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!
Spinning into Winter: An Introduction to Dartmouth's Ice Skating Lessons
With the start of winter term at Dartmouth comes the beginning of winter sport season and a plethora of different activities to participate in! From snowboarding and skiing to hockey and ice skating, campus is constantly buzzing with talk of skiway trips and skating in front of Baker-Berry Library on the Dartmouth Green. Between academic courses and clubs, my schedule has been packed this term, but one class served as both a helpful learning experience and a fun winter activity where I could destress and unwind: Ice Skating!
Completing my second of the three physical education requirements needed to graduate (the first being pilates in the fall), the class Beginning Ice Skating was one of my first choices for a recreational activity. Before this term, I had never stepped foot on an ice rink, and I was terrified of embarrassing myself with my lack of experience. But after meeting the incredibly supportive community of undergraduate student instructors (who are current members of the Dartmouth Figure Skating Team) and fellow peers who were completely new to the rink as well, that fear was promptly trampled.
Held at Thompson Arena every Tuesday and Thursday morning of the term, Beginning Ice Skating allowed students (like myself) to borrow skates if they did not already own a pair; additionally, in order to substitute for daily rental payments, students were billed $60 to their Dartmouth accounts at the end of the term. For my fellow low-income students, a PE discount application may be filled out and submitted before the class begins on Dartmouth's Physical Education and Recreation website.
Alongside learning new skating skills, including (but not limited to) two-foot spins, lunges, and one-foot glides, I built so many new friendships with the shared interest of becoming better skaters. The environment was incredibly supportive and non-judgemental, and I gradually began to accept the fact that falling and making mistakes was simply just part of the learning process. The instructors were easy-going and helpful, beginning each lesson with a brief review of the previous class and spending extensive time on new skills to make sure nobody fell behind.
My friends on the last day of ice skating classes!
From starting the term by scooting awkwardly around the rink's walls to confidently spinning across the ice by the end, I can't express how grateful I am to have been given the opportunity to take such an amazing class. I progressed more than I had ever expected in a skill that I previously had no experience in before this term, and I can't recommend this class enough! Because of the skills I gained from this class, I was able to ice skate on the temporary rink installed for the winter season on the Dartmouth Green!
My friend and I ice skating in front of Baker-Berry Library on the Green!
For those who are wanting to learn how to glide and spin across the ice, Beginning Ice Skating is offered during both the fall and winter terms. There's usually a lengthy waitlist, so make sure to enroll when the term's classes are first released! Additionally, Dartmouth's physical education courses usually run on a pass/fail grading scale based on attendance, so make sure you are able to attend at least 12 of the 16 classes of the term in order to get your credit!
I'm ecstatic to see what exciting P.E. classes the spring term will bring and what new skills I'll be able to learn while on campus.
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
