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!
I've never felt the saying, "Time flies" more strongly than now. How am I already halfway through my Dartmouth career? It hasn't fully sunk in that this winter marks the end of my 6th out of my total 12 terms. Yet here we are: another reflection to mark the halfway point of my Dartmouth journey.
This term, I decided to dedicate my time to taking classes that are for my majors, Economics and Philosophy.
ECON 22: Macroeconomics is one of the intermediate required courses for the Economics Major. For a while, I deliberated between taking this class this term, or during my sophomore summer alongside ECON 20: Econometrics, but ultimately opted to get this requirement out of the way (part of the reason is that I didn't want to take two demanding Economics courses during Dartmouth's beloved summer term). ECON 22 was challenging, especially during the last few weeks of the term. The class—like all of the Economics courses I've taken—was lecture-based. The workload consisted of weekly in-class quizzes, weekly problem sets graded for accuracy, two midterms, and a final exam. We covered concepts like GDP, unemployment, inflation, and economic growth—all terms that you read in the news but may not know the full implications.
PHIL 13.02: British Empiricismwas taught by the same professor as PHIL 23: Art and Aesthetics, a class I took last term. This class is (kind of) required for the Philosophy Major, in the sense that it satisfies one of two possible courses within a certain course sequence that covers the historical side of philosophy. In this class, I learned about empiricists like John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume, and how their ideas came to be. During each class, we discussed a certain work that an empiricist wrote. As for the workload, there were two 1500-word essays, one final paper proposal of 1000 words, and one final essay of 3000 words. I'm choosing to write about what David Hume (one of my favorite philosophers) would think of synesthesia!
PHIL 37: Ethical Theory counts as an elective class for the Philosophy major. Despite it being farther away from my other classes (a 15-minute walk from my dorm), I ended up really enjoying this class! My main interest in Philosophy is ethics, and I hadn't had the chance to take any ethics-related classes for the major! The class was a mix of lecture and discussion, with discussions occurring within our tables. During the first half of the class, we learned about consequentialism and utilitarianism, and during the last half, we focused on deontology and virtue ethics. Assignments consisted of discussion posts for every class regarding the readings, a 1400 to 2200-word essay, and a small group presentation about a virtue.
It's funny how, in my fall quarter reflection, I described my fall as restful. This winter quarter was less so. I have grown accustomed to the snow, sludge, ice, and single-digit temperatures (in Fahrenheit) that are characteristics of New England winters. We've experienced a lot more snowfall this year, which made the season more scenic! Still, I am looking forward to the warmer weather in the spring, as well as longer days, Green Key, and my official start as a member of The Dartmouth's 182nd Directorate.
In just a month, I went from a complete beginner to a proficient skier, smoothly making my way down the green and blue runs at Dartmouth Skiway. Read about my journey and how I made such rapid progress!
