Name: Hester Tittmann
Preferred Pronouns: They/them
Hometown: Cambridge, MA
Division: II

My areas of concentration are architecture and critical theory. This means I think about oppression and identity (especially in the U.S.) and draw a lot of ideas, buildings and cities (especially in the U.S.). 

The reason I came to Hampshire was instinct. I felt in my gut that this was a place I could thrive. So far, I've been dead-on-right. My advice to prospective students in the college search process is follow your instincts. 

Favorite book: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. The author is a raging homophobe, but I still love Ender, Bean, Alai, and Petra to death.

Thing you’ve done in life that you’re most proud of: I biked across the country. It was the hardest 4,000 miles of my life.

Favorite class: Border Culture with Lorne Falk and Immigration Nation with Susana Loza; both courses busted open my brain cells and threw them all over the place. I learned so much about my own queerness, whiteness, and everythingness in this classes.

Favorite project: I'm working the Barn Project, a student-led initiative to design and build a new space for Mixed Nuts (a student-run food co-op on campus) and a group gathering space. If you want in on this project too, check out rehamping.tumblr.com/barn

Favorite stress buster: Running in the woods behind Hampshire

Favorite Quote: "You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive." -- Martha Graham
 

Name: Will Shattuc
Preferred Pronouns: He/him
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Email: wbs11@hampshire.edu
Division: II

I have a deep love of natural science and an equal love of theater and design and have tried time and again to combine the two. If I could, I would come to Hampshire ten times to try everything.

After taking a field ecology course and realizing that that's not what drew me to science, I've been interested in the stories that run through the subject. Every fossil had a life, every volcanic island a performance charged with images from start to finish. I'm exploring the how we express what's in the world, from scientific research to the charged emotions of theater. Everything is a story, so my Div II is called Story and Space.

My favorite places on campus are the Center for Design and the woods and surrounding wilderness.

Name: Louisa Lebwohl
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Madison, NJ
Email: ljl10@hampshire.edu
Division: II
Areas of Concentration: Public History, Museum Studies, Women’s History, Archival Studies

I came to Hampshire because I was bored in high school and didn't want to be bored in college, too. The opportunity to determine and to study exactly what it is I care most about seemed exciting for this reason. Also, I was very interested in taking advantage of the Five College consortium, and I certainly have during my three years here so far.

Favorite movie: Adaptation starring Nic Cage
Favorite class taken: The Past Recaptured with Michael Lesy
Dream job: Curator at the Tenement Museum in New York City
Favorite places to hang out in Amherst/Noho: Public libraries, Rao’s in Amherst, the Roost in Northampton

Name: Peter Nguyen
Preferred pronouns: He/him
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Division: III
Areas of Concentration: Biology, Mathematics

I came to Hampshire because I wanted to actively pursue everything my heart desired. I honestly had no idea what the future had in store for me, but I knew one thing--I didn't want to be limited in any way while figuring out just what it is that I wanted to do.

Hampshire gave me just enough freedom and flexibility to really test the waters and explore all the paths I ever thought about following.

Name: Sal Migliaccio
Preferred Pronouns: He/him
Hometown: Stamford, CT
Division: Div II
Areas of Concentration: American Politics
Email: sam11@hampshire.edu

I ended up at Hampshire because of how affordable it was after their generous financial aid package. Once on campus, I quickly found my place here.

Global Economic Institutions with Omar Dahi has probably been my favorite class while at Hampshire. It was really eye-opening, and exposed to me a different side of economics.

My dream job is working in a presidential cabinet. I am inspired by people who genuinely care about what they are doing.

Name: Zach Apony

Preferred Pronouns: He/him
Hometown: Burlington, MA
Areas of Concentration: Classical Tragedy
Email: zna10@hampshire.edu

I came to Hampshire for so many reasons. It all started because I wanted to avoid High School Part Two, inasmuch as I didn't want college to be more of the same. Hampshire proved to be quite the antithesis of many of my high school experiences. The overtly academic community factored in heavily; it was the kind of place I had been looking for where academic discussion was not just accepted but commonplace and loved. It's really the mainstay way of introducing yourself around here, and that just doesn't happen in high school (and most colleges for that matter).

Then, Hampshire's extraordinary pedagogy came to bear, which blew all expectations and standards of what a college experience could be. My beliefs on education have always been centered around it being an ongoing process of development and growth. Both the system of evaluations and the Divisional System bring those concepts out of the realm of ideology into the realm of practicality. Inquiry- and development-based are two major words that come to mind when I think of Hampshire's educational philosophy. Finally, the Five College consortium. Whew! Now that's what did me in. Plenty of non-traditional schools make the claim of offering the freedom and resources for students to study whatever they want, and while some may give that freedom, their resources will always seem lacking to me in comparison to the vast resources of the Five College consortium. In essence, Hampshire is perfect for me, and even though it may not be perfect for everyone, it has the potential to be perfect for anyone.

