Hello, and welcome to my neck of the woods! My name is Brendilou Armstrong, and I am a '26 hailing from the cornfields and grassy plains of Western Nebraska. This year, I plan to involve myself in The Dartmouth and WebDCR (Dartmouth College Radio). I couldn't be more excited to set out on this expedition through college alongside all of you. Thanks for visiting my page!
If you are interested in Victorian literature in any capacity, this is the class for you! It is a course taught by the WGSS (Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) department and combines historical and political aspects into a literary seminar. The material is compelling and allows you to view female authors, including Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, and Elizabeth Gaskell, in a different perspective knowing the societal context of the time period and themes in their most popular works.
If poetic language and artistic writing styles are your forte, this is the perfect class for you! Taught by the English/Creative Writing department, Introduction to Poetry is an incredible foundation to storytelling, introducing students to poetry styles from prose to ekphrastic and written to slam. The approach to teaching the course revolved around the strategies of Robert Frost, where the Poetry Room in Sanborn Library held our class, and students' chairs were arranged in a circle rather than in rows of desks. CRWT 12 is one of the most unique and fascinating classes I have taken thus far, and as a result, has become my favorite class I have taken on campus.
Niche classes and concentrations define a Dartmouth education, and before this term, I never intended on taking an Asian art history course, let alone one with such a defined focus. Taught through both the Department of Art History and the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages by Columbia University guest lecturer Seher Agarwala, this course contextualizes sacred architectural structures of the Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic faiths. I left this course with a newfound interest in the artistic practices of East Asian cultures and an appreciation for their diverse historical backgrounds and religions.
For any Los Angeles natives or those generally wanting to delve into the history of southern California, this class is for you! Focusing mainly on the contributions of minorities to the area, this class provides insight on the seldom-discussed history of L.A. through the perspectives of non-white settlers from the 18th century to the present day. Through examining controversial films depicting L.A. (including La La Land and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood), I left this course with a deep understanding of the sacrifices made to construct contemporary Los Angeles.
If the history behind 1960s politics, fashion, art, music, and society interests you in any capacity, this class is the perfect fit for you! Taught through Dartmouth’s Humanities Department, this course covers the late 1950s through the early 1970s, focusing on the era's transformative nature while immersing students in the time period through samples of art and music. What an incredible introduction to an incredibly important decade!
Grandeur Atop Gile: Viewing Peak Fall Foliage in the Upper Valley
A novelty of east coast autumns that I have discovered since becoming a New Hampshirite has been the expansive outburst of reds, oranges, and yellows on the leaves of each sugar maple and elm tree. During this season, a tradition for the common Dartmouth student is to take a hike up Gile Mountain in Windsor County, Vermont to view the fall canvas of rolling hills atop an abandoned fire tower, and surprisingly, I had never participated in this custom until just this month. But I am back to document my experience and to convince any prospective or current students to revel in the grandeur of the northeast's fall foliage by taking part in this Dartmouth tradition as well!
My short adventure began at 5:40 in the morning, when my friend, Allison, and I left campus and drove twenty minutes to the Gile Mountain Trailhead in Norwich, Vermont. On arrival around 6 am, we bundled ourselves in layer upon layer to combat rain and the 40-degree fall air, and began our short trek into the wilderness. Not long after we began our sunrise hike (otherwise known as a "sunrike" amongst the Dartmouth community), groups of other fellow Dartmouth students arrived to get a glimpse of the foliage during its peak as well–this trail is very popular during the autumn!
A view of the abandoned fire tower from the ground up!
The terrain was easy to navigate, and the trail itself was mostly flat with the exception of some zig-zagged stairs when nearing the fire tower. The hike was a short 20-30 minute one-way trip, but it felt much shorter, as Allison and I listened to music and talked about the beauty of our surroundings during its short duration. Once we reached the fire tower, we climbed its stairs and reached the top as the sun was coming up, but unfortunately, the clouds and mist covered our view. This, however, did not deter us from taking in the sight. The vibrant colors of the trees below us poked through the gray, and we were still met with a strong sense of accomplishment alongside a breathtaking view, even in the less than ideal weather conditions.
Allison and I at the top of the fire tower!
After relishing in the beauty of Gile Mountain, we gradually made our way back to the trailhead and finished our short journey with breakfast at Four Aces Diner, a retro-style restaurant in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. Although this trip only occurred a few weeks ago, I now look back at its pictures with a sense of satisfaction and appreciation for the nature that surrounds the campus of Dartmouth College. I will always be incredibly grateful for how accessible gorgeous landscapes, like Gile Mountain, are to students and east coast locals alike.
A view of the foliage from the top of the fire tower
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
