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.
After returning from the Arabic LSA in Morocco, I had the opportunity to teach Arabic drill at Dartmouth. In this post, I want to provide you with some information about languages and drills on campus.
In every language program at Dartmouth, students in the first-year sequence (classes in the fall, winter, and spring) must participate in a program called drill between 2-4 times a week, depending on the language. Drill uses a strategy called the Rassias method, named after Dartmouth professor John Rassias, who popularized it. Essentially, drill emphasizes repetition and constant speaking of the target language. Rather than focusing on comprehending every sentence students speak, they are just encouraged to repeat after the instructor in order to sharpen their ears to the sounds and structure of the target language.
The process of applying to be a drill instructor took about a week - after 3 days of tryouts (about 2 hours of commitment each day), we were notified about whether or not we received the instructor position. Due to the large number of introductory Arabic students this year (woohoo!), there were enough classrooms for all those who tried out to get their own drill session. After finishing my second week of drill instructing, I feel that I've got a good sense of what the process entails.
At 7:45am Mondays through Thursdays, me and my session use a lecture hall to go over pronunciations and Arabic letters. Since my students have only been learning Arabic for a few days, the emphasis is on correct pronunciation of individual letters, and exploring different ways that those letters are connected. After I say a sentence or word (all of which can be found on a lesson plan given to me by the Arabic language teachers), I encourage the group to repeat after me and try to give tips on their pronunciation. In addition, we've practiced basic conjugations; for instance, how to say 'his book' as opposed to 'her book'. Arabic is a really fun language to learn due to the many consistencies and rules that exist within the Arabic framework – thus, I can really sense the excitement in my students.
Furthermore, drill is a really useful way to not only practice the language, but to meet other people! Most of my section are '26s, which helps me to meet people outside of my class who I wouldn't have met otherwise. I'm really excited to continue with drill this term; although many students complain about the extra time commitment of drill, it definitely opens up a lot of opportunities to better internalize a language and meet new people.
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!
