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.
Over this last term, I've been writing a lot about my sophomore summer and what this term is at Dartmouth. Usually, Dartmouth students look forward to sophomore summer as a time to bond with their class and have some fun. Since campus is predominantly made up of sophomores during this term, there are tons of opportunities to strengthen existing friendships and make new ones. In this post, I want to share some of my favorite and least favorite parts about this interesting time on campus!
Since there are significantly fewer people on campus than during the other academic terms, there is a much more relaxed atmosphere. I have enjoyed this quite a bit, especially since the weather has been so nice! I have also had the opportunity to take my first two-course term this summer, and I am also TAing my first class (Introduction to Cultural Anthropology)—so, there are a lot of firsts for me this summer. However, I think sophomore summer is one of the best times to experiment with new things at Dartmouth. Furthermore, taking a smaller course load has allowed me to think more creatively about how to spend my time on campus and how to use the resources available to me at Dartmouth beyond academics. Also, having my first TA experience helped me to realize the type of work I excel in and allowed me to use some of my extra free time to help students work through problems in course material!
Since this term marks the halfway point of college for most sophomores who are on, people are heavily considering what they want to invest their time in before and after graduating. For example, many internship applications for junior summer are opening up, so many students are considering whether or not they would like to explore fields like consulting, tech, investment banking, and beyond. Navigating these options with my peers has been quite fun, as we are all making similar steps toward investing in our future careers.
This summer, I've been able to explore my interest in film. I started a video section in the college newspaper and have been shooting a documentary about a farmer in the Upper Valley with one of my friends. Exploring this new field has been very rewarding and has made me want to pursue film and nonfiction storytelling more seriously after graduation.
I also had lots of fun this summer by going to concerts, exploring the upper valley, and going to Montreal! These are memories that will surely stick with me.
Although sophomore summer has been great, less student presence on campus has made Dartmouth feel even smaller than usual; therefore, after a 10-week term, I'm ready to return home to Chicago and take a short break outside the upper valley. Sophomore summer certainly met my expectations, but I'm ready for the interim between summer and fall, which will allow me to rest and approach the fall with lots of energy!
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
