Hello, Eda here: full-time learner, part-time writer, and pretty much a happy amateur at everything else. My hobbies include reading, discovering new movies, and looking at the pictures of my cat. On campus, you can find me peer supporting for the Mental Health Union and SAPA, writing for Spare Rib, doing research in psychology, or listening to Turkish & English alt-rock. Feel free to ask me about taking a gap year, transitioning to a new cultural space, or college in general!
This class discusses the concepts of sex and gender in the broader context of issues related to race, class, national identity, and more. I loved this class because it helped me better understand how systemic inequality affects individual lives and made me think about ways to change it. Professor A'Ness is such an inspiring prof!
In this first-year writing seminar, we discussed how avant-garde movements from futurism to punk rock have constituted a rebellion against the status quo. I loved all the readings for this class and Professor McCann inspired me to take more courses in the English department!
In this course, we learned all the basics of fiction: character, plot, setting, etc. My favorite parts of the course were receiving feedback from other students, reading my peers' work, and having fiction readings as assigned course work! I also appreciated all the guest speakers we had, who were experienced writers in their respective genres.
As an aspiring clinical psychologist, this course has been one of the best classes I have taken at Dartmouth so far. The class focused on the etiology, diagnosis, characteristics and treatment of various mental disorders. Professor Hudenko has been one of the greatest lectures I had the pleasure of meeting. As a clinical psychologist himself, he had extensive knowledge in not only the theory, but also the practice of clinical psychology. He also succeeded in making a lecture-based class feel interactive and dynamic.
We covered the complex neural and biological mechanisms of multiple mental health disorders ranging from common conditions like anxiety to more complicated illnesses such as schizophrenia. In addition to reading about the cutting-edge research in this area, we also read memoirs and watched documentaries about the mental illnesses to focus on how these conditions are affecting people in real life. Professor Funnell is one of the best profs I had!
As an aspiring clinical psychologist, this has been one of my favorite classes at Dartmouth. We learned about different therapy methods, how and when to use them, their advantages, and shortcomings. The class was incredibly engaging with Professor Hudenko's frequent demonstrations of methods, therapy videos, and guest speakers. I would recommend this class to every psychology major.
I worked at Dimock Health Center as part of my community health internship. I was part of a team of summer interns who were college students like myself. We worked as patient advocates that helped people reach out to resources regarding housing, food, utilities, etc. Most of our work involved calling patients, helping them fill out forms, and researching resources. I learned so much about community health resources and how to communicate with a diverse set of patients. It was an invaluable experience!
I took classes in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London. My favorite class of the term was called London Performance Now, which involved going to different performance events in London and discussing them in class. It was the perfect opportunity to explore the cultural landscape of London.
As the title of the course suggests, this class was about food: its history, economics, and cultural practices. I learned a lot through this course thanks to guest speakers, thought-provoking readings, and engaging assignments. My favorite assignment in this course was writing about a family recipe; I learned so much about my family's history as well as the cultural conflicts in my home country. Overall, it was among the best classes I have taken at Dartmouth. Plus, we even got to eat delicious food cooked by our classmates!
At Dartmouth, what distinguishes Foreign Study Abroad programs from regular exchanges are, among other things, a Dartmouth professor who traveling with you, traveling with a larger group of Dartmouth students, and you receiving more support in general. A part of our program included excursions we went on as a Dartmouth cohort. I wrote about our Bath trip in one of my previous blog posts; since then, the group also went on excursions to Kent, Charleston, and Stonehenge, which, sadly, I could not attend due to my class schedule. During their Kent visit, they see Monk's House, Virginia Woolf's house with her husband, and Knole, which is the setting for Woolf's extraordinary novel Orlando. I could attend some of the short excursions, here are a few of them!
Thanksgiving Dinner
I do not celebrate Thanksgiving because I did not grow up in America, but I could not pass on this opportunity to have a lovely, catered dinner with our group. We had dinner at e5 Bakehouse in Hackney Wick; and not to mention, the venue was open for our group only with a special menu. Beyond the great food, I had a great time listening to what my fellow cohort members were up to in London.
Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts
During our final week, we also went to see Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the indoor theater at Shakespeare's Globe. The play was unlike anything I have ever seen as it was performed solely under candlelight. The experience was also unique because the playhouse was built based on plans for indoor theaters in the 17th century. It was exciting to be that close to the actors and the stage under the candlelights, and it fit the eerie atmosphere of the play perfectly.
Bloomsbury Publishing Visit
Among my favorite excursions this term, both individually and as a group, was our visit to the Bloomsbury Publishing office in, well, Bloomsbury. What started as an independent, small publishing house turned into one of the five biggest publishing houses in the UK, at least partly thanks to them publishing the original Harry Potter series. Since then, they have expanded and enriched their collection of books, which lines the shelves of their carefully curated and designed office space, cozy and warm with Christmas decorations and comfy couches. We listened to one of their editorial staff talk about the life of a book, the intricacies of the publishing industry, and her thoughts on the industry's future. They had never had a student group in their office before, so I was grateful to have been there to experience it.
What I appreciate the most about all of these excursions was that they were completely funded by Dartmouth. As an international student on financial aid with limited funds to fully take advantage of London, I appreciated how Dartmouth provided free programming, and our professor Alexander Chee for organizing them.
At Dartmouth, there is an undergraduate requirement for language; after all, it is the liberal arts! Fulfilling this requirement looks different for various people and I will focus on my experience.
I have written about being a student worker plenty of times in the past, but I have yet to talk about one of my favorite jobs ever: ticket selling at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
As I approach the halfway mark of my Dartmouth journey this spring, I find myself reflecting on the significance of distributive and world culture requirements in shaping my academic experience.
