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.
When thinking about Dartmouth, one of the first things that comes to mind is the undergraduate focus and the relationships students are able to build with professors. Whether it is research, professional mentorship, or academic enrichment, doing work with Dartmouth professors is extremely accessible here on campus. However, Dartmouth also hosts many guest professors and lecturers who are not permanent members of the faculty: in this post, I want to describe my experience taking classes with guest professors and what value those classes have brought to my Dartmouth experience.
The first class I took with a guest professor was a creative writing class during my freshman fall with Alaa al-Aswany, a famous Egyptian author; this was a great opportunity to practice my writing skills with guidance from an acclaimed creative writer. Most of the class was spent working on drafts of our own short stories, and receiving feedback from both peers and al-Aswany himself. Since he's a practitioner, being able to learn about his methods and philosophies on writing was very interesting and helpful in framing my own creative writing process. Additionally, since I don't have much experience in creative writing, this class was a great opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and try something new. I definitely think that learning some creative writing skills has been beneficial to my writing overall, and I'm really glad I took the course.
The other class I've taken at Dartmouth with a guest professor is actually this winter term with former President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga. Being able to take a course with a former head-of-state has been an incredibly interesting experience. The class is focused on Sexual Violence in Southeast Europe, and it has been a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the history and politics of the Balkan region, which I didn't know much about before taking the course. In addition to learning about political history, President Jahjaga is able to give us her unique perspective on navigating national issues and policymaking during her presidency. She also has shared her experience working with womens' rights and sexual violence prevention NGOs after her presidency, so being able to learn more about social change both from a governmental and non-profit perspective is really valuable. The class has is still ongoing, but it has certainly been an enriching experience thus far.
Taking courses with guest professors is always a unique experience because most of the time, these instructors are practitioners without much experience in academia. This makes their perspectives and methods different from those you'd usually see in regular Dartmouth classes, and I think having this mixture of perspectives is valuable. In all professors are definitely a core aspect of Dartmouth's academic experience!
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
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!
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
