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.
This spring, I'm taking my second off-term at Dartmouth! An off-term is a quarter in which a student does not take classes. These off-terms can be spent in any number of ways! Many students stay on campus to work or do research, seek out internships, travel, or just spend time relaxing at home. In this post, I want to share how I'm spending my off-term, and the resources I was able to take advantage of at Dartmouth to make it a great one!
This term, I'm working at a documentary production company in Chicago. If you've read my blog in the past, you know that my academic and professional interests are grounded in storytelling through non-fiction video, so this opportunity is a great one to help me gauge my professional interests in the filmmaking industry. This week, I wrapped up my second week of working with the company and it has been a very enriching experience. Most of my time has been spent editing promotional and artistic videos for clients, helping with video and audio on a variety of film shoots across the city, and helping out with some outreach to organizations to help promote the company's newest documentary film. The fact that I'm getting experience with production, post-production, and marketing is perfect and will certainly elevate my own filmmaking proficiency from a technical perspective.
I also want to give some insight into the internship search process, particularly when considering how the D-Plan works. The fact that Dartmouth students can take quarters off in the fall, winter, and spring, when students at a majority of other universities will still be taking classes, certainly opens doors for unique internship opportunities with less competition from other undergraduate students.
However, something to also consider is that some companies only run internship programs during the summer - therefore, being able to fully take advantage of the opportunities provided by the D-Plan requires creativity and initiative. To find this particular internship, I cold-emailed the company directly and explained my situation to them and told them I would be willing to do an unpaid internship.
The reason I did this is because Dartmouth has a very wide range of ways to fund internships, no matter what kind of internship it is. For example, the funding for my internship came from a Center for Professional Development fund for education through non-fiction video - so yes, there is funding for everything! The combination of Dartmouth's D-Plan and funding opportunities means that seeking out internship opportunities from smaller companies can be really fruitful and rewarding. Many of these smaller companies are unable to provide funded internship opportunities, but they would love to teach a student a wide variety of skills through an unpaid position!
Overall, I am excited for the rest of the off-term and to share more of my experiences here on the blog!
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?
