One of my favorite things about Hampshire College is hearing what students are studying and what they’re doing—or planning on doing—for their Division III (senior) projects. Since Hampshire requires us to design our own “majors,” students must find ways to incorporate multiple interests and areas of study into a single endeavor.
The work of an applied design professor and her students at Hampshire College may result in a greater yield and more efficient preparation of one of the dietary staples of sub-Saharan Africa.
Created and recognized for shaping bold new educational approaches, Hampshire is expanding its calendar of academic programs to include a variety of summer programs geared toward professionals and practitioners, advanced high school students, graduate students, and undergraduates.
Think of it as win-win-win: A $1 million gift to Hampshire College provides seed money for innovative projects and businesses started by current students and recent graduates. Other students gain hands-on investing experience as they make all decisions on which ventures to fund. And if their investments on behalf of Hampshire succeed, as the donor thinks they will, they may provide big dividends for the college.
While pursuing an MFA in design at the University of Texas at Austin, Beth Ferguson 96F bought an electric scooter on Craigslist. When she couldn’t find a place to charge it, she created a solar-charging station on campus. The SolarPump Charging Station became her thesis project, and she wrote a business plan for a course she was taking on social entrepreneurship. Thus was Sol Design Lab launched.
Like most Hampshire students, Nara Williams 09F is creative, bold about putting her ideas into action, and concerned about living in an environmentally responsible manner. Her academic work focuses on literary journalism and sustainability.
A student team from Hampshire won first prize in the Health Literacy Hackathon sponsored by CommunicateHealth, a company cofounded by Xanthi Scrimgeour 85F. Zeke Nierenberg 09F, Kira McCoy 09F, Jamie Matheson 11F, and Amit Ringel 08F created a tool—called Carrot/Stick—that uses recorded messages from friends and family to help smokers quit. Within weeks, the inventive team won another award in the Massachusetts Insti
