Welcome to my page, I am a '27 from central New Hampshire! I came to Dartmouth for the liberal arts curriculum, so I plan to explore the academic disciplines before deciding what to focus on. I am currently looking at environmental science and religion. In addition to blogging, I am part of the Interfaith LLC (Living Learning Community) and Great Issues Scholars. I enjoy mountain biking, running, skiing, singing, and drawing.
Academic Program
Intended: pre-health, environmental science or biology, and religion.
This discussion and reading-based class was incredible and relevant! Content ranged from the historical impact of the printing press to AI in the workforce and transhumanism, and all of the topics were grounded in religion and some of the frameworks religion provides. I pondered on ideas from this class all the time.
I was captivated by the first class meeting of the term reading Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' and eventually chose to focus on it for my research paper at the end of the term. All of the readings captivated my attention, however, Kafka, Han's 'The Vegetarian', and Kristeva were the authors that made the biggest impression on me. The class discussions resulted in wonderful insights relevant to humanity at a macro level. My favorite aspect was our professor instructing us to focus on the ideas before picking apart the writing style.
Rauner Special Collections Library is a great quiet study space with an atrium. The central aspect inside the building is the glass cube that houses the rare books as well as a life-size plushie version of the Cat in the Hat, a nice little nod to Dartmouth alumnus Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). What might catch your interest more than just the architecture of Rauner Library are the rare books it houses, including Shakespeare's First Folio and George Washington papers. Check out this article for more about the well-known items!
I have been to two curated sessions at Rauner Library, one for my Religion and Technology class and the other with the Great Issues Scholar (GIS) program run by the Dickey Center. For Religion and Technology, we focused on Medieval hand-made books and incunables (the first books that were made after the invention of the printing press). With GIS, our group was looking at pandemic history since the winter term of the program focuses on Global Health.
Medieval Books
These are probably my favorite items that I have interacted with at Rauner Library.
These hand-made books took months to make and were so expensive to procure that sometimes wealthy families had to decide between a book or another building on their estate. Given that these books are European, the pages are made from animal skin, whereas if they were from other areas and eras they could have been papyrus. I still find myself in awe of the craftsmanship that went into these books; scribes who tended to be in monasteries created their own signature font, and for the fancier books that had scenes depicted, there were generally traveling masters who had refined their craft that were requested to do the art. It is not uncommon to see lapis lazuli, gold leaf, or velvet used in these books.
Side View of Medieval Book
Medieval Book Pages
Medieval Book with Elaborate Art
Medieval Book with Engraved Cover
Incunables
The material for these books was not animal skin but rather a mixture of textiles. This era was rather revolutionary in terms of the accessibility of books, before the printing press only the richest people had books. The printing press also spurred change in terms of writing in the vernacular, not just Latin (which was considered an elitist language).
Incunabula with Drawing
Pandemic Books and Historical Documents
We looked at the plague, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, and the Spanish Flu. Excepting the plague, there were documents from each pandemic that were part of Dartmouth's history.
Dartmouth Letters on AIDS
AIDS Infographic
Map of the Dartmouth Campus during the Spanish Flu
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.
Traditionally, Dartmouth students take three courses during a term, but I decided to take four courses this term! Learn about course load and the academic system at Dartmouth.
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.
Witnessing an eclipse was one of the most exciting days in my life to date, and a solid reminder of our place in this universe. Read on to hear about it!
