Stay Connected to Smith
The Office of Alumnae Relations and Development welcomes you to “Stay Connected to Smith,” where you can explore the vibrant tapestry of Smith’s academic, cultural, and social initiatives. Here, you’ll find a wealth of engaging content, from thought-provoking lectures to insightful articles and impactful student projects, all to keep you connected, informed, and inspired.
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Learn Something New
- Wurtele Center Director Erin Park Cohn ’00 and STRIDE Scholars Marta Almazovaite ’24 and Sirohi Kumar ’26 have published a paper titled “Group Projects as Spaces for Leadership Development in the Liberal Arts Classroom,” which focuses on preparing students to take on society’s greatest challenges.
- NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Steven Heydemann, Janet Wright Ketcham 1953 Professor in Middle East Studies, about how Syria might avoid replicating Arab countries that are worse off after overthrowing dictators.
- Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods Professor Emeritus of Economics, joined “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio to explain why Dartmouth basketball players are dropping their unionization efforts.
- Giovanna Bellesia, professor emerita of Italian studies, and Victoria Poletto, senior lecturer emerita in Italian language and literature, collaborated to translate My Language Is a Jealous Lover by Adrián Bravi; in recognition of their work on the book, they received the 2024 Translated Literature Award from the Massachusetts Book Awards.
- Associate Professor Kate Soper recently released a recording of her critically acclaimed opera The Romance of the Rose. According to BroadwayWorld, the opera “blends medieval and contemporary allegory to dramatize how love, sex, and music wreak havoc on our sense of self.” Soper was also named the 2024 Kravis Emerging Composer. Her NY Phil-commissioned work will premiere in May.
- Carrie Baker, Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman Chair of American Studies and Professor of the Study of Women and Gender, is the author of “Misogynist Manifesto,” a three-part series of articles about Project 25 published in Ms. magazine.
- In the exhibit Fatal Flora: Poisonous Revenge Narratives, Susan Montgomery, who teaches drawing at Smith, asks how in the hands of knowledgeable women, the natural world can be transformed from medicinal to murderous in a pinch, dash or splash of ingredients. Fatal Flora is on view through January 2025.
- Through June 2025, the New York Historical Society presents Real clothes, real lives: 200 years of what women wore, the Smith College Historic Clothing Collection.
- Check out Smith Executive Education to enroll in women’s leadership programs.
Offerings for Alums
Feel Good
- To help us celebrate the college’s 150th anniversary, send a love story to Smith. Write about a favorite place on campus, an influential professor or staff member, an enduring memory or friendship—something that captures the essence of what makes Smith special. We’ll post responses to this page and possibly use some of the stories in an upcoming issue of the Smith Quarterly.
- Smithies from across the globe gathered in Paris for the 2024 Smith in Europe Reunion.
- Sip, sip, hooray! First introduced during the inauguration of President Sarah Willie-LeBreton, Smith’s two custom tea blends are available for sale.
- Check out the winners of the Global Encounters Photo Contest.
- Download a beautiful Smith photo for your Zoom background.
Smithies Create
Check out a selection of the books by Smithies being released this year:
- The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold ’26
- Feminism in the Wild: How Human Biases Shape Our Understanding of Animal Behavior by Melina Packer ’04 and Ambika Kamath
- Mostly French: Recipes from a Kitchen in Provence (A Cookbook) by Makenna Held ’07
- The Gloomy Girl Variety Show: A Memoir by Freda Epum ’15
- purl by Michele Evans (Michele Peterson Evans ’94)
Smithies have made their mark in literature. If you would like to have your work appear on our list of Smithie authors, please fill out this form.
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Smithies in the Community
- Upon her diagnosis of prosopagnosia (aka face blindness), Sadie Dingfelder ’01 says her lifetime of loneliness and missed connections suddenly made sense. In an essay for the Fall 2024 Smith Quarterly, Dingfelder says writing a memoir helped her learn about herself and neurodivergence.
- Agriculture media website AgWeb recently profiled Christine Christiansen Hamilton ’78, highlighting her myriad achievements in farm management and excellence in leadership at her family farm in Kimball, South Dakota. Last month, Hamilton was named AgWeb’s 2024 Top Producer of the Year.
- Writer and curator Kimberly Drew ’12 was recently featured in Artnet for her powerful Gordon Parks exhibition at Pace Gallery in LA. In a Q&A, Drew calls for "bold, compassionate, and fearless action" from art world gatekeepers in 2025.
- Washington Monthly features the new book by Tanya Pearson AC ’16, Pretend We’re Dead: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Women in Rock in the ’90s, “a look back at the audacious, rule-breaking women of ’90s alt-rock and the forces that erased their moment of glory.”
- In an article for the Washington Post, Olivia Rynberg-Going ’23 speaks about working for the U.S. Department of Justice. “I wanted to work for the civil rights division … to change the world, make America more equitable. But I’ve found the ability to think that way about antitrust law,” she says.
- Olivia Dufour ’20 was hired by the Great Meadows Public Health Collaborative as its first Substance Use Prevention Coordinator.
