News
Professor Jay Pillay Denied Reappointment
On March 1, Margaret Cerullo, professor of sociology and feminist studies in SS, released an open letter regarding President Ralph Hexter’s decision not to reappoint Jayendran Pillay, an assistant professor of world music in HACU. Her letter calls the decision “unjust and inhumane” and expresses concern about what she considers “to be an assumption of presidential prerogative unprecedented in my nearly thirty years at Hampshire.” Controversy is gradually building around the case. Read More
Squash Soup, Chicken Soup, and Sue Darlington
Sue Darlington, the Dean of the Center for Academic Support and Advising and an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies, opened her spiritual journey lunch, “Squash Soup, Chicken Soup, and Sue Darlington” in the Merrill living room with a question—“What is spirituality?” Read More
Lost in Translation: Art, Exile, Memory Art talks Continue
Anyone who has ever tried to get a comprehensible sentence out of Babel Fish will understand the difficulties inherent in translation. While I can get this simple online program to tell me how to say “El Clímax es el mejor periódico,” anything longer becomes hopelessly convoluted and inauthentic. The problem becomes even more complicated when you need to know not just how to fudge your Spanish homework, but how to deal with the challenges of negotiating multiple languages in the different domains of life. Read More
Open Letter Regarding the Reappointment of Jay Pillay
Dear Ralph:
I am writing you with concern upon hearing that you have made a decision to terminate the contract of our colleague Jayendran Pillay, overturning the positive decision of the College Committee on Faculty Reappointments and Promotions (CCFRAP). I write first because I believe your decision is unjust and inhumane; and second, to communicate my worry to you and to my colleagues about the significance of what I believe to be an assumption of presidential prerogative unprecedented in my nearly thirty years at Hampshire. Read More
Students Head to New Orleans for Spring Break
Next week 78 students are going to be getting down and dirty in New Orleans cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina and Rita. These students are lead by the signers of the Hampshire Habitat for Humanity group. They will be part of a larger grassroots movement of students who are being organized by non-profits organizations, such as the Common Ground Collective and Katrina on the Ground. These Hampshire students are going to be part of an ongoing effort to support up to 3,000 student volunteers per week. Read More
Books Building Bridges
Books Building Bridges is a community based project examining the impact of war on libraries, literacy and education in the US and in Iraq. In partnership with Books to Baghdad, Books Building Bridges is actively seeking donations of academic textbooks published within the last five years in the following subjects: engineering, math, science, computer science, medicine, technology. Books Building Bridges is working with colleges and universities in the Valley to support book donation drives on various campuses. Holyoke Community College student Raul Matta says that “People don’t usually understand the smaller and more insidious destruction of war, but our own experience as students helps us to understand the impact war has on education. Without books, we as students would be entirely handicapped, and because we can relate to the need for books and resources at our colleges, we understand the need to help the students of Baghdad University.” The donated books will be shipped to faculty and students at Baghdad University in July 2006 through Books for Baghdad, an effort organized by Jacksonville State University Professor Safaa Al-Hamdani. Read More
Reproductive Rights Conference
The Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program at Hampshire College Celebrates 25th Anniversary at Annual Reproductive Rights Conference April 7-9, 2006, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA. The Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program at Hampshire College will celebrate its 25th year working for reproductive rights at its annual conference, “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom.” Read More
A Letter about Community Carnival
Hello dear Hampshire’s students. I am writing to let you know of an event that being planned in coordination with members of various student groups (including Hampshire Circus), the AMC, as well as individual students and artists on campus. The event, the Community Carnival, will take place on Thursday, April twentieth, and will feature student run and sponsored workshops throughout the course of the day in various locations on campus. The idea behind the event is that it will be a student led offering of information and brainstorming, facilitating community through sharing of knowledge, art and expression. While classes are part of our work here at Hampshire, extracurricular activity is a large part of what defines us as a student body. Through these workshops, we will be able to show to the campus what we are passionate about, what we work on, and educate others about issues and ideas that are integral to our definition as a student community. Read More