Hi there! I'm Brendilou, a '26 from Western Nebraska. As an English major interested in journalism, I'm passionate about writing to educate—to explore differing perspectives, to emphasize the mundane. Through this blog, however, I write to introduce you all to my perspective, my mundane, at the college that's stolen my heart. Welcome to my neck of the woods.
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!
Of the creative writing courses I have taken thus far, none have aligned with my desired career path as well as CRWT 11: Intro to Creative Nonfiction. If you are a prospective journalist, essayist, or fellow Joan Didion devotee, this class was made for you! Although Dartmouth does not have a designated journalism department, the class effectively delves into the art of it while maintaining a creative foundation. With a flexible schedule of fun, thought-provoking writing assignments and weekly peer editing workshops, CRWT 11 immensely refined my writing skills.
If you’re interested in audio storytelling, take CRWT 40.15, Tell Me A Story: Introduction to Nonfiction Radio and Podcasting! Lecturer and producer at Pushkin Industries Sophie Crane uses a hands-on approach for teaching students how to record, edit, and produce their own podcasts. By the end of the term, I had gained extensive experience with Adobe Audition and industry-standard equipment. This is, by far, my favorite class I’ve taken at Dartmouth!
After taking the intro class in the fall, CRWT 21: Intermediate Creative Nonfiction was the next step in refining my journalism skills. Taught by Professor Jeffrey Sharlet, this class, dubbed “The Reporters,” emphasized storytelling in the Upper Valley. Similar to CRWT 11, the class was structured around peer editing workshops and discussions rather than lectures. To conclude the term, students submitted their final pieces to an online publication created exclusively for this class. I look forward to taking the advanced workshop in the fall!
Despite my nonfiction concentration, I found CRWT 60, “Advanced Fiction,” to be the most rewarding class of my term. A class of this nature—an advanced workshop—was a prerequisite for my senior honors thesis in creative writing. By virtue of its five-person size, the feedback on submissions was thoughtful, the assigned readings were tailored to our interests, and the discussions felt intimate and productive. The professor, Thomas O’Malley, was deeply invested in each writer’s growth. I’d recommend this workshop to anyone interested in refining their fiction writing.
I began work for my creative nonfiction thesis this term through CRWT 98: Honors Course I, the springboard for my longest written project to date. During weekly one-on-one meetings with my advisor, Professor Jeff Sharlet, we parsed through interviews and followed their natural through lines to create an outline for my project. I used self-imposed deadlines to keep my writing on track and finished the first draft of two chapters, each around 20 pages in length.
CRWT 99: Honors Course II, a continuation of Honors Course I, marked the culmination of my creative nonfiction thesis and undergraduate writing life. Through weekly workshops with my advisor, Professor Jeff Sharlet, I wrote and polished three more chapters. After ten weeks, my thesis totaled 94 pages across five chapters. I presented it to the Department of English and Creative Writing on May 26. Two weeks later, I received high honors and a department award!
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Isabelle Sullivan-Rackliff '26, an environmental studies and geography double major, showed me around her room in her on-campus senior apartment. I sat down with her to discuss all things Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
Q: Who are you?
A: My name is Isabelle Sullivan-Rackliff. I am a '26 from Rhode Island studying environmental studies and geography. On campus I work as a tour guide for the Admissions Office and as an intern for the Dartmouth Sustainability Office. More specifically, I work at the Free Market Thrift Store, which is a free thrift store located in the North Massachusetts Hall basement, available to campus and people beyond campus. I also enjoy rollerblading around campus and spending time outside.
Q:How have you been able to pursue your interests at Dartmouth? This can relate to academics or hobbies you've developed outside of the classroom.
A:During my time at Dartmouth, I feel like academics and personal hobbies have been intertwined in a delightful way, where I've gotten to explore topics that I'm interested in, like fast fashion, both in the classroom and in my personal life, through my work at the Free Market.
I also feel like I've enjoyed the arts here through classes. I've liked getting to see pieces at the Hood Museum through geography classes, going to performances at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, totally for free, and also being involved with spaces on campus where I can create art—like the Book Arts Workshop, for example.
Q: What's been your favorite class you've taken at Dartmouth thus far and why?
