and please let me know what you think! If you like it, take a moment to write a short customer review on Amazon or iTunes to help spread the word. Visit www. dannyholt.net.” Holt will perform at the 40th celebration in June.

Wendy M. Hysko is assistant director at the Brownell Library in Essex Junction, Vermont.

1995 Nadia Lesy’s Parkour Dance Company, BULLETTRUN, was invited to be one of the opening acts for Career Transition for Dancers’ prestigious annual gala, America Dances! at New York’s City Center on November 2.

1996

DIXIE SHERIDAN

Safron Rossi received her Ph.D. in mythological studies with an emphasis on depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara California, in August.

Nadia Lesy 95F

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

Alex Fountain 98F

2000 David Torrey Peters and Deborah Melissa Minor (photo on opposite page) were married on May 9 in the Pergola Garden at Airlie in Wilmington, North Carolina.

2001 Sarah Jenny Bleviss is currently working on her master’s degree at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in the Interactive Telecommunications Program. She organized the first New York Sex Worker Film and Video Festival on October 24 at Union Docs in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For more information about the event, please visit www.sarahjenny.org

A TERM OF SERVICE Ari Shapiro 02F was among AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) team leaders who worked with the Red Cross last fall to provide disaster relief assistance to the tsunami-devastated Territory of American Samoa. Q: What work were you involved in as part of the disaster relief?

Raphael Crawford-Marks writes, “I returned from 27 months of service in Honduras with the Peace Corps in May. Last month I joined Year Up, a nonprofit education and jobtraining program for urban young adults, where I work in program growth and quality.” Alexander Petroff and Seth Raphael 02S were among the first group of TED Global Fellows, who were invited to participate in the TED (Technology,

Entertainment, Design) Global Conference 2009 in Oxford, UK, in July. High-tech magician Raphael is founder of X-Pollinate, an interdisciplinary team of innovators. Petroff is founder of Working Villages International, an organization building sustainable communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Vanessa Raymond writes, “After Nathaniel Broekman 02F and I got married in 2008, we accepted an invitation to serve together in Peace Corps Bulgaria. We will be there as volunteers for two years. Nat will be teaching English to primary- and secondary-aged school kids, and I will be doing my best in community development and business advising. Until we leave, we will carry on as usual, living and working in New York City. Nat is a freelance sound engineer and volunteers as a teacher of English at the Arab American Association of New York. He also plays slide guitar in Julia Haltigan’s 02F band, Julia Halitgan and the Hooligans. I work at Jazz at Lincoln Center in programming, and am training to be a professional Polynesian dancer. We’ll keep you updated on life in Bulgaria!”

My work varied greatly during the three weeks I was deployed in American Somoa. I packed clean-up kits, distributed food and water, and worked individually with those affected by the disaster to help them address their immediate needs. I even spent several days building yurts—not quite like the yurt at Hampshire, but rather round tents used as temporary housing for people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the waves. Q: How did Hampshire prepare you for the work you now do? My time at Hampshire renewed my love of learning, taught me to work independently, and challenged me to solve problems creatively. Additionally, the College provided resources throughout my academic career. This included institutional support for an alternative spring break trip I organized and expert advice from the Community Partnerships for Social Change office as I focused my Divisional work on community-based learning. As a team leader, be it teaching sixth graders long division or grocery shopping for a team of ten, I often rely on skills I honed and topics I studied at Hampshire.

David Torrey Peters 00F with his wife, Deborah Melissa Minor

Winter 2010 To Know Is Not Enough

Andrew Younkins writes, “I’m graduating from the University of San Francisco School of Law, cum laude, in a few days! In addition, I recently published my first journal article, titled ‘Judicial Review of Interest Arbitration Awards Under the Employee Free Choice Act,’ in the University of San Francisco Law Review.”

2002 Cullen Emily West and Seth Taylor Raphael were married on Aug. 8 at Kenburn Orchards in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.

