Alumni presenter at the "Versatility of the Liberal Arts Experience" seminar reassured first-year students and sophomores considering choosing a liberal arts major. Seminar directors hoped to debunk myths and fears associated with the broad nature of a liberal arts education. Sixty-five students singed up for the seminar, according to Rosalind Hoffa, associate dean of students and one of the event's organizers.
"Our hope was to introduce students to a wide variety of opportunities that exist for people with liberal arts major," said Hoffa. "We thought that it would be most helpful if they could hear that from alumni who are now doing a wide variety of things."
The freedom of attending a class for which he did not receive a grade appealed to Graham Marks '07. "I thought the class was really informative. I liked how you can try out a class and a new experience without it affecting your grades," he said.
"The alums talked at a deeper level and were able to reflect back on their Amherst experience and remember what it was like to be a freshman or a sophomore trying to choose a major," said Hoffa. According to her, by the end of the seminar all of the students reported feeling more comfortable with the task of selecting a major.
The "Pre-Business Seminar" also tried to assist students in learning about the possibilities for a liberal arts education. One hundred and forty students from Amherst, Smith and Mount Holyoke colleges attended the six-day seminar. "The mission of the ... Pre-Business Seminar is to provide students with the necessary tools and knowledge to be competitive entrants in the business world," according the College's website.
Megan Kahn '05E, the assistant director of the seminar, explained the seminar presented an introduction to the culture. Participants discussed interviewing, networking, resume-writing and general information about the business world. Directors worked to improve the seminar from last year by adapting to feedback from last year's participants. They made the seminar shorter and hosted more impressive speakers. "Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive," said Kahn.
Interterm provides a good opportunity for alumni to return to the College to share their knowledge of the professional world with students. "Alumni return to the College to discuss their areas of expertise," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber. The seminar included panels about the fields of consulting, finance, marketing and advertising. "[The seminar] is the kind of thing that would be hard to accomplish during the semester but interterm provides a very good opportunity to allow that to occur," said Lieber.
Min Wang '06 appreciated the variety of information and organization of the event. "I thought [the class] was helpful because there was a wide variety of business professionals from different areas," he said. "I was impressed because it was well coordinated."
In Associate Professor of Psychology Catherine Sanderson's "Close Relationships: The Condensed Version," "We talked about a variety of issues related to close relationships, including attraction, love, attachment, conflict, jealousy and predictors of relationship satisfaction," said Sanderson. "The class was a lot of fun to teach-as a professor, it is very rewarding to teach to students who all want to be there ... and it is wonderful not to have to grade exams, papers," she said.
Stephen Scriber '06 enjoyed the close relationships class. "It was fun to be here over interterm. [The class] was a good way to take a psych course since I wouldn't usually take a class in that department," he said.
For people who wanted to learn about wildlife, "Ecology through Animal Tracking" provided an opportunity to do so. "It's an eye opening experience to be able to see and interpret what's going on around us," said Physics Teaching Fellow Noah Charney, one of the course instructors. "It seems that Amherst College could use a broadening of its environmental program, and since we love to teach [animal] tracking, the Interterm program seemed like a perfect opportunity."
In addition to the opportunities on campus, many people participated in internships off campus. "Over 70 students participated in public service internships," said Lieber. "That is the highest number so far."
According to Lieber, Interterm started in the 1970s as a way for the College to shut down and save money on oil used to heat the school. Interterm was so well received that it remained even when heating costs were no longer a concern. "[Interterm] has developed into a thing where the college [stays] open to host all kinds of activities," said Lieber. According to him, cultivating internship opportunities and creating programs to target groups of students will be very important for future Interterm sessions.