Name: Kira McCoy
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Email: kmm09@hampshire.edu

I study the intersections between public health, human rights, and technology. I'm an explorer—dabbling in a cappella, welding, poetry, neuroscience, nature, and salsa dancing. My interests have evolved (which Hampshire encourages) and I've discovered my passion for global health. My Division III project is designing and testing a new app to help people quit smoking.

I've enjoyed running the Amnesty International and CBD (Culture, Brain, and Development) student group, where we geek out and have dinner on Wednesdays. I've also had a blast on the women's soccer team and lecture-hopping on weekday evenings.

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: Katie Myers-Cooper
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Ithaca, NY
Areas of Concentration: Education; child psychology, and development

I chose Hampshire because of its open curriculum and focus on student-driven academics. I knew I wanted to work with children but didn't know in what capacity. My gut told me that Hampshire was the right place, because I'd be able to pursue child studies while exploring other fields without having to worry about following a predetermined set of courses.

I really love Hampshire and am thankful for my time here. I have grown as a student through the ingrained and expected processes students are expected to go through here. Hampshire is often referred to as the grad school for undergrads because of the emphasis placed on student advocacy within our educations.

My Division III project is "The Importance of Sociocultural and Socioeconomic Factors on Developing Student Literacies."

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: Priyanka Basnet
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Kathmandu, Nepal
Areas of Concentration: Environmental Chemistry and Agriculture

I came to Hampshire because I wanted to be in a place where I could enjoy learning, explore various academic areas, and not have to be in a competitive environment. Also Hampshire gave me an amazing financial aid package.

My favorite class so far is Local Food Systems. It gave me a whole new perspective on food and the environmental and social implications regarding the production of food. It is also the class that got me interested in agriculture and environmental chemistry.

Thing you’ve done in life that you’re most proud of: Collaborated with my sisters to start an organic food shop in Kathmandu over the summer of 2011. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of small-scale organic farmers from around the country and hear their stories of what food meant to them. Starting this project we were able to give these farmers a better value for their product and provide healthy food in the market. My sister continues to run the shop, and I hope to participate more later.

Favorite book: By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paolo Coelho. Coelho gives such spiritual meaning to love and simplifies something we complicate so much.

Favorite restaurant in Amherst: Mission Cantina

Name: Emma Opitz
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah
Email: eco10@hampshire.edu

My Division III is in Cognitive Science, Communication Systems, Evolution, Mind and the Brain.

I came to Hampshire because my experience from high school was that there is a difference between school and learning. I wanted a college education that was centered around learning, asking questions, experimentation, and making things rather than grades, tests, memorization, and competition. The philosophy here at Hampshire is if you can a faculty member to say yes, you can do anything you want. I’ve experienced this from becoming a world expert on grey squirrel communication, to going to Ireland, to doing photography for assignments in history/literature/immigration course.

Getting into and excelling here at Hampshire is not only the biggest accomplishment of my young life, but it changed my life completely. I was unexcited about the idea of going to college for many years and wasn’t planning on applying anywhere. I didn’t think that there was a school out there that could make me like school. Once Hampshire became part of my life I went from being a smart but uninterested high school student to a great future scholar, absolute overachiever, and hard worker. A school that can foster this type of educational change in a student is also a place where individuals come to grow in all aspects of their lives. I went from a (slightly) anxious kinda nerdy girl to becoming a campus leader through the New Student Orientation Program, helping to create the new Student Government, the Sustainability Transition Advisory Committee, and having been on search committees. I care deeply about this institution and the students that come here, because it has been a magical place of transformation for me.

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: Matt Gonzalez
Preferred Pronouns: He/him
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Email: mg09@hampshire.edu

My Division II has transformed into what I consider "teacher boot camp" with a focus in theatre. Studying technical theatre, theatre arts, and education within the Five College consortium and working in the public school systems of the Pioneer Valley, I would like to craft a Division III project that gets me working with students on developing theatre performances.

I love Hampshire for its innovative approach to education. Hampsters are given the freedom to study and question their interests in an academic environment in which the courses you decide to take and the educational experiences you engage in craft the title of your concentration and not vice versa.

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: Amber Haggerty
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Lakewood, Colorado
Email: arh09@hampshire.edu

My Division II work has evolved drastically from my original interest in psychology, as I have developed an interest in public policy, law, and education. I am currently interested in the role of the state and education as a political, social, and ideological institution.

Additionally, I have pursued my other academic interests in psychology and Spanish through an internship doing equine therapy and a trip to Guatemala, respectively.

