Academic Life at Merrill College

At Merrill we welcome all students with their wide-ranging backgrounds and interests. The academic atmosphere at Merrill College is friendly, engaged, and accepting.  Our excellent students, faculty, and staff represent numerous cultural groups and nationalities. The college seeks to expand its students' awareness of their own heritage and of the diversity of cultures around the world, past and present. Merrill students develop a sense of social consciousness and social responsibility, both locally and globally. They come to appreciate how people from the most diverse cultural backgrounds can work together, both to form a local community and to serve humankind.

Drawn from a variety of academic fields including history, the social sciences, literature and foreign languages, many Merrill Fellows specialize in social theory, international affairs, and social change. The faculty encourage students to perform to their maximum potential in coursework with the goal of living thoughtful and fulfilling lives. Merrill houses the Departments of Politics and Legal Studies, and Latin American and Latino Studies.  It also hosts the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas.