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!
With the end of this winter term, I've officially finished half of my credits as a Dartmouth student! This made me think about why I chose Dartmouth in the first place – for many of you reading during admissions season, perhaps this is a question going through your mind as you decide where to spend the next four years of your life! In this post, I'll explain 3 reasons why I came to Dartmouth, and whether or not those reasons lived up to my expectations.
My primary reason for choosing Dartmouth was the undergraduate focus, and my Dartmouth experience so far has shown me how important this reason really is. It is true that many schools share Dartmouth's seemingly endless variety of resources; however, Dartmouth allocates many more of these resources toward undergraduates compared to other institutions. Dartmouth doesn't have many graduate students, which means that things like research positions, internships, and other pre-professional activities are fully open to undergraduates! In addition, the small size of the student body means that there are plenty of resources to go around. If you're an undergrad interested in doing research or a certain type of internship, it is very likely that you will get those kinds of opportunities by virtue of Dartmouth's broad resources and small student body. Being able to build relationships with my professors and know most of the people in my grade is one significant benefit of going to a small undergraduate-focused college like Dartmouth.
Another large reason I chose Dartmouth was the D-plan. Dartmouth operates on a quarter system, not a semester system; each student creates their own 'D-plan' based on which quarters they will be on or away from campus. While this means that Dartmouth students are constantly coming and going, it also provides the opportunity to be flexible with your undergraduate plans. If you'd rather do an internship in the winter than the summer, that's an option here! In addition, you can apply to study abroad during any time of the year. This flexibility allotted by the D-plan allows students to pave their own path through their undergraduate years, which I've personally found incredibly helpful.
Another significant factor in my decision was the wide variety of study abroad options that exist for students. When combined with the flexibility of the D-plan and the wide array of undergraduate opportunities, it makes sense why Dartmouth's study abroad programs are so great. While some study abroad trips are more competitive than others, enough programs exist to provide any student the opportunity to study abroad if they'd like to. I went to Morocco last summer on the Arabic language program, and I loved it! The freedom we were given to travel, combined with the academic rigor of an on-campus term meant that I was having lots of fun while also getting lots of work done. As I continue to update the blog with other study-abroad opportunities, just know that Dartmouth is full of them!
The undergraduate focus, D-plan, and study abroad opportunities are all great reasons to choose Dartmouth, but everyone has different ones. If prospective students are reading and weighing their decisions, please feel free to reach out via email (brandon.mioduszewski.25@dartmouth.edu) to talk about 'Why Dartmouth?'
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.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a phenomenal total solar eclipse occurred — and we happened to be within the path of totality. As a result, Dartmouth hosted a variety of eclipse-related events on- and off-campus. Find out how I spent the eclipse!