When I am not in class or interning, I am riding on the Hampshire College Equestrian Team, which competes regionally.

Name: Zeke Nierenberg
Preferred Pronouns: He/him
Hometown: El Cerrito, CA
Division: III
Areas of Concentration: Global Health and Computer Science
Email: zan09@hampshire.edu

I came to Hampshire because here you are encouraged to combine disciplines, creating new ways of seeing things. My favorite class here was The Nature of Language. I’ve never been so excited to read a handful of books and write a research paper. I did my final project on creole genesis and it was an amazing learning experience. I really wanted to be a linguist for a good portion of that semester. I just couldn’t find a way to tie it into social justice.

Favorite Quote: “I critique market-based medicine not because I haven't seen its heights but because I've seen its depths.” -- Paul Farmer

Dream Job: Web developer and physician working to make health systems better

Name: Shantu M. Ealy
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Bronx, New York
E-mail: sme09@hampshire.edu

Entering college, I thought I wanted to be an English or social studies teacher. So far, I haven't strayed too far from my goal of being an educator. I currently study alternative philosophies and pedagogies of education with a focus on arts integration and community building.

The title of my Division III is, "Alternative Philosophies of Education--Where Did They Come From, Where are they Going: The Making of an Integrated Curriculum"

Upon graduating, I will be a City Year New York corps member 2013-2014.

Name: Lizzy Dorrell
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Hometown: Newnan, Georgia
Areas of Concentration: Dramaturgy and Design
Email: ead09@hampshire.edu

I came to Hampshire because I love the narrative evaluations! I went to a very grade-centric high school, and it wasn't for me. Narrative evaluations show me where my strengths and weaknesses are in a very detailed, constructive way. I also came to Hampshire fully intending on studying film, but the theater program was so inclusive that I couldn't turn away. I've been studying all aspects of theater and film: writing, theory, history, and production. I've had so many opportunities here that I wouldn't have had at other schools.

My favorite class has been Practices of Dramaturgy with Talya Kingston. I didn't even know dramaturgy was a subject before then. Turns out I've been a dramaturge for a long time. We did script readings for Hartford Stage, advised playwrights in the New Play Festival here at Hampshire, and wrote adaptations (which was the catapult for my Division III work).

I've directed two student-written productions, designed and painted multiple sets, written my own one act, and created several short film productions in both digital and analog forms. Living in New England has been quite a change from Georgia, but I've grown quite attached to the Amherst and Northampton area. The Pioneer Valley is an incredibly beautiful place to live, and there's always something to do!

Favorite book: Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut. There are so many wonderful short stories here; it's been a favorite for a long time. I even adapted a few for my Division III work.

You’re inspired by: Other students here and the amazing work they're doing; sunrise over the mountains across the street; news about space exploration; the Youtube video “Thumbs Up for Rock and Roll.”

Favorite places to hang out: Rao's in Amherst is the only place I can successfully write plays. It's right off the main street and has plenty of seating, great coffee and tea, and good music.

 
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: Linda Fenstermaker
Preferred Pronouns:  She/her
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Areas of Concentration: Film Production/Studies, Critical Theory
Email: laf09@hampshire.edu

I have always been a non-traditional person both academically and in my broader life. Hampshire’s unique academic structure seemed to fit my own learning philosophy. I came to Hampshire to study international relations within the Five College Peace Program, but after taking a film class, I realized that film was my passion. The openness and freedom of academic areas in the interdisciplinary system allowed to me discover my love for film.

The course Film 1 exposed me to areas of film and film production that really changed my course of study. In this class, I discovered experimental film, artists such as Stan Brakhage, Maya Deren, and Harry Smith. These films and filmmakers spoke to me in ways I had never experienced. In conjunction with these screenings, the class focused on personal filmmaking and taught 16mm film production. 16mm film is a unique and historical medium that is extremely important for the experimental film community, and Hampshire’s film program allows hands-on experience and education with the medium. This experience changed my course of study.

Favorite book: Any book by Helene Cixous. She is an amazing French theorist/creative writer who expands beyond the genres of literature. Her writing eloquently incorporates personal stories, theory, and prose. She writes about life and death and what it means to feel your own body.

Favorite places to hang out: Although I am a film student, I am also a scholar of critical theory. I love to do reading at Amherst Coffee in Amherst. It’s always warm and cozy inside and has the best atmosphere for reading heavy theory. And the music is great--lots of Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, and Coltrane to help you through your work.

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.