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UMass Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, founded in 1863, is the flagship of the five-campus UMass system. Home to the Commonwealth Honors College, UMass Amherst incorporates modern teaching methods involving new communication and information technology, yet remains an immersive, residential campus serving more than 22,000 undergraduate and approximately 6,300 graduate students across a comprehensive array of academic programs.

True to its land-grant roots, UMass Amherst is engaged in research and creative work in all fields and is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a doctoral university with the “highest research activity” or R1. Major areas of emphasis include climate science, food science, alternative energy, nanomanufacturing, polymer science, computer science and linguistics.

Together, students and faculty are deeply engaged in collaboration with communities — both regional and international — to improve their social and economic conditions.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 248 articles

Water from the Mackenzie River, seen from a satellite, carries silt and nutrients from land to the Arctic Ocean. Jesse Allen/NASA Earth Observatory

Arctic rivers face big changes with a warming climate, permafrost thaw and an accelerating water cycle − the effects will have global consequences

A new study shows how thawing permafrost and intensifying storms will change how water moves into and through Arctic rivers.
The impact of extra cash payments introduced during the COVID pandemic in South Africa is being considered. Mujahid Safodien/AFP via Getty Images

South Africa has spent billions in 4 years to create jobs for young people: how their wages affect the broader economy

When evaluating the costs and benefits of the employment programme, and similar ones such as social grants, ‘extra’ economic benefits need to be part of the calculation.
The Israeli Supreme Court assembled in September 2023 to hear arguments to strike down a controversial judicial overhaul limiting the power of the court to review and overturn government decisions. Debbie Hill/Pool/AFP viaGetty Images

Israel’s highest court protects its power to curb government extremism − 3 essential reads

Israel’s highest court has struck down the government’s law limiting its power. Three scholars look at why the law was proposed, what it aimed to do and who supported – and opposed – it.
SAG-AFTRA captain Mary M. Flynn rallies fellow striking actors on a picket line outside Netflix studios in November 2023. AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

2023’s historic Hollywood and UAW strikes aren’t labor’s whole story – the total number of Americans walking off the job remained relatively low

Two labor scholars argue that the balance of power between workers and employers, which has been tilted toward employers for nearly a half-century, is beginning to shift.
Students at UMass Amherst march across campus following a walkout and rally protesting the university’s “ties with war profiteers,” while also calling for “a ceasefire and end of the blockade on Gaza.” Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Defending space for free discussion, empathy and tolerance on campus is a challenge during Israel-Hamas war

A scholar of the Mideast at a large public university says that caring and a commitment to free speech have been central to his campus’s response to students upset and angry over the Israel-Hamas war.
Content moderators like these workers make decisions about online communities based on company dictates. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Let the community work it out: Throwback to early internet days could fix social media’s crisis of legitimacy

In the days of online bulletin board systems, community members decided what was acceptable. Reviving that approach to content moderation offers Big Tech a path to legitimacy as public spaces.
Striking members of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in New York City in 1958. AP Photo

Waves of strikes rippling across the US seem big, but the total number of Americans walking off the job remains historically low

Many of the reasons for strikes now – low compensation, technological change, job insecurity and safety concerns – mirror the motives that workers had for walking off the job in decades past.
Russian attacks have destroyed much of Ukraine’s scientific infrastructure, including university facilities like Karazin University’s School of Physics and Technology, seen here. Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Ukrainian science is struggling, threatening long-term economic recovery – history shows ways to support the Ukrainian scientific system

The war in Ukraine has led to the destruction of scientific infrastructure, caused many Ukrainian researchers to leave the country and disrupted the work of those who have stayed.

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