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!
It's no secret that there's a lot of stress to go around at Dartmouth, and on college campuses in general. Between assignments, extracurriculars, social obligations, and career-planning, college can certainly be a stressful time. In this post, I want to share some strategies I've used to manage my stress while at Dartmouth,
Over my few terms here, I've discovered the importance of cutting yourself off from work. When there's always a reading to do, midterm to study for, or application to finalize, it's very easy to spend all of your free time working and getting ahead on all of your work. For me, blocking off specific times to do absolutely no work has been incredibly helpful; this strategy both gives me time to enjoy myself, and ensures that when it is time to work, I'm well-rested and more efficient. Typically, I'll cut myself off from work around 7 or 8pm every night; this ensures that I get lots of work done in the morning, and have a calm night to myself!
Another strategy is putting more personal stake into your assignments. For example, if I have to write an essay in a class, I will put in effort to select a topic that I am genuinely interested in. By incorporating an aspect of 'fun' into my work, it helps to remove lots of the stress associated with completing the assignment.
Additionally, Dartmouth's rural environment is very conducive to stress relief. Getting outdoors is critical to a clear mind, even if that means just taking a walk around the Green. Being able to step outside and be surrounded by nature has been really helpful to stay grounded and mindful.
Finally, using the Student Wellness Center! Located in the library, the center just recently opened; it includes spaces to relax with tea, massage chairs, and sun lamps to help students unwind. Making time to spend in this space and spaces like it is crucial; sometimes all it takes is inserting some 'slow-living' into our lives in order for us to appreciate everything we had. By using these spaces Dartmouth offers, I am trying to cultivate ideas of 'slower-living' into my life so that I can remain mindful and content with the amazing opportunities and moments happening around me every day.
Everyone deals with stress differently, and everyone will feel stressed at College; it's important to figure out what works best for you to deal with this stress. Dartmouth certainly has many resources to help students unwind, but I've also found that just creating 'me time' is an effective way to relax. And while there's lots of stress at Dartmouth, there's also an equal amount of fun to be had!
I have written about being a student worker plenty of times in the past, but I have yet to talk about one of my favorite jobs ever: ticket selling at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
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.
