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.
Lots of Economics majors choose to take this class during their sophomore summer, myself included! This fast-paced class was both particularly rigorous and quite fulfilling. I walked away from every lecture feeling like I learned a lot, and by the end of the term, I realized I had gained a solid foundation in statistical knowledge, research, and best practices — all of which will be useful in my higher-level Economics courses. I particularly enjoyed working on the hands-on data exercises, where we got to handle real data through Stata!
One of the most unique traditions at Dartmouth is sophomore summer, where students stay on campus to take classes the summer before their junior year. It's an incredibly special experience because it's the one time when only members of your graduating class come together on campus, and I have always heard nothing but positive things about sophomore summer!
Going into sophomore summer, I knew I wanted to take a two-course term. While a regular course load is three classes per term, most people choose to lighten it up with only two classes their sophomore summer to make time for the outdoors, bucket list activities, and social events. I also knew that during the summer, I was going to take ECON 20: Econometrics. This class, which is required for my major in Economics, is also known for being particularly rigorous even within the department. A lot of people who took the class in prior terms had a lighter course load than usual, and I'm glad I did the same! While I was initially worried due to the class's fast-paced nature, I walked away from every lecture feeling like I learned a lot. By the end of the term, I realized I had gained a solid foundation in statistical knowledge, research, and best practices — all of which will be useful in my higher-level economics courses. I particularly enjoyed working on the hands-on data exercises, where we got to handle real data through Stata!
The second class I took this term was not for any of my majors, but rather for my science distributive requirement. I chose to take EARS 5: Natural Disasters and Catastrophes because natural disasters have been quite prevalent as of late due to global warming, and I wanted to learn more about the science behind major disasters. The first half of the class, taught by one professor, covered earth systems, plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanos. The second half of the class, which was taught by another professor, covered weather-related phenomena such as hurricanes and floods. My favorite part of the class was the final project, where we watched a well-known movie featuring natural disasters and wrote a brief paper about the accuracies and inaccuracies of the movie's portrayal!
Having fewer classes (in number, though not necessarily in workload) allowed me time to say yes to other opportunities! I juggled several on-campus jobs, spent a lot of time with my friends (shoutout to Mario Party sessions at Collis), and sang my heart out in my summer a cappella group. I lived in my sorority house for the first time this summer, which was a fantastic experience! I enjoyed being in closer proximity with my sisters, and I knew I could always head downstairs to join spontaneous movie nights or study sessions. I loved participating in our house's beloved sophomore summer traditions, including an artistic one that I consider one of my most ambitious projects to date.
A sneak peek! This went from an initial digital design I made at the beginning of the summer, to freehanding it in real life, multiple coats of paint, lineart, etc. I had never done anything of this scale before, and I'm glad sophomore summer gave me the opportunity to do so!
Looking back, I would say my sophomore summer was quite fulfilling in its own way. While sophomore summer is described as a rite of passage, the truth is that there is no one sophomore summer experience. For me, the past summer was about spending time with friends while making new ones, trying new things, and most importantly, making memories I know I'll treasure for a long time. As the fall term approaches and I have to temporarily say goodbye to my friends who are off next term, I can't help but feel a little wistful. Still, I'll carry the memories I've made over the past two years as I enter my junior fall, which marks the second half of my Dartmouth career.
As I begin my junior year, I feel my time at Dartmouth shifting from exploration to deeper focus, with my studies, experiences, and passions beginning to take clear shape.
As a senior now, I've experienced and learned more about myself and about life than I ever anticipated I could. With that, I want to reflect on Dartmouth's unique qualities, from its rural setting to the Greek Life presence to the quarter system!
Instead of spending sophomore summer on campus, I pursued an internship in Hong Kong, where Dartmouth's alumni network and fellow students helped me to I find community, friendship, and adventure that made my summer just as memorable.
Senior Fall brings an eventful and diverse courseload, taking up almost all of my time! Find out what I am involved with this term and the incredible variety of classes that Dartmouth has to offer!
