During his life, Carl Rettenmeyer has made the acquaintance of various large and dangerous beasts. He’s faced off with a fer-de-lance pit viper and stared down a puma in Panama, gone toe-to-toe with a tapir and nose-to-nose with an ocelot in Ecuador. Yet, although he shivers with a certain exquisite terror mingled with delighted awe [...]

In her memoir Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008), Moying Li, now vice president and senior analyst at a Boston-based investment management company, offers a vivid and moving portrayal of her life from summer 1958 up to the day she left her homeland [...]

In the not too distant past, students required to create a “visual database” in a course like Assistant Professor of Art History Tomoko Sakomura’s Contemporary Japanese Visual Culture, might well have gone scurrying to the library in search of books or slides on contemporary Japan. Perhaps they would even have ventured to an art museum, [...]

As a boy, Kenneth Guilmartin ’67 couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. His kindergarten teacher labeled him a “crow” and asked him to mouth the words instead of singing with the other children. It was only in his 20s that he learned to sing, taking remedial voice lessons to keep pace with his burgeoning [...]

In July, Carolyn Becker was initiated. Call her a Delta Delta Delta.
“One thought that went through my head was, ‘Oh-my-gosh. I’ve become a sorority sister.’ But the next thought was, ‘I’ve never seen an organization put this much effort into eating disorders prevention.’”
It turns out that the Tri Deltas are interested in a lot more [...]

One of Swarthmore College’s many distinctions is the strong tradition of social and political activism, which can be attributed to the school’s Quaker origins. Swarthmore’s activist tendency has produced alumni who have been notable reformers. It has also combined with the College’s intellectual rigorousness to produce pioneers in the social sciences.
Another notable aspect of Swarthmore [...]

It’s a big, red bird. Very big and very red. Note that the wing feathers also look a little like flames. Note the ever-so-slightly aggressive beak—it’s a raptor, and it can be tough. Note the oversize shoes with the garnet S. Then allow yourself a laugh at the highly shakable tail and the overstuffed appearance [...]

One morning in November 1993, David Bradley boarded an airplane at Dulles Airport, bound for Vietnam. He was accompanied by his Swarthmore classmate and close friend Jim Snipes ’75, who had purchased first-class tickets on the occasion of Bradley’s 40th birthday. It was to be one last “boys trip,” Bradley says, and as they prepared [...]

ONE WINTER MORNING LAST YEAR, Hansi Lo Wang ’09 was conducting a phone interview in Lodge 6, just behind Bond Hall, when he heard something on the other end of the line that shocked him: the tattoo of gunfire, frighteningly close.
“You all right? Are you OK?” Wang asked the person to whom he was speaking, [...]