Ei! My name is Antônio Jorge Medeiros Batista Silva (yes—four last names!) and I'm a '25 from Governador Valadares, Brazil. My journey to Dartmouth has crossed two continents, three countries, and over 10 schools—and I'm a strong believer that everyone's path to the Big Green was unique in a way. At Dartmouth, I study Linguistics, Native American & Indigenous Studies, and Spanish. I am passionate about social justice, language-learning, and the oxford comma!
This class is an introduction to the Spanish minor and major courses and, although I did not expect to particularly like it, it not only turned out to be my favourite but it made me start considering a degree in the department!
In this class, we analysed different productions of Latinx American theatre. Prof. Analola Santana was probably the best person I met this year at Dartmouth. Being her student was a very important experience as I try to navigate my potential majors and minors.
In this class, I was able to carve time out of my busy Dartmouth schedule to study and learn my Indigenous language: Krenak. With the help of Prof. Gokke, all students were encouraged to develop a final project that spoke to their community's needs for language learning and revitalisation. It was an extremely important class for me, not only academically, but also for my personal healing process.
I had the honour of spending my sophomore fall in Madrid, taking part in the Spanish FSP. There, Prof. Martín was not only a great professor, responsible for my favourite lecture of the program, but also an incredible company throughout our classes and in-country trips. Great way to wrap up my Spanish minor, honestly!
This was my second class in the NAIS department, and thus it took me one step closer to wrapping up my major. Nonetheless, it was Prof. Powell's genuine charisma and caring personality that made it my favourite of the term!
This course was definitely life changing! Prof. Pochedley, a visiting post-doc of the Potawatomi nation did a great job at keeping the students engaged while teaching us to see the land we inhabit as a source of knowledge and spirituality. In a majority Indigenous classroom, we got to develop individual projects related to our traditional homelands, learning to navigate the world through Native world lenses.
Prof. Gómez is one of those profs I've always wanted to take a class with. His work with the Horror genre in Modern Spanish literatures amazes me, and it was an honour to guide in-class discussions and develop my own research on the themes of science, testimony, and fear.
LING54 is an umbrella course: the actual content of the course may vary each year, but it is the common letter-number code to refer to the course taught abroad by your accompanying Dartmouth Linguistics professor. In this year's Linguistics Foreign Study Program (FSP), LING54 was a 'Language Documentation' class, wonderfully taught by Prof. David Peterson.
Before this class, I had no idea what visual and cultural studies actually encompassed. Every chat with Prof. Broner opened my eyes to a different analysis or method for interpreting literature, and for that, I feel truly lucky! We got to discuss films made by Indigenous women from all over Latin America, exposing the class to distinct ways of interacting with and stewarding the environment.
Since coming back to school this spring, I've noticed campus looking a little different. Especially because New Zealand was extremely sunny and warm this past sinter term (their summer, actually), it has been rather hard to adapt back to Hanover. Under all this snow, I can only imagine all the roses, tulips, and lilies that our green areas typically carry during this time.
If I'm being honest, I am a total lover of Spring. I live for the sunny morning walks to class, the afternoons kayaking in the river, and the flowers colouring every street in town. Additionally, it is for me one of the best times to be on campus, surrounded by your friends right as Green Key – our yearly music festival—and graduation events begin to take place. At the Tabard – the gender-inclusive Greek house I am a part of—'senior spring' is always lots of fun. Typically, we organize a week worth of events—social gatherings, games, house meals, and more—to not only congratulate our graduating members, but also spend these last few moments cherishing their presence around the house. Honestly, it is during the spring that I most genuinely feel Dartmouth's sense of community take place, and it's one of the most joyous experiences I've ever had!
It is not common—for me, at least—for March to still be rather a cold month. I have a mid-month birthday, right on Pi Day (3/14!), and 2023 was the first time I celebrated it under a snowstorm. This year, again, I was under approximately 20 inches of snow here in Hanover. But, just like the flowers hidden underneath it all, I can also already see the amount of fun this term will bring. The warmth of Spring term is just partially nature following its own course, a rather significant portion of this heat we actually gain from our friends and peers, who turn cold, stormy campus into a warm, welcoming home.
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
