There’s almost nothing more magical than the sight of snowflakes drifting earthward, dancing on air currents, swirling and swooping, settling softly on the branches of trees and leaves, glistening on blades of grass. Mysterious and perfectly crystalline, they hold the promise of a white world of enchantment, of excitement and fun, snowballs, sledding, skiing, frozen [...]

This spring, Professor of Linguistics Donna Jo Napoli headed across the Atlantic to Newcastle-on-Tyne, U.K., to spend a semester as the Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of Newcastle. The professorship, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, enables renowned academics to spend three to 10 months teaching at a British university.
Napoli’s academic responsibilities at Newcastle include [...]

In January, 160 enthusiastic staff members gathered in the Cuniff Lecture Hall in the Science Center for the launch of the College’s first Staff Development Week (SDW). Following a welcome by President Rebecca Chopp, keynote speaker Christopher Lee—human resource practitioner, lecturer, and author—set the tone for the program telling participants, “We each need to be [...]

“History, for me, is first of all stories,” says Professor of History Pieter Judson ’78, comparing the “story” that is history to a movie.
“A good movie has a really good plot, a plot that satisfies me, that I can’t quite figure out,” he explains.
Perhaps this explains Judson’s fascination with Eastern and Central Europe and its [...]

Whether in her native China, where she lived through the Cultural Revolution, or in studios in New York, Rome, or Philadelphia, Chinese artist Ying Li says she needs to paint, sometimes until her wrists hurt.
When Li’s father, a professor of Russian literature, was accused of being a counter-revolutionary, Li was sent away for five years [...]

At its Feb. 20 meeting, the College’s Board of Managers adopted a 2010–2011 operating budget of $108.6 million, a 1.5 percent increase from the current year. Student charges were increased by 3.8 percent to a total of $51,500 for full tuition, activities fee, room, and board. The Board reaffirmed its commitment to need-blind admissions and [...]

The mural (right) is found in the Ballymurphy district of Belfast. This and other similar murals across Belfast valorize armed combat, in this case the heroism of I.R.A. volunteers. Just a few blocks away, another mural (below left) by the Gaelic Athletics Association, displays contemporary sports, both Gaelic and non-Gaelic. “Sports have played an important [...]

In February, the Board of Managers approved the promotion of three faculty members from associate to full professorship: Historian and current Departmental Chair Bruce Dorsey is a scholar of early American, 19th-century, U.S., gender, social, and cultural history. Chair of the Department of Religion Steven Hopkins specializes in Hinduism and Buddhism in South Asia, comparative [...]

For almost two years, Swarthmore’s mascot has been known and referred to simply as the Phoenix—a species label. No matter how fabulous and fantastical the creature, the Phoenix—though by no means anonymous—had no name.
Last semester, that changed. After a two-step voting process that involved the whole student body and lasted through the fall, the Phoenix [...]

On May 8, I will be inaugurated as Swarthmore’s 14th president. Inaugurations serve several functions in the life of a college. The event can serve as an installation—a ritual marking of the opportunity and obligation of the president to join the community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and other constituents. Inaugurations can also [...]