What's up! My name is Brandon and I'm a '25 from a small town outside of Chicago. I am passionate about Middle Eastern culture, politics, history, and languages; I'm particularly interested in studying gender/sexuality, politics of exhibition, and counterculture in the Arab Gulf. My current hobbies are reading, playing the mandolin, audio design, eating spicy foods, and streetwear. Please enjoy these snapshots of my life in Hanover!
This was definitely my favorite class of fall term—the readings were heavy, but they all felt incredibly relevant to the coursework. For each class, we read both Jewish and Arab perspectives throughout history. Moreover, Professor Avishai has a vast network of connections with important members of Israeli government, and even figures who we read about in the history books (including former prime ministers!). Overall, that class was a lot of work but very effective in helping me understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Professor Smolin's lectures were always something for me to look forward to. In this intro class, a wide variety of subjects regarding the Arab world were covered. Topics such as culture, Islam, literature, poetry, politics, and history were covered from the pre-Islamic period to the more recent Arab Spring. The readings were fascinating, and the professor also incorporated a wide variety of video resources to accompany the readings. I loved this class!
I found myself regularly engrossed in Professor Fishere's lectures in Arab Political Thought. Tracking the development of political ideologies from the 1800s until today was fascinating, the discussion-based classes helped me get to know tons of my peers.
While in Morocco this summer, I had the chance to take intensive Arabic 21 and Arabic 22. Working with a local teacher, Ilham, I had the chance to study both standard Arabic and Moroccan Arabic .My favorite part of the class was the opportunity to engage with the language in cafes and shops.
Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy was definitely a class that took me out of my comfort zone. Having never taken a class on philosophy, I had lots of fun studying readings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Furthermore, I liked that the class focused heavily on group-work, with weekly group meetings and write-ups being a critical component of the class.
This class made me think critically about how we use different media, and how different media use us. I always considered media and technology as tools we use to navigate life, but never thought about the ways that media influence us and perceptions of the self. Taking this course inspired me to be involved more with digital humanities in order to think critically about how different media can alter the meaning of a message.
I had a great spring term living in Kuwait while interning at the American University of Kuwait! Working as an intern with the Oral History Project and International Relations departments, I met many amazing friends and gained experience with oral history and digital humanities. As someone who wants to continue doing research on the Arab Gulf, this experience was incredibly valuable.
Filmmaking & Visual Culture was about the intersection of filmmaking and anthropology, and I really enjoyed the course. The course looked at film through a post-colonial lens, thinking about how it can be used as a tool to tell stories, empower communities, and challenge structural violence. As a final project, we were required to make our own films with the broad requirement that they had to tell some kind of story or narrative. Having this sort of creative freedom was lots of fun: I did a short film project about a farmer in the Upper Valley.
This was the first science course that I had ever taken at Dartmouth, and I actually really enjoyed it. The course was focused on being able to identity the names and functions of the bones and muscles in the human body: we covered a lot of ground in a short 10-week term. In addition to studying human anatomy, we also studied the anatomy of monkeys and chimps, comparing their evolutionary trends to those of humans. We also had the chance to visit the Geisel School of Medicine cadaver lab on multiple occasions to review for exams, which was definitely a unique experience. Overall, I'm glad I took the opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone a little bit with this class!
This Wednesday, I'm flying back to Chicago and concluding my 5th term at Dartmouth. Woah. I can't believe how much time has passed since I started my journey here, and the speed at which it has happened motivates me to make the most out of my remaining ~2.5 years here. In this blog post, I want to share some of the most important lessons I've learned after being in college for a little more than a year.
1. Slow down
Most Dartmouth students are hyper achievers. Whether through sports, academics, or extracurricular activities (all 3), its incredible how dedicated the student body is to investing in themselves. I came into college stressed about how I would best take advantage of the resources available to me - so much so that I wasn't always living in the moment. Indeed, the most important lesson that I've learned here is that I should take time to slow down and enjoy life. If you constantly stress about the future, you'll be wasting your opportunity to bask in the present. In high school, I told myself that once I got into college I could finally relax and have fun; in college, I found myself saying the same thing about grad school or different grant programs. There will never be an end to the next rung of the ladder in life, so it's critical to take advantage of the present; in beautiful Hanover (usually), moments spent admiring my surroundings are even more precious
2. Listen to yourself
In high school it's easy to get caught up in what everyone is doing; after all, you were taking the same classes with the same schedule in the same building with all of your peers. In college, this is flipped on it's head; with everyone having varying schedules from term to term, your best friend has to become yourself. At first, it was difficult for me to adjust to an environment that was totally divorced from my high school. However, I feel that being forced to pave my own path has helped me explore my sense of self. College is definitely a great time to come into your own!
3. Professors!
Professors are one of the most valuable parts of college. I've had the great opportunity to get closer to some professors this year. In my view, it's critical to have an older mentor who you can approach with any confusions, problems, or goals – most professors love to get to know their students, so this is a great way to both learn from fascinating people and make new friends!
There are so many more things I've learned at Dartmouth; while college isn't always as it is glamorized to be in Hollywood, it is an incredibly valuable and transformative experience. I can't wait to see what the future holds, and keep reading if you are too.
Dartmouth doesn't just care about the intellectual state of student minds but also their health and happiness. Through this week's monastic programming, I have found our commitment to mental health to be loud and clear.
Could you explain how a bicycle works? How about on paper? Now, what about a windmill?—this my class "The Way Things Work: A Visual Introduction to Engineering"
