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.
Wow! It feels like just yesterday I was writing the blog post sharing how I would be spending my off-term: if you missed it, here it is. Over the course of this spring term, I've been working as a documentary production company in Chicago, helping out on all sorts of different projects. In this post, I want to recap my experience for those curious about internships in the creative field, and share how Dartmouth provided me with the institutional support to succeed in this internship.
As a production intern, one of my largest responsibilities was working on post-production for various projects, primarily working in Adobe Premiere to edit projects for clients as well as creative documentary projects for the company. For example, the company shoots and records many lectures for the University of Chicago, and I was responsible for cutting social media cuts of many of those lectures. One of my favorite projects I edited was a music video for folk musician Don Flemons; it was lots of fun, and definitely outside of my creative comfort zone. Another one of my favorite projects was editing a rough cut of a scene for an upcoming documentary about Chicago's historically-Black 1st congressional district and the 2022 race for the seat after long-time incumbent Bobby Rush retired. Overall, many of these projects helped me work on and sharpen my Premiere skills!
Another significant responsibility was assisting on many shoots, both on documentary and client shoots. On client shoots, I was responsible for camera operation on events for the WBEZ radio station, University of Chicago, Chicago Humanities Festival, and many other events. I was able to learn how to use and operate a crane at the South Side Chicago Irish Parade, which was also valuable and lots of fun. Some of my favorite shoots were on actual documentaries, where I primarily monitored audio levels and operated boom poles while simultaneously serving as a general production assistant.
Without support from Dartmouth, the internship would not have been possible—since it is a smaller company, they do not typically offer paid internships. However, through Dartmouth's Center for Professional Development (CPD) I was able to apply for and acquire funding over the course of the internship. Moreover, there are many other grants available for students to apply to. Unpaid internships are quite common in creative industries, which is why access to Dartmouth's large supply of grant funds is incredibly valuable for undergraduates interested in exploring these industries.
Overall, I can't believe the spring term is almost over already, and I can't wait to update the blog with what I'm up to next!
I recently visited the Harold Edward Cable Makerspace, a workspace designed for students to create personal projects. Read about some of the different tools available and what I made!
Coming back to Dartmouth for my senior year, I have been loving pursuing my major. However, what I love about the liberal arts education is that you can take classes for interest far beyond any classes in your major.
