Aloha to the page of a wanderlusting writer juggling college life and several other hobbies into an eternally-short 24-hour day. I hope to shed light on the Dartmouth experience as I explore the brave new world of Hanover, NH and everything going to college here has to offer. In my free time, you can find me trying to learn a new language or building the perfect Spotify playlist (alternative/indie, anyone?). I hope you enjoy!
Taught by Gordon Henry, an Anishinaabe poet and author, this class taught me to explore Indigenous storytelling within digital contexts. I took this class with only seven other classmates, allowing us to really engage with films, comic books, and television shows in Indigenous languages or produced by Indigenous artists.
Taught by Timothy Pulju, this class taught me how to identify and understand how languages evolve over time and why. I analyzed and reconstructed fictional languages of imaginary nations in order to understand the link between language and culture, and ended up having such an appreciation for the complexity and beauty of language's place in history!
Taught by Lindsay Whaley, this class let me discover a newfound love for ancient apocalyptic literature. We analyzed ancient texts and compared them to modern apocalypses, looking at the zombie apocalypse phenomenon and other apocalypses in pop culture and comparing them to the ancient tradition of writing apocalypses. Additionally, I learned the Greek alphabet and now I can even stumble through ancient Greek passages.
FallNew Orleans, LA
Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law
Taught and organized by David Peterson, this class let me get into the shoes of a real linguist as we did fieldwork (virtually!!) with the Zophei language. I learned how to describe a never-before-learned language's phonology (sound system), how to characterize its grammar and words, and ultimately got to present my research to experts in the language family around the world in a workshop at the end of the term!
WinterHanover, NH
Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law
Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class taught me how Native literature can provide lens by which to evaluate, critique, and ultimately revise Federal Indian Law. During this class, I read works by Native authors like Tommy Orange and Louise Erdrich '76 alongside the opinions of definitive case opinions in American law and explained how literature can be a catalyst for Indigenous sovereignty.
Supervised by N. Bruce Duthu, I spent this off-term performing research after being awarded a Sophomore Research Scholarship to study contemporary Hawaiian cultural and linguistic revitalization. I studied 19th-century newspapers and contemporary Hawaiian texts in order to understand how Hawaiian language revitalization both past and present has advanced and continues to enable a contemporary bodied Hawaiian politic of sovereignty.
Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me about how languages create meaning through words. During this class, I learned how to analyze different languages' morphological processes and compare different approaches within the field as to morphological structures.
Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class offered me a glimpse into the lived realities of Native people in Indian Country Today. I learned about the economic, social, cultural, and historical roots for the struggles of Indigenous people today within the United States, and was able to write about the contemporary battle for Native Hawaiian visibility and Hawaiian sovereignty.
Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me how to engage in language documentation and how, as a linguist, we can put our skills to use to help communities seeking to document and revitalize their languages. I worked on the Satawalese language, spoken on the island of Satawal in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ultimately, my team created two dictionaries - one in English, one in Hawaiian, a website, and several materials that focused on the Satawalese tradition of wayfinding and non-instrumental ocean navigation.
Taught by Charles Eastman fellow Sunaina Kale, this class taught me about the role of sound in delineating, conceiving, and comprehending relations between people and the land in Indigenous musical traditions. Over the course of the class, we discussed Indigenous musicians, listened to music from Native peoples around the world, heard from masterful Indigenous musicians, and ultimately presented a project that creatively analyzed a song of our choice. My project focused on the song "Ask Yourself" by Foster the People, and I wrote a poem that integrated aspects of Indigenous languages and worldviews to answer questions posed by the song.
This term, I formally began the research process for my upcoming honors thesis in the Linguistics department on Hawaiian semantics! While living in Hanover, I also began working as a Senior Fellow with the Admissions department—a position I will be holding for the entirety of my last year at Dartmouth.
My Experience with Living Learning Communities at Dartmouth!
Q:
What is an LLC? How do they work and how can I join one?
A:
After having the opportunity to speak to several prospective students both virtually and in-person these past few weeks, I've received a lot of questions about the unique residential experience that is the Living Learning Community (LLC).
Prior to your arrival on campus as a First-Year student, you will be presented with the option of applying to join (and live with!) a Living Learning Community. The LLCs at Dartmouth combine all of the resources and opportunities that an institution like Dartmouth can offer with the vibrancy and familiarity of shared space. LLCs at Dartmouth are known for inhabiting a certain building on campus. Sometimes this is the floor of a dorm, as with my Humanities LLC during my First-Year, and sometimes this is a standalone house, like the Native American House (you can read about the LLCs more generally as well as see a list of LLCs at Dartmouth here!).
During my First-Year, I was a member of the Humanities community. The Humanities LLC was designed specifically for First-Year students — no upperclassmen at all! (You can find other LLCs eligible for First-Years here!) The LLC was designed for those interested in anything and everything humanities-related, which meant that I could enjoy living with fellow First-Years that shared my interests in the non-STEM world while also being able to take part in tons of different programming opportunities afforded by the LLC. Some of these opportunities included guest speakers, a lunch or dinner catered by a local Hanover restaurant with several humanities faculty present, and free tickets to see live performances and movies at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. LLCs like Humanities allow you to explore your shared interest with your peers and take part in unique opportunities that you otherwise might not be able to have, and I can confidently say that being a part of the Humanities LLC left me with some truly enjoyable memories during my first year at Dartmouth.
There are several other LLCs that I've interacted with since my arrival at Dartmouth. The Native American House is located in an actual house just down the road from the library, and it was the site for so much enjoyable programming where I could learn about Indigenous culture alongside friends in the Native community and faculty in the Native American and Indigenous Studies Department. Thriving Through Transitions (T3), an LLC for incoming first-year students who want to embrace the transition to college and appreciate the learning curve that is college life, was an LLC that many of my friends were a part of, and I frequently joined them to play Smash Bros, eat homemade tacos and drink homemade horchata (too delicious), among a bunch of events. Needless to say, by tying physical space to shared interests and passions, the LLCs enable so many extracurricular experiences that greatly enrich your academic and non-academic life alike at Dartmouth.
LLCs range from those focused on your identity, those focused on shared academic or extracurricular interests, and even ones dedicated to certain languages like Spanish or Japanese, where you will only speak that language when you're on the floor! If you're curious about the LLCs at Dartmouth, I cannot advise you enough to check out some of the amazing communities we have on campus and to apply if they appeal to any and all of your passions and identities — you won't regret it.
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.
Sometimes in my courses I find myself thinking, "Hey that seems familiar!" I think it speaks to Dartmouth professors' ability to cover a broad range of relevant topics and the interdisciplinary nature of the College.