2003 On March 12, Ragni Marea Kidvai (graduated in 2007) and Julian Padilla 04F (graduated in 2008) were married.

Shar e yo ur o wn 40th r eflections! We would love to hear from others within the Hampshire community. Just send your thoughts and essays to 40threflections@ hampshire.edu and we will try to use some of them in future materials around the anniversary, whether online or in the next issue of the magazine.

Winter 2010 Non Satis Scire

BUILDING GREEN “I’ve always had a dream of building a house,” says Alexis Eynon 96F, a middle school art teacher in New Hampshire. Her dream is now in the process of coming true. Last summer, she found five acres of land along the Upper Mad River Road and decided to build green. “I’ve always had a nerdy fascination with green architecture,” Eynon says, “but that wasn’t the original idea.” When she consulted a good friend on project management, he had an unusual idea, or at least an unusual idea in the Northeast: straw-bale insulation. (The material is far more common in green buildings in the West or dryer climates.) “We had to find solutions around climate challenges. A lot of decision making had to go into the building,” she says. Eynon, who studied ceramics and music at Hampshire and completed graduate work at Plymouth State University, says she is in love with the process of learning and the idea of using experience as a learning tool: “That’s actually the beauty of a Hampshire education. It’s not about the product you create so much as it is about the process of creating. “The greatest thing a Hampshire education can give you is the ability to gather information from a lot of sources, and really evaluate those. Whatever you study, you can be sure you’ll be rewarded with that gift,” she says. Through the winter, her home building project is on hold because applied plaster will crack under freezing temperatures, but work will resume this spring. Eynon says she and her crew are “fully dedicated to building out of compassion for the earth. My Hampshire experience has played a huge role in this. I think it’s a great lesson in dreaming big.” —Aaron Richmond-Havel 09F

In the Studio

“Painting is in my blood,” says Guy Yanai 97F. “If I don’t paint, I kind of go crazy. It’s something that’s very difficult, something that makes me face myself—all of the strengths and all of the weaknesses in me—on a daily basis.” Yanai’s inspiration for his current project, oil paintings on 40 small birch panels, comes from diverse sources, everything from mundane encounters with random objects to his research into history, politics, and art. He seeks to transcend concepts and create art that couldn’t exist in any other form than a painting. “I think a painting has to be something that has to be painted—it has to be totally its own language,”

he says. “Each project creates its own lexicon. My current project is about local, little experiences that I’m going to translate onto these panels.” “I know the emotion of what I’m going to be doing but I don’t know how it’s going to look,” says Yanai. “I let the work define itself through the process of working. I do have a vision, but it will come out through the work.” His artistic process was fine-tuned at Hampshire, particularly in Division III: “Hampshire gives you the freedom to go out, rent a studio off campus, and attempt something on an ambitious scale,” he says. Yanai did just that in a studio in Easthampton, filling it with paintings, some of which are now in public and private collections overseas. About his Div III, “Without Hampshire, I’m not sure it could have been pulled off,” he says. “It’s having the time, freedom, and the expectation that you do something totally unique—not only that, but that you have the support and infrastructure that doesn’t go against you but pushes you to do more.” Since 2006, Yanai has been working as an artist full time in Tel Aviv, and his paintings have been featured in exhibitions at galleries in Israel and the United States. Recently, he has done residencies at the Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium and the Zach Fuer Gallery in New York. At the latter he met up with Matthew Phillips 97F, currently a visiting assistant professor of art at Hampshire, and they began collaboration on a project. “When I was at Hampshire, I was inspired by so much insane talent,” says Yanai. In the way that Yanai’s art defines itself through his work, the great thing that Hampshire brings to the academic world, he says, is the flexibility to be defined by “students and their work. In other schools, you’re going through their processes, but at Hampshire, you get to define the process for yourself.” —Taliesin Nyala 07F

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Hampshire College

Office of Alumni and Family Relations 893 West Street Amherst, MA 01002-3359

City State, Yellow Crate, and Avocado, paintings by Guy Yanai 97F.