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.
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Sarah Getraer '26, a studio art major, showed me around her on-campus room. I sat down with her to discuss all things Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
Q: Who are you?
A: I'm Sarah Getraer. I'm a '26 from Highland Park, New Jersey. I'm studying Studio Art. I am involved in Jewish life, so different Jewish organizations on campus. I play club hockey for the women's club team, and I spend a lot of time painting in the Black Family Visual Arts Center (BVAC).
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: I've always loved doing art. At Dartmouth, I've been able to do all sorts of different types of art that I'm interested in. I got really into photography. I did a lot of jewelry making at the Rebecca and Mark Byrne Jewelry Studio. I got back into hockey, which I did in middle school, and I was so excited to hear there was a club team here that I could be involved in. I played club basketball for a bit.
I think because Dartmouth is so small, every student has such great access to things. You have all of these resources available. There are just so many different types of clubs and sports.
Q: Tell me more about your art. How have you been able to pursue it at Dartmouth, and what are you currently working on?
A: I'm currently working on my culminating experience for my major. So, what we have is a final exhibition in the spring where all the seniors make a cohesive body of work that they put on show in BVAC. The last two terms of our senior year, we're just working on that and developing our own style, who we are as an artist, what we want to be contributing to art, and what we want our subject to be. You have your own studio, and you're just really intensely working there in any medium that you want.
The Studio Art Department here is really good. The professors are really supportive and showed me that this is a legitimate thing that I can do, that it's taken super seriously by them, and that they have high standards. I quickly realized this is what I'm passionate about and what I love to do. So immediately freshman fall, I took a drawing class and loved it. I was like, 'This is what I want to do.'
Q: What kind of art do you make?
A: Mostly oil painting, but you don't have to only pick one thing here. You can kind of do a mix of everything, and that's what I want to do. I love photography. I love printmaking. I do a little bit of sculpture and a little bit of textile embroidery.
Q: What's been your favorite class you've taken at Dartmouth thus far, and why?
A: I took a translation class this past summer that I loved. It was CRWT 40.17/COLT 19.05 Workshop in Literary Translation. I loved reading everyone else's work and editing it, talking about the short stories or poetry in other languages. I was translating from Hebrew, and it was so fun to put myself into the translation. It was not just directly translating the authors' works. It was a class that met once a week for three hours.
Our professor would cook us homemade meals. It was a pretty small class, like 12 people, but it was the exact type of thing I wanted from Dartmouth. I think you can't get that at other schools, a professor who cares about you and makes a really great classroom environment.
Q: Tell me about your room now! How does it reflect your personality?
A: In general, I just wanted it to represent all the people I've known and places I've been, so that it feels like a big hug when I come into my room. I love putting up little notes and things that people have sent me.
Sarah loves gallery walls—she wanted one of her own as the focal point of her room.
This wall is a mix of some artwork that I've done and a collection of postcards that I have gotten from traveling. I have a lot of things from Scotland, because I love Scotland. My mom made that big pin to the left when she was, like, six, and it's been in all of her rooms growing up.
I found that painting above the headrest in my grandmother's barn. There were a bunch of rolled up canvases and newspapers that were left from the previous owner 60 or 70 years ago, and we found that one rolled up. It's very weathered and has been rained and snowed on, but it has a lot of history and character. So I brought it back and put it in my room.
Many of Sarah's decorations were gifts from family and friends.
A lot of those things on the dresser were gifts from my brothers. The candles were from my brother when I got into Dartmouth, because they're Dartmouth Green. He got them from this little village store on a mountain in New Hampshire. He also made a little pillow filled with pine needles from New Hampshire that has my initials on it.
A lot of these things are just collected or thrifted or gifted to me by people, which makes it more special. They're not things that I decide I want and then go buy. It's kind of just what happens to fall into my life somehow, and then I add it to the room.
Sarah's arranged an array of personal photos on her windowsill.
Q: Where else have you lived on campus, and which residence hall did you like the best?
I think I like this dorm the best so far. I love having a single. The Lodge was super nice too, having my own bathroom. My room was supposed to be a one-room double, but my roommate never showed up in the winter. So, I just had the whole thing to myself. One of my beds was like a couch. It was so nice.
Sarah's desk is right beside her dresser, against the wall opposite of her bed.
Q: Any advice for prospective students?
A: I would just say put yourself out there. Try to join as many things and go to as many things as possible. There's so much offered at Dartmouth that I'm only now seeing as a senior, and I'm wishing that I had done so many more things. Take advantage of every opportunity that's here.
Q: Any advice for prospective applicants?
A: I would encourage applicants to express themselves and their interests genuinely and fullheartedly. I think applicants feel pressure to study certain subjects in S.T.E.M. and to already know exactly what they plan to study when applying. However, I believe Dartmouth wants creative minds in unique fields, and for students to come in excited to explore their many interests and discover what they are passionate about during their 4 years.
You don't need to have it all decided when applying! I would advise you to write about and highlight your genuine interests, and pursue studies and extracurriculars which excite you and make you unique. That is the type of student and person I believe Dartmouth is looking for.
That's it for this week's Open Doors! Thanks, Sarah, for sharing your time and space with us.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
As my friends and I navigate complex feelings of nostalgia and excitement, we all have very different senior springs. Find out what I have been working on and what it has taught me!
True to the theme of a liberal arts education, Dartmouth requires students to take one or two classes each in several different subject matters, or distributives, in order to graduate.
