On the Campus of: Amherst College

A Celebration Week of Great Books & Big Ideas
Residential & Day Program

What better way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States and our 25th year than with week focused on liberty, freedom, and democracy! We are kicking off the season with this very special session of Great Books & Big Ideas at Amherst.

Honoring the American tradition of the founders, we will immerse ourselves in spirited but respectful discussion and wrestle with the challenging questions and big ideas that helped forge this great nation.

Together we will read and discuss the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents as well as works by Locke, MLK, Hughes, Thoreau, and others.

A national symposium on Freedom, Government, and the Law, with students from across the country and around the world, this will be a Great Books week like no other. Join us!

Residential and Day programs for grades 6-8 and 9-12. Learn more about our celebration Freedom, Government, & the Law Week and our other Great Books & Big Ideas Programs and see the schedule for a typical day at camp.

Residential & Day Programs

Great Books & Big Ideas Programs at Amherst will revel in the rich literary heritage of New England and look back to the classics and broadly to world literature too. Discussions at Amherst often spring from writings of Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, Ursula Le Guin, Langston Hughes, Borges, and Greek philosophers.

With new curriculum and a wide variety of readings each week, students can stay for a one, two, or three-week program and even add Writer's Workshop too.

Residential and Day programs for grades 6-8 and 9-12. Learn more about Great Books & Big Ideas Programs and see the schedule for a typical day at camp.

Residential and Day Programs

Our Writer's Workshop at Amherst is a welcoming space for beginners and advanced writers alike. Students work with our expert faculty of professional writers and university writing instructors and come away with more advanced skills, new ideas, a brimming portfolio, and a refined sense of their own voice.

Creative writing prompts and exercises make practicing new techniques fun. We also take advantage of the deep literary history of the area and find inspiration walking the same paths as greats such as Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and others.

Residential and day programs for rising grades 6-8 and 9-12 the week of July 19 and additional session for high school students the week of July 12.  Learn more about Writer's Workshop and see the schedule for a typical day at camp on our Writer's Workshop page.

Residential Program

The Berkshire Writer’s Program is anchored on the campus of Amherst College and features an abundance of focused writing time and exploration of the environs that inspired local writers.
Experiential and fun, this program is crafted to sharpen skills, cultivate imagination, and spur creation. It’s the perfect place for both new writers to find their voices and for experienced writers to further develop their skills and concentrate on their work.

In addition to visits to Amherst writers’ haunts, students will travel to and write at places like The Mount, Edith Wharton’s famed estate, and Arrowhead, the home of Herman Melville. And, of course, there will be time for hang outs with new friends and summer fun too!

Residential program for 9-12 and gap year. Learn more about Berkshire Writer's Adventure and see the schedule for a typical day at camp.