Name: Emma Opitz
Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Helena, MT and Salt Lake City, UT
Email: eco10@hampshire.edu

I originally had no interest in going to college because I was under the impression that college would be a repeat of high school--all about tests, teachers who didn't care, being a number rather than a curious young adult. Then I met a Hampshire alum who introduced me to Hampshire and the larger concept of different educational philosophies. Once I visited Hampshire I knew that it was the only place I could attend college and getting in was one of the biggest achievements of my life.

I study the relationship between music and language from a scientific perspective. Specifically, I am interested in the tonal patterns that lay beneath words and sentences that communicate emotion and I am really interested in how they evolved. This relates to my interest in music as I believe that emotionality in musical melody may have evolved from similar origins as these tonal patterns in speech. To study this I have spent a lot of time taking courses in animal behavior, phonetics, neuroscience/cognition as well as bioacoustics and music psychology. I worked in the field with grey squirrels for quite a while at Hampshire, studying their acoustic vocalizations, and have also done theoretical work and data analysis on my findings.

To be able to do my work I have received grants from the Ray and Lorna Coppinger Fund as well as the Culture, Brain, and Development program that have ranged from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. I have studied abroad in Ireland and had an internship at the department of cognitive biology at the University of Vienna, working for Professor Fitch.

My non-academic life at Hampshire has largely involved working in Student Life, from being an orientation leader and coordinator to helping create our new student government, the Hampshire Student Union. I am a 1st year mentor for incoming students, I participate in the ISIS Bohm Dialogues, am a student member of  the School of Cognitive Science, and have served on 2 search committees.

In my free time I watch a lot of cartoons I never got to watch as a kid, I play with my cat Poppy (I live off campus), and obsessively paint my nails. I am also an expert on where to eat in the valley and can give you food recommendations for hours. I love to paint and drink tea and do DIY home improvement craft projects.

Name: Daniel Krasner
Preferred Pronouns: He/him
Hometown: Frederick, Maryland
Area of Concentration: Creative Writing, Art History/Theory, Literature
Email: dak11@hampshire.edu

I came to Hampshire because I wanted to take my education into my own hands--where it rightfully belongs. I don’t want to be locked into a specific track of academia. Instead, I want to be able to create it and mold it to fit my needs, utilizing close relationships with faculty members in the center of an academic goldmine. I came to work for admissions not only because I love this school to pieces, but so that I can help others figure out their own paths, wherever they may lead.

My interests lie in largely in the realm of the humanities, where I study 20th century to present-day coming of age narratives, (creative) non-fiction/personal narratives, and trauma narratives that have been aestheticized into some form of art: sometimes film and oftentimes visual art, but primarily in the form of the written arts. Instead of simply writing about writing, I prefer to angle my work towards using what I read and observe as fuel for creating my own written work, often creative in its own right or journalistic, as I also infuse the dimension of cross-cultural studies and experiences.

Name: Allxie Cleary
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Email: abc10@hampshire.edu

When I came to Hampshire, I had a lot of different interests and Hampshire helped me distill what I loved about each one.

I'm now spending most of my time inventing things and blacksmithing in the Center for Design, taking engineering-type courses at Hampshire, and classic engineering classes at some of the other four colleges.

I participate in many student groups including, but not limited to, the Gin & Tonics acapella group, Blacksmithing, Glass Collective, Yurt Radio, Excalibur (the scifi/fantasy movie-watching club), and Unofficial Hypnosis Club.

 
Name: Ethan Kaseff
Preferred Pronouns: He/him
Hometown: Kansas city, Kansas
Division: II
Areas of Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Happiness, Communication
Email: emk10@hampshire.edu

I came to Hampshire because of the alternative style of education it offered. It has allowed me the freedom and comfort to focus my own education. Coming into Hampshire I was full steam ahead towards psychology. Now I am focusing more on entrepreneurship through the lens of psychology and the pursuit of happiness.

My favorite book is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It came a long at a perfect time in my life when I was on somewhat of a life and spiritual journey and I really appreciated Coelho's self-reflecting writing.

I have been to Israel over fifteen times. I have family there and have been on many group trips. I also lived, studied (academics and culinary), and volunteered there for a year between high school and coming to Hampshire.

Name: Applesauce
Preferred Pronouns: They/them
Hometown: La Jolla, California

I have devoted my academic pursuits to studying the intersections of critical primate theory, gender identity, and knitting. I am currently in the throes of my Division III research; my working title is Unpacking the Sock Drawer: An Investigation of Sustainable Uses of Alternative Footwear and the Objectification of Primates.

I hail from a family of tube socks in the San Diego area. Actually, I am quite multicultural, as my mother is cotton and my father is polyester; my grandmother was composed of spandex (she’s first-generation Californian and very flexible!). Hampshire students welcomed me to the community and even helped me to form the Sock Monkeys and Allies Collective (SMAC). Since moving to Massachusetts, I have become an avid Red Sox fan.

At Hampshire College, we value self-expression and self-identification for all members of our community. Hampshire College expects that all members of our community will let people self-identify their gender and the gender pronouns they use to describe themselves.