Hello! My name is Cal Shin, and I am a '27 double-majoring in Economics and Philosophy. When I'm not studying or writing a blog post, you can find me drawing as the Design Editor for The Dartmouth, hosting my radio show at WebDCR, or spending time with my friends. And if I'm not doing any of those, I'm probably watching cat videos. Follow along as I share the moments that make Dartmouth feel like home!
I took this course with Professor James Binkoski and loved it! I had never taken a philosophy course prior to Dartmouth, so this introductory course in the department was perfect! After all, it combined my interests of philosophy with time and time travel — at least, how time and time travel are depicted in the media. This course may initially seem to be on the more technical side, but Professor Binkoski made sure to break down the various time travel theories — various ways scientists and philosophers think of time and its supposed movement — in a manner that’s easy for anyone to understand. A very popular course overall; I am fortunate to have been able to take it during my first term here!
I took this course with Professor Ha Yan Lee and it was absolutely amazing! I had my initial reservations about this course, mainly because I knew a lot of my classmates would have had some background knowledge while I had none. Professor Lee did a wonderful job of breaking down concepts in a manner that, as she often put it, is easy for even “your grandparents to understand”. Even beyond the course, the level of care Professor Lee exhibited towards her students is significant. She’s one of the most popular professors at Dartmouth, and for good reason! I ate lunch with her at The Pine through the Take a Faculty Member to Lunch program, and she gave me tremendous insight and advice! Because of this course, I have been inspired to explore more courses within the Econ department and potentially major in Economics.
I took this course with Professor Jasmina Savic and examined how the vampire figure evolved over time, starting with Slavic literature, going through Dracula and Twilight, and ending with “vampire” political figures. I realized what the portrayal of vampires could tell me about the thoughts of that society, including the fact that the early notions of vampirism are akin to modern-day diseases. For my final project, I wrote a research paper comparing the gumiho (the Korean nine-tailed fox) to several Western vampires.
SummerNew York City, New York
I had the opportunity to visit New York City for the summer! I met up with a good friend of mine, explored the city itself, and went to a networking event with other college students.
ECON 10 is one of the required courses for the Economics major. Based on my stellar experience with Professor Ha Yan Lee during ECON 1, when I saw that she was teaching ECON 10 this term, I immediately jumped at the chance to take the course with her. Once again, Professor Lee did an amazing job of breaking down concepts in an easy-to-understand manner. (The fact that her slideshows were colorful and featured various pictures of cats helped.)
My main interest in philosophy lies in normative and applied ethics, so when I saw the opportunity to take a class on the former, I didn’t hesitate! The class focused on consequentialism, utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. I enjoyed the ample opportunities for discussion, including discussion posts about the readings, as well as the table-wide conversations. My table, in particular, had lots to say, and there was one reading in particular where we ended up diving into discussion, not once, but twice! In fact, we had so much to say that all of us coincidentally chose to write our essay on this reading — and none of us knew until after we started talking about our papers!
While not explicitly required for the Philosophy major, you can choose to take this (and many other Philosophy courses!) as one of your four electives. Prior to taking this class, feminist philosophy was completely new to me. I had traditionally been exposed to “traditional” European philosophers, and taking the class helped me realize that my lack of exposure to other philosophers outside of this demographic was a product of epistemic injustice. The class consisted of weekly readings and discussion posts, some reflections, guest lectures from the authors of several readings, and a final project of pretty much any format about any topic of our choice! I walked away from the class with a much more nuanced understanding of agency, commodification, and labor; the harms that are a result of the very nature of women tailoring themselves under male desire seemed much more insidious.
I am currently sitting outside Ramekin, one of Dartmouth's cafes, soaking up the sunlight while the wind gently brushes my hair against my face. Next to me is a cup of strawberry acai with lemonade as a celebratory beverage. One of my friends is sitting across from me, and I remark on how the last few weeks of the term have been a whirlwind in the best possible way.
