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!
A Jam-Packed Winter Schedule: What Am I Up To This Term?
As I expressed in my last blog post, my schedule for this winter is jam-packed full of classes and extracurriculars! During the course election period (which is normally during the last two weeks of the preceding term), students usually choose to elect three courses onto their schedule, as this is the typical course load at Dartmouth. There is a limited number of terms a student is able to take either two courses (the minimum) or four courses (the maximum), and this term, I opted to keep myself busy with my first four-course term on top of new extracurriculars. So, what exactly am I keeping myself busy with?
For starters, my course schedule is defined mostly by reading- and writing-based classes. Since I took both the winter and spring terms off of my freshman year, I was not able to complete all of my first-year requirements, so I am finally taking my Writing 5 class, one of the three options for the freshman writing course requisite. There are a multitude of subjects that first-years can choose from for a Writing 5 class; this term, I decided to take one called Photographic Representations, where each writing assignment is based on the analysis of a photograph. So far, we've taken two trips to the Hood Museum on campus to examine painted portraits and images, and it has been so fun being able to fully indulge myself in the class's material by doing so!
Along with my Writing 5, I am taking a class through the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures, and Language called Sacred Architectures of Asia, which focuses specifically on the architectural developments of India and China in the context of the dissemination of Buddhism. I am also taking Spanish 1 Introductory Spanish; and lastly, a class through the English/Creative Writing Department called Introduction to Aesthetics, which highlights the possible answers to the question of what exactly can be considered art.
While these four classes are the only academic courses I will be taking this term, I'm actually technically taking five classes in total, as I signed up for ice skating lessons for one of my P.E. credits as well! Since there are only two classes per week, ice skating lessons are not as big of a commitment as my academic classes, which allowed me to fit them into my schedule perfectly.
The final thing on my already packed schedule is my extracurriculars, two of which I decided to prioritize this term: the People Places Pines blog and WebDCR, the College's radio station! I've finally decided to start my own radio show, Daydream Sound Machine, where I will be streaming music every Thursday at 6 pm EST! Since it is only a once-weekly commitment, it was the final activity to make my schedule complete. I intend on being involved with the radio for a while, so stay tuned for a possible future blog post about this experience soon!
I am so excited for all of the experiences I will have this winter with all of the new classes and clubs I have decided to involve myself in, and I can't wait to report about it all in the next coming weeks of this term to all of you!
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
