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.
I am not joking when I say I am not made for the winter. The lowest temperature I have ever experienced was in Victoria, BC – where I used to study. And, for the ones who don't know: that was known as the warmest place to be in Canada. As a Brazilian, I am used to 365 days of sun. Now, being so far away from the tropics I used to call home, experiencing real winter at Dartmouth has been an experience!
Even before leaving campus for winter break, when the first snow had started to settle, I was already getting worried about how I would go through three months of this. But, to be honest, it is nothing to be scared of. Despite my runny nose, being on campus has been lots of fun this season. Every pile of snow is an invitation for you to jump on, and every group of two or more friends is enough to initiate a snowball fight.
Besides all that I do individually to make winter fun, the Dartmouth community also puts a lot of effort into making this one of the greatest times of the year. Coming up in a few weeks we have the traditional Winter Carnival – an event I am truly looking forward to. Each year, a committee of volunteer students and staff are brought together to create the ice sculptures that decorate our campus.
If I'm being honest, staying in has also been a great getaway: I get to spend much of my time just chilling at one of my friends' dorms, or in one of the many public indoor social spaces on campus. And exploring the multitude of activities one can do inside is really fun too. From quiet study sessions to binge watching our favourite TV shows and playing videogames, all of these opportunities make winter not only bearable, but really fun to experience as a newcomer.
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!
