Rahul Mehra '03

Alumni, parents and friends of the school will converge on campus for a week this summer to learn about subjects ranging from the life of Anne Frank to the aesthetics of Japanese poetry.

For the first time, Deerfield is hosting a summer institute. Faculty and alumni will teach eight seminars with an emphasis on reading and writing. Sign ups are still available for the program which will be held from August 7 to August 10.

The idea for the institute, called "Look to the Hills," originated when Mimi Morsman of the Alumni and Development Office arranged classes for alumni during the 1997 bicentennial celebration. She said people kept asking why they didn't have classes every summer. Philosophy teacher Michael O'Donnell, who is teaching a course on ethics in the twenty-first century, said, "I am invited back to my college, high school and law school all the time, and the most frequent way I'm invited back is through sports. Quite frankly I don't have an interest in sports, but I do go back for philosophy seminars and conferences. I like the idea that Deerfield will allow its alumni an opportunity to reconnect with the school and give them a reason to come back that is not necessarily sports." English teacher Frank Henry '69 who is teaching a course entitled Poetry of Place said, "Anything that draws alumni back to Deerfield and allows them to look at the school and register how much has changed since when they graduated is good." He also responded to the relatively low sign ups for the program as of mid-April, "I am concerned and disappointed. I hope that there is a surge of interest here in the near future."

Gillett Griffin '47, faculty curator at the Art Museum at Princeton University, expressed his excitement at returning to his alma mater to teach other alumni, "I loved Deerfield when I was there. I think this institute is a great idea. I am going to speak about why people in civilizations choose something as fundamental as sexuality in art."

In addition to the classes, presentations and optional activities are planned. Depending on the success of the first institute, Ms. Morsman hopes to make this an annual tradition.