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Everybody in the pool: The making of Metamorphoses

December 4, 2025

Shortly after Courtney Smith joined Bates in the fall of 2024 as an associate professor of theater, he floated an idea for a production that was both over-the-top ambitious and absolute catnip to his colleague Sally Wood, a visiting lecturer in theater who was trying to decide what play to direct in the fall of 2025.

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December 19, 2025

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2026 schedule

December 19, 2025

Top 10 Bates social media posts of 2025

December 19, 2025

New funding pushes Carolina González Valencia’s film toward the finish line

December 18, 2025

Photographers’ favorites 2025: Behind the viewfinder

Two first-year seminar classes join together for a dynamic, interdisciplinary final class session During the last week of courses for the fall semester, two instructors, two classes, and one rabbit gathered together for an interdisciplinary, interactive first-year seminar class session. It was easy to tell who was from which course. Students from “Beyond the Rainbow: Exploring the Language (and the Science, Art, and Culture) of Color” had all walked in sporting colorful hats. Joining them in a classroom in Dana Hall were students from “Sex in the Brain: The Neuroscience of Sex, Gender, and Hormones.” While it is typical for students to grow close in these small — 16 students maximum — seminars, this merging of the courses for a class session was a new idea, meant to create new connections between both the subjects and students as the semester came to a close. Lindsey Hamilton ’05, director of the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning, and Wells Castonguay, the center’s assistant director, devised the plan. Castonguay was teaching “Beyond the Rainbow” and Hamilton “Sex in the Brain.” Throughout the semester, each professor had heard students’ ongoing curiosity about the other’s course and saw an opportunity for the students to learn from each other.

December 18, 2025

Two instructors, 30 first-year students, and a bunny walk into a classroom: Interdisciplinary learning abounds

They are jumping for joy. Women’s varsity rowing teammates Oli Seline ’24 (left) of Delaware, Ohio, and Olivia Dekker ’24 of Bethesda, Md., high five it at the conclusion of their last-ever Bates lab in Bonney 360. The teammates are students in Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Geneva Laurita’s Short Term course, “Chemistry and the Arts.” Seline is a biochemistry major with a GEC in “Visible Ideas,” while Dekker is a biochemistry major with a minor in art and visual culture. The course explores the connection between chemistry and various topics in the arts and arts-related fields. The students learn about the chemistry behind these topics, exploring the literature behind various artistic practices, and applying hands-on techniques in the laboratory involved in various art processes This year, Laurita asked students to focus on the origins of color, different crafts, print making, jewelry making, dyeing, and art conservation. Laurita is the recipient of a major National Science Foundation grant of $581,984. The NSF CAREER award, considered to be one of the foundation’s most prestigious awards for faculty members who are just beginning their teaching and research careers, is based on both her scientific research in solid state materials and how she brings undergraduates into that vital area of scientific exploration. 3:18 What the particular lab was about...the lab handout. Kate Baumler, intern for Geneva’s NSF grant, wearing, black shirt Benji Richards, ’27, wearing tan shirt Finian Gunny ’27, gray pullover and blond hair Charlotte Maffie ’25 with pink tie dyed and hair in bun Sister Alice Maffie ’27 in t-shirt and pony tail Nina Greeley ’24 with hair in bun and pink t-shirt Riley Lund ’26 in gray sweatshirt Jahan Baker-Wainwright ’25 in green golf Rohini Kandasamy ’27 in dark tan Life is cool t-shirt and low bun Chemistry and the Arts S28, the origin of different crafts, print making, jewelry making, dyeing and art soncserv

December 11, 2025

Faculty member Geneva Laurita wins national teaching award

Scenes around campus at dawn on Nov. 5, 2025. Pettengill Hall

December 11, 2025

Picture Story: November 2025 at Bates

December 4, 2025

In the News: December 2025

The Annual Harvest Dinner held in Commons, followed by horse rides around campus, a dessert part and the Annual Trashion Show in the Gray Athletic Building. Where friends, fashion, fun, and sustainability all collide. Welcome to the Bates Trashion Show 2025, held in the Gray Athletic Building on Wednesday, Nov. 19. All participants were winners! Singled out for recognition were, in first place, seniors Annie Robinson and Grace Thomas (the model), who designed the dress together; Professor of French and Francophone studies Kirk Read in second place; and in third place, a team of students in Read’s first-year seminar “Family Stories.”

December 4, 2025

Sew sustainable: Student, faculty designers stun at annual Trashion Show

November 13, 2025

Bates plays Big Thief — How a musical tribute is turning into tradition

November 13, 2025

The logics of acceptance: Francesco Duina in conversation about his new book and the sociology of economic inequality

November 13, 2025

Picture Story: October 2025 at Bates

November 13, 2025

Upcoming artistic events on the Bates campus

November 13, 2025

Purposeful Work biopharmaceutical roadshow introduces students to dynamic career possibilities

October 30, 2025

Meet new faculty in chemistry, religious studies, and rhetoric

October 30, 2025

Clarisa Pérez-Armendáriz, professor of politics, receives Kroepsch Award

October 30, 2025

Radiohead Trending: Bates students jam in Olin with professional tribute band Fitter Happier

Misa Beltran-Guzman mbeltranguzman@bates.edu Director of First-Generation Programs Student Center for Belonging and Community Misa poses for portraits in his SCBC office and entry, and then interacts with colleagues and students. The session between 4-6 p.m. on Mondays is called “Snack and Chat.” Cooking in kitchen s Bianca Vega, Kessler Scholars program coordinator Sadie New, admission counselor (white blouse) Wearing a Bates hat between Sadie and Misa is Alina Kunakbayeva ’27 of Kazakhstan. Seated with Misa, from left are Alessandra Williams ’29, Kitana James ’29, and Lucy Meeker ’29.

October 30, 2025

As director of first-generation programs, Misa Beltran-Guzman encourages Bates students to find their ‘why’

October 10, 2025

Meet new faculty in psychology, environmental studies, and anthropology

Drone photography operated and captured by Theophil Syslo on October 10, 2024. (Theophil Syslo | Bates College)

October 10, 2025

In the News: Oct. 10, 2025