A Tour of Art Careers

It wasn’t a tour of art museums. It was a tour of art careers. That was the opportunity offered to and taken by senior art majors over fall break, as alumni and friends welcomed students to the varied art world of New York City. The four-day trip, organized by the Department of Art through an […]

How We Think, Feel, Behave

Assistant Professor of Psychology Christopher Soto has good news and bad news. The bad news: “Most kids become less agreeable and less conscientious from about age ten to about age fourteen.” The good news? “Then they turn things around. They get much nicer and more responsible over the course of high school and college years, […]

Seeing the World—and Colby—Through Mark Twain’s Eyes

When I tell people I stayed in Mark Twain’s summer home, I never know what kind of response to expect. One person asked me if I’d gone swimming in the Mississippi; others assumed I was referring to the mansion he built in Hartford. But, every now and then, someone gives me a spellbound look and […]

Samara Gunter, assistant professor of economics

“I love the moment when a new metaphor makes a hard concept suddenly clear. For me, teaching economics, the search for the perfect example is like the hunt for a perfect seashell on a beach with rough waves. Most shells are flawed, but I choose a handful of the best and carry those with me. Still, […]

Teaching, like Medicine, Has Come a Long, Long Way

It all started with a strange 19th-century potion called Female Monthly Pills.

Exploring Common Ground

Many writers grow close to a subject after years of research, poring over documents and papers, parsing works line by line. Jorge Olivares felt tied to the subject of his latest book, the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, before the project even began. Olivares, the Allen Family Professor of Latin American Literature at Colby, has devoted […]

Can You See a Sound?

Reflections on a Liberal Arts Experience

What’s On Your Mind?

Professor Erin Sheets studies how Facebook really makes us feel—and finds that it isn’t always better

Q&A: Associate Professor John Turner

Professor John Turner on teaching Islam at Colby and why we all need to know more

Q&A: Tashia Bradley

You came to Colby from Berea College. Are there big differences between the two?  I think there really are distinct differences. The mission of Berea is very targeted toward students from the Appalachia region who have limited economic means but great promise. It has an historical commitment to interracial education. So I think there’s a […]