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!
As the winterim wraps up, something I'm looking forward to this winter term are my classes. The ones I've enrolled in are truly unique and definitely align closely with my interests, and they definitely demonstrate the wide breadth of coursework opportunities available at Dartmouth.
The class I'm most excited for is called Sexual Violence in Southeastern Europe, and it is guest-taught by the former president of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga! Being able to take a class with a literal former head-of-state is an incredible opportunity, and I am truly excited for the experience. The course aims to draw connections between ideas of war, nationalism, and sexual violence, with particularly attention to how gender relations come into play during times of war. I have taken lots of classes surrounding gender and sexuality, so I'm eager to build on my knowledge with this course. In addition, I don't know much about the Balkan states, so this course will be a great way to learn more about the geography, culture, and political configuration of Southeastern Europe.
Another course I'm excited to take this winter is Ethnographic Film. Since I'm interested in combining anthropology and documentary filmmaking, this class perfectly aligns with my interests. In the course, we will be watching many documentaries that use anthropological methods; discussing these will help me better understand how to incorporate ethnography into my own films. I've tried to make some ethnographic films in the past and hope to make many more in the future, so I'm confident that this class will help me approach the documentary process more creatively. The emphasis on discussion within the course will be especially helpful, allowing me to bounce ideas off of other students interested in ethnographic films and documentaries!
The last class I am taking this winter is Technology in the Middle East. The course focuses on the historical and social significance of all types of media in the region, from film, to music, to the internet. The media theory class I took last winter was my absolute favorite class I've taken at Dartmouth, so having more opportunities to think critically about how we change technology (and how technology changes us) is very exciting. This will be the last class for my Middle Eastern Studies major, and will provide a great opportunity to connect my interest in film and media with Arabic and the Middle East.
Dartmouth's liberal arts curriculum pushes students to explore new departments and draw connections between seemingly disparate disciplines. Come explore my Economics, Physics, and Asian, Societies, Cultures, and Languages classes!
At Dartmouth, there is an undergraduate requirement for language; after all, it is the liberal arts! Fulfilling this requirement looks different for various people and I will focus on my experience.
Traditionally, Dartmouth students take three courses during a term, but I decided to take four courses this term! Learn about course load and the academic system at Dartmouth.
