Making A Difference Guides - Hampshire College

In 1970, 200 students came to Amherst, Massachusetts to take part in an extraordinary new experiment in liberal arts education. Hampshire College has since grown to 1,200 students, and its position in higher education is secure. But true to Hampshire's original philosophy, an atmosphere of challenging accepted ideas and of intellectual and social ferment, still permeates the college.

Hampshire's innovations include: breaking down barriers between academic disciplines and fostering an integrated, dynamic view of knowledge; actively involving students in their own education; and connecting academic work to "real-world" issues and problems. All faculty and courses are organized into four Schools: Humanities and Arts, Social Science, Natural Science, and Communications and Cognitive Science. An anthropology professor daily rubs elbows with historians, psychologists, and political scientists. Faculty trained in different disciplines often "team up" and offer courses together. For instance "Women's Bodies, Women's Lives," was taught by a physiologist, a writer, and a sociologist.

Hampshire's founders were convinced that students would be better prepared for a rapidly changing society if they were also expected to carry out research and independent projects, and to pursue internships and field studies. The student headed to law school works for a Congressional representative in Washington; a student concerned about the problems of refugees goes to SE Asia to work for the Red Cross.

Virtually all Hampshire students incorporate internships or other off-campus experiences into their academic programs. The Program in Public Service and Social Change assists students in finding placements in human service agencies or social action organizations. The College maintains close ties with all study and service programs in Third World Countries. Students are also required to perform community service, and to incorporate a non-Western or multicultural perspective into their work.

Students collaborate with faculty mentors to design an individualized program of study. Concentrations typically embrace several subjects — a student concentrating in environmental studies might take courses in biology, politics, Third World studies, even literature. She might work at a local conservation area, or conduct research on the effect of habitat destruction on local wildlife populations. In the absence of course requirements, students design programs that reflect their most passionate interests and concerns. The typical question, "What's your major?" might elicit "Well, I'm interested in health care in Third World countries, so I'm taking pre-med courses and studying African history and reading about the philosophy of medicine. Next term I'll be working in a rural clinic in Nigeria."

Some 85% of Hampshire students go on to graduate or professional school. Almost 20% run their own businesses, everything from restaurants to yogurt companies, to design-and-construction firms. Still others are working as physicians, writers, lawyers, college professors, scientists, school teachers and social workers. Having learned at Hampshire to take charge of their own lives, and to change the society around them, the college's alumni are engaged in doing just that.