Hi, my name is Brandon and I'm a '25 from just outside of Chicago. I study Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies, and am involved with multimedia journalism and videography on campus. I am passionate about documentary filmmaking and using film as a tool to present lived human experiences in subjective visual, aesthetic, and sonic terms. In my free time, I love to spend time with my cat, follow the Chicago Bulls, and study Arabic. Please enjoy these snapshots of my life in Hanover!
This was definitely my favorite class of fall term—the readings were heavy, but they all felt incredibly relevant to the coursework. For each class, we read both Jewish and Arab perspectives throughout history. Moreover, Professor Avishai has a vast network of connections with important members of Israeli government, and even figures who we read about in the history books (including former prime ministers!). Overall, that class was a lot of work but very effective in helping me understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Professor Smolin's lectures were always something for me to look forward to. In this intro class, a wide variety of subjects regarding the Arab world were covered. Topics such as culture, Islam, literature, poetry, politics, and history were covered from the pre-Islamic period to the more recent Arab Spring. The readings were fascinating, and the professor also incorporated a wide variety of video resources to accompany the readings. I loved this class!
I found myself regularly engrossed in Professor Fishere's lectures in Arab Political Thought. Tracking the development of political ideologies from the 1800s until today was fascinating, the discussion-based classes helped me get to know tons of my peers.
While in Morocco this summer, I had the chance to take intensive Arabic 21 and Arabic 22. Working with a local teacher, Ilham, I had the chance to study both standard Arabic and Moroccan Arabic .My favorite part of the class was the opportunity to engage with the language in cafes and shops.
Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy was definitely a class that took me out of my comfort zone. Having never taken a class on philosophy, I had lots of fun studying readings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Furthermore, I liked that the class focused heavily on group-work, with weekly group meetings and write-ups being a critical component of the class.
This class made me think critically about how we use different media, and how different media use us. I always considered media and technology as tools we use to navigate life, but never thought about the ways that media influence us and perceptions of the self. Taking this course inspired me to be involved more with digital humanities in order to think critically about how different media can alter the meaning of a message.
I had a great spring term living in Kuwait while interning at the American University of Kuwait! Working as an intern with the Oral History Project and International Relations departments, I met many amazing friends and gained experience with oral history and digital humanities. As someone who wants to continue doing research on the Arab Gulf, this experience was incredibly valuable.
Filmmaking & Visual Culture was about the intersection of filmmaking and anthropology, and I really enjoyed the course. The course looked at film through a post-colonial lens, thinking about how it can be used as a tool to tell stories, empower communities, and challenge structural violence. As a final project, we were required to make our own films with the broad requirement that they had to tell some kind of story or narrative. Having this sort of creative freedom was lots of fun: I did a short film project about a farmer in the Upper Valley.
This was the first science course that I had ever taken at Dartmouth, and I actually really enjoyed it. The course was focused on being able to identity the names and functions of the bones and muscles in the human body: we covered a lot of ground in a short 10-week term. In addition to studying human anatomy, we also studied the anatomy of monkeys and chimps, comparing their evolutionary trends to those of humans. We also had the chance to visit the Geisel School of Medicine cadaver lab on multiple occasions to review for exams, which was definitely a unique experience. Overall, I'm glad I took the opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone a little bit with this class!
I love to make and watch documentaries, so taking ethnographic film was a great way to look at filmmaking in academic, anthropological terms. We watched and analyzed many documentary films throughout the course, considering factors like documentary ethics, filmmaking style, and multi-media approaches. We also did a lot of critical media analysis, looking at how the medium of a piece of work impacts the message it is trying to convey. Additionally, we were able to work on and submit our own short documentary films as final projects for the course.
In the spring, I worked as an intern at a documentary production company in Chicago. There, I gained experience in camera operation, managing audio levels, and editing in Premiere for clients like the Newberry Library, WBEZ Radio, the University of Chicago, and more. I traveled to many shoots across Chicago, including creative documentary projects such as PBS’s ‘From Rails to Trails’ series and runner profiles for the World Marathon Majors.
In the summer, I interned at Bloomberg News in New York City. Working in journalism was a great way to sharpen my writing, interviewing, and storytelling skills – I primarily wrote about the entertainment industry from a financial perspective. Outside of work, I spent lots of time enjoying live music and film screenings in the city.
Cinematography I: Lighting and Composition was a great way to tie my documentary filmmaking projects that I have been working on outside of class into a classroom setting. As students, we had the opportunity to work with and receive direct mentorship from accomplished filmmaker Professor Iyabo Kwayana. One of my favorite things about the class was the opportunity to screen our final film projects on a big theater screen in the Lowe Auditorium on campus!
After working on many documentaries outside of class about people and experiences in rural Vermont, taking an anthropology class on Rural Places and People was incredibly rewarding. The course gave me a more critical perspective on rural places and identities, which will definitely be helpful as I continue making films. We had many guest speakers from rural New England come to class, and it was very rewarding to hear about a wide breadth of experiences.
This weekend, the Hopkins Center for the Arts held a networking event for Dartmouth Creatives in New York City, and I had the opportunity to attend! Dartmouth provided over 15 other students and I with free bus transportation and housing to attend the event, which definitely helped with accessibility and reaching NYC. In this post, I'll share details about what it was like to meet Dartmouth alumni working in a wide range of creative industries.
Since the networking event was on Saturday morning, we traveled to New York on Friday evening. The two-hour event, which included a brunch for attendees, began with a panel of four Dartmouth alumni who have found success working in the video production, theater, comedy, writing, and film industries. Hearing about their career trajectories was incredibly valuable – and helped me realize that nobody's career path is linear.
After the panel, we had the chance to network more informally with the alumni and ask questions one-on-one. It was a great opportunity to hear even more about their experiences and to build personal connections. Since I'm interested in video production and documentary film, I was able to learn from lots of Dartmouth alums who work in the film industry about the best and most effective ways to begin my career. Many of the alumni offered a range of practical advice, from how to stay motivated through uncertainty to the importance of building a community in whatever industry you're working in.
Once the formal event ended, we had free time to explore New York City for the rest of Saturday and Sunday. Having that flexibility made the trip even more enjoyable! Many students attended Broadway shows or various museums across the city – after spending the afternoon walking around Manhattan with friends, I spent Sunday morning attending the Arab Shorts Film Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. The festival showcased a wide range of short films by Arab filmmakers from across the Middle East and North Africa, many of which explored themes of identity, migration, and memory. It was an amazing experience to see the creativity and storytelling approaches from different parts of the Arab world, and it opened my eyes to new styles and methods of visual storytelling – particularly due to the mixture of experimental and traditional narrative forms.
Overall, the weekend was a great opportunity to experience professional growth while having some fun! It was inspiring to meet alumni who have had rich careers in industries we are interested in and learn from their successes and failures. It was a tremendous learning experience and lots of fun to spend a few days in a more urban setting!
