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!
Last night, study abroad applications were due for the next academic year. Tons of students were packed into Berry Library plugging away at essays; in this post, I want to give some insight into what applying to study abroad looks like at Dartmouth, and also write a bit about my own study abroad experience in Morocco last summer!
Every year, study abroad applications are due on February 1st. These applications, all of which are through Dartmouth, include programs like FSPs, LSAs, and DSPs (foreign study programs, language study abroads, and domestic study programs, respectively). These different categories show that there are a wide variety of programs both domestically and abroad, focused either on language-acquisition or cultural and academic immersion. This year, I applied to an exchange program in Jerusalem!
The application consists of 4-5 short essay questions, asking for about 500 words each. The questions revolve around questions of travel; how do you interact with new people? Why do you want to study abroad? What will you gain from this experience, and how does it connect to your academic interests? These questions are both a great way to demonstrate interest to study abroad committees, but also to help clarify internally why exactly you want to study abroad! Some applications require a professor recommendation, but most do not. Applicants get their results back on March 1st, or a month after the application deadline—this is a relatively quick turnaround time!
In my experience, studying abroad has been an irreplaceable experience. I've written extensively on my summer abroad in Morocco, but half a year later all of the great memories I made still pop around in my mind. Particularly in terms of language study abroads, having the chance to live with a host family is one of the most valuable parts of studying abroad; the friendships I was able to make with my host brothers led to tons of great experiences and fun nights in Rabat.
The quarter system makes it possible to study abroad in multiple different places during your time at Dartmouth; it is certainly one of the largest reasons I decided to apply! For anyone interested in studying abroad, Dartmouth provides an accessible array of programs: there is definitely one out there for everyone! In addition, financial aid extends to study abroad programs; as a first-gen low-income student, this is critical to me. Not all schools offer this opportunity to study abroad for the same cost of studying domestically, so this accessibility is truly special.
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"
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.
