Fumio Sugihara (he/him)

Territories: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington

Degrees: B.A., Bowdoin College and M.Ed, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education

Why I love working at Hampshire: There's so much that I love and value that it's impossible for me to pick just one thing. However, what attracted me to Hampshire is the College's commitment to innovation in terms of revitalizing a liberal arts and sciences curriculum to both meet the critical demands reflected in our society and to match what our students want to confront. I strongly believe that a liberal arts education is one that prepares a student to meet the future needs of the world, and, more importantly, it instills in students the capacities and confidence to determine how they will meet those needs. While many institutions provide a strong education, Hampshire provides pathways and propels students forward, inspiring confidence through big projects and big thinking in a flexible, student-centered learning environment, defined by relevance. How could anyone not love this place and the students who seek it out?

A random fact about me: I was recruited for my first admissions position many, many years ago at a Boston Red Sox game. The Red Sox were playing the Seattle Mariners, and since then, I've lived and represented colleges in both the Boston and Seattle metropolitan areas. (Incidentally, I know nothing about baseball.)

If I could teach a class: I would call it Reggae-Ska-Punk and Back Again: Rudy on the March! which would focus on the influence these music style have had on one another as genres and political statements. Or, Platonic Dualism and How it Messed Everything Up, as an exploration of philosophy, gender studies, and sociology looking at a classical us/them prototype.