What's up! My name is Brandon and I'm a '25 from a small town outside of Chicago. I am passionate about Middle Eastern culture, politics, history, and languages; I'm particularly interested in studying gender/sexuality, politics of exhibition, and counterculture in the Arab Gulf. My current hobbies are reading, playing the mandolin, audio design, eating spicy foods, and streetwear. 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!
This spring will be my first off-term at Dartmouth! Despite being a sophomore, my time on the Morocco LSA last summer means that I haven't had the chance to be away from Dartmouth classes for 6 terms. In this post, I want to share a little bit about what off-terms look like for Dartmouth students, as well as what I'll be doing in mine this spring!
Off-terms look different for all Dartmouth students. They're a great time to pursue internships, especially since they allow you to take terms off in seasons besides the summer, unlike most other college students. One of my friends is pursuing an internship in a Moroccan film studio over his off-term, fully funded by the college! Many people also pursue research during their off-terms. If they're working with a professor, they often continue to live on campus during this time, but instead of taking classes, they spend their time on research. A ton of people also take the much-needed time to simply do nothing! It is called an off-term after all, and with Dartmouth's academic rigor, it is quite common for students to spend half, or even all of their off-terms relaxing.
For this spring, I'll be interning with professors at the Center for Gulf Studies at the American University of Kuwait. Since I'm interested in studying counterculture, gender, and media in the Gulf in future research projects, I'm really grateful for this opportunity to live and work in Kuwait. I'll be staying in Salmiya, a city along the coast. I lived near the ocean for the first time in Rabat on the Morocco LSA program, and I loved it – I'm really looking forward to doing the same in Salmiya! I will also be working on the AUK Oral History project, which is focused on collecting and preserving oral histories from Kuwaitis in both Arabic and English.
The reason I have this opportunity in the first place is thanks to the resources I've taken advantage of at Dartmouth. Dartmouth works with the American University of Kuwait in a mutual exchange program – Kuwaiti students can come to Dartmouth to intern and study, and Dartmouth students can also apply to spend a term in Kuwait! Furthermore, the College covers funding and housing, which is a huge relief. The application process is typical and not overly time-consuming; I had to write a few essays and participate in an interview, and was fortunate enough to have the chance to spend my spring there!
For anyone interested in opportunities abroad at Dartmouth, I urge you to check out the Guarini website! There are many programs, internships, and opportunities available for students interested in living internationally for a term. And, of course, if you have specific questions about studying abroad and internships at Dartmouth, shoot me an email at brandon.mioduszewski.25@dartmouth.edu!
Coming back from Spring break usually means coming back to an entirely different campus than the one you left in the Winter – but that was not the case this year! Read on to hear more...
Growing up in New England and transitioning to living at Dartmouth, I'm all too familiar with the unpredictability (and beauty) of New England's weather. Let me tell you about it here!
It's not every day that my Intro to Chinese Culture and Understanding the Universe classes were both canceled, but the cosmos had other plans. Welcome to a rare weekday in my life with no classes!
