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!
As a Philosophy major, PHIL 11 is one of several classes I had the option of taking to satisfy one of my major requirements. I wanted to take some time to really focus