Every single class, the professor would feed us, take us on a field trip, and bring in a guest lecturer. I feel like I actually learned so much about sustainable food systems. Our final project was to make a meal through the most sustainable ways that we felt like we could find and present that to the class. My team made a dessert.
Q: Tell me more about your work at the Free Market. How did you find the position?
A: I checked my email. Actually, funny story: I found the job in the fall of sophomore year, and I applied and didn't get it. Then, I saw an email again in the winter for it, and I applied again. I thought I'd be good at it. The second time I got it. My title now is Waste Diversion Intern.
Dartmouth students—and college students in general—produce a lot of waste beyond just throwing a tin can in the trash. Students will buy new items for their rooms, new clothes, and they get rid of many of those things because they realize they may not need them when they leave for off terms.
At the end of a term, students will throw away a lot of their clothes. Often, students will just leave pounds and pounds of clothing in common spaces of residence halls. Then, it's the custodians' job to kind of deal with where all that goes. Now, all the clothes come to us. They used to go to landfills.
At the Free Market, we have free clothes, free bedding, free books. We try to make it seasonal, so in the winter we try to provide jackets, because there are a lot of students that come here that might not have winter gear if they're not from a colder place. Part of the space is open 24/7. People can come in and get whatever they need.
Q: How can students donate their clothing?
A: Come to the basement of North Massachusetts Hall. You'll see these giant, old recycling bins. And you throw your clothes into them. Then, the magic happens. The magic is we weigh the clothes, and we sort through them. We'll either hang them up immediately, or we fold them and put them in our back room, where we'll sort them based on whether they're masculine or feminine, bottoms or tops, etc.
Q: Tell me about your room now! How does it reflect your personality?
A: I feel like it reflects my personality because there are things that either I've made myself or I'm inspired by and are an expression of myself and my interests. For example, I've got a lot of maps. I have a map of the Czech Republic, where I studied abroad with the geography department. I like having that there as a reminder of my time there. I also have a map of Rhode Island, where I'm from. I have a map of New Hampshire, where I am now. I feel like, for me, tying the places I visit to my understanding of the world is important.
Much of Isabelle's decor is handmade or collected over time.
I have a collage that I made of all the different little pieces of papers I got while I was studying abroad in Prague, and also while I lived in Washington D.C. for a summer.
Isabelle's room reflects her love of crafting and travel.
I also have some CDs and DVDs that I got as gifts, because I was trying to rely less on digital forms of media.
Isabelle's chosen to display her CD and DVD collection on a wooden bookshelf near her bedroom door.
Q: Where else have you lived on campus, and which room did you like the best?
A: My first year, I was in the Choates. I was on the third floor of Cohen Hall. My favorite part about the Choates was the common space. I felt like I met a lot of people and spent a lot of time in Brittle, which is the common space between Brown Hall and Little Hall.
I missed having the common spaces sophomore and junior year because I feel like people spend less time in common spaces those years. I was in Streeter Hall my sophomore year, in a single on the fourth floor.
I lived in my sorority during sophomore summer and junior fall. But I like my senior apartment the most. There's four of us in one, and we have a shared kitchen and living room. It's located near East Wheelock, which is the end of campus near the gym.
It brings together the two things that I liked about my other rooms, where I have a common space, but I also have a space to myself. I have a single, but I still will have a space where I can regularly hang out with my friends easily because we have this shared space together.
Q: Any advice for prospective students?
A: This is what I tell tours. Check your email. Actually read it. You get a lot of emails from a lot of different organizations. If you can, take the time to actually fully read the ones that you are interested in. I found out about two of the internships that I've done during my time here through getting an email about them.
Q: Any advice for prospective applicants?
A: I would say just be yourself, and try your best to represent who that actually is. Describe your passions and your interests in a genuine way, and paint a whole picture of yourself. Your classes show one aspect of yourself. Show a different aspect of yourself in your essays, but try to explain how those things connect.
That's it for this week's Open Doors! Thanks, Isabelle, for sharing your time and space with us.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
One of the first Dartmouth terms you'll hear is the "D-Plan." It might sound confusing at first, but don't worry—read on to learn what it is and how it works!
With all the amazing dining options Dartmouth has to offer, rest assured you will not go hungry on this campus! In this blog post, I will be discussing one of my favorite dining locations, Collis Café, with you.