Courseload wise, this term was quite nice! Every term, I try to balance my classes so I take 1 class in Economics and 1 class in Philosophy, leaving my 3rd class free for interests, distributives, another major class, etc. This term was no exception; I took an Economics class, a Philosophy class, and a class for a distributive requirement.
ECON 38: The Economics of Government and Public Policy is not a required course for the Economics major; rather, it is one of the many offerings in the department you can take, either as a prerequisite for ECON 68: Topics in Public Economics or one of the 3 electives for the major. Taught by Professor Elizabeth Cascio, this class did not disappoint! We covered topics ranging from public goods to fiscal federalism to median voters to K-12 education. The class consisted of three midterms (you could drop your lowest score), a series of discussion posts about the readings, three problem sets, a group research project, and a final exam. My favorite part of the class was the group research paper, where we focused on how the implementation of certain types of policy affects voter turnout among naturalized US citizens.
PHIL 22: Feminism and Philosophyis also not explicitly required for the Philosophy major; rather, it is one of the classes you can take in the department to fulfill the major's elective requirement. Feminist philosophy was a completely new concept for me, and taking this course helped me realize that my heightened exposure to "traditional" European male philosophers (and a lack of exposure to other philosophers outside of this demographic) was a product of epistemic injustice. I appreciate that this class exposed me to a wide variety of philosophers whose names I had previously never heard of. The class consisted of weekly readings and discussion posts, some reflections, and a final project of pretty much any format about any topic of our choice! I opted to write a paper on the prevalence of online sex work (particularly OnlyFans). Throughout my writing process, I came to realize just how complex and layered the topic of sex work is — and even more so in the context of online platforms like OnlyFans that intersect sex work with social media. I walked away from the class with a much more nuanced understanding of agency, commodification, and labor; the harms that are a result of the very nature of women tailoring themselves under male desire seemed much more insidious.
ENGL 53.33/WGSS 36.06: Gender and Sexuality in Asian American Literatureis cross-listed between the English Department and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Department. I had been looking for a class to fulfill the literature distributive requirement, and I had never taken an English or WGSS class, let alone a class about Asian-American literature. We read some incredible books and watched some compelling documentaries, but the literature that struck me the most was the novel All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews — so much so that I decided to write my paper about the narrator's insistence on privacy. Other projects in the class included presentations about 2 songs we'd add to our class mixtape, as well as a production company! One of the components of our production company included a zine that I illustrated and distributed, and seeing my classmates flip through my artwork was quite heartening.
One of the spreads in the zine that I illustrated!
In addition to my regular courseload, I also completed the SWC Wellness Sampler for my PE/Wellness requirement! The sampler consisted of, as you can guess by the name, "sampling" a variety of different programming offered by the Student Wellness Center (SWC) and the Academic Skills Center (ASC). I found myself primarily attending the ASC's Get It Done sessions, which allowed me to get some work done ahead of time in a structured setting.
To say I learned a lot this spring would be an understatement. I settled down into my leadership role as part of The Dartmouth's 182nd directorate, and I made a lot of progress as Design Editor. I discovered some errors that had been neglected for the past 2.5 years, and independently fixed them, although not without significant trial and error. I perfected the skill of quickly packing all of my belongings while simultaneously working on four final papers, as well as studying for a final exam.
Spring is always magical, and this spring was no different. The warm weather had finally returned and the flowers were in full bloom — just in time for an amazing Green Key weekend, which was a blast! As I look ahead to sophomore summer, I am filled with a mix of excitement and nervousness. For now, though, I'll stay in the present, taking another sip of my strawberry acai while enjoying the breeze.
This term, I competed in the annual Speech at Dartmouth competition, but would never have had this opportunity without the support of Dartmouth faculty. Read on as I share how I got here!
Dartmouth has so many academic resources, including free newspaper subscriptions! Although this may not seem like a big deal, it's a great accessible way to learn about local and national news!
