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.
My Experience with the Center for Professional Development
As a junior, this year has been an important time for me to think about what I want to do after Dartmouth. Thankfully, searching for research opportunities, internships, and other professional development opportunities has been relatively painless due to all the helpful resources that exist for these sorts of things at Dartmouth. In this post, I want to write specifically about the Center for Professional Development (CPD) on campus, as scheduling time to meet with them has definitely been one of the most helpful ways to prepare myself for success after Dartmouth.
As a Dartmouth student, you can easily schedule meetings with representatives from the CPD at virtually any time in the week, either in person or over Zoom. I've used these kinds of meetings for so many different purposes: resume reviews, getting help with writing cover letters, learning about internship opportunities in my field of interest, and so on. Being able to have these one-on-one consultations with experts is invaluable, and has definitely made me feel more prepared when applying for internship opportunities.
If you feel uncomfortable meeting one-on-one, the Center for Professional Development website has tons of these same resources all available in online form. Resume templates, cover letter examples, and tips on how to apply for things from fellowships, to graduate schools, to internships! Being able to return to these resources easily when I need them has also been a great help for me as I've navigated job and internship searches.
The CPD even provides funding for unpaid internships! If you can find an unpaid internship in your field or career of interest, you can apply to one of their many grants in order to get your experience funded. This has been helpful for me because it has enabled me to seek out unpaid internships that would otherwise be difficult for me to do because sustaining yourself as a college student is difficult! Since I'm into filmmaking and documentaries, knowing that I could get funding from the CPD allowed me to cold email documentary studios and let them know that I'm willing to do an unpaid internship. Without the funding opportunities available through the CPD, I otherwise would not be able to do this.
Overall, the CPD is just one example of an institutional support system that I've been able to take advantage of while at Dartmouth. One thing to remember is that while resources like the CPD do exist on campus, it is incumbent on students to seek them out and take full advantage of them. At Dartmouth, and any university, the resources are only worthwhile if you are able to take initiative and make them work for you! For prospective undergraduate students at Dartmouth or other institutions, practicing this active mindset will help you take advantage of resources at college and beyond.
Through Dartmouth's Guarini Institute for International Study, I am getting to take classes and experience life at Wellesley College, an all-women's school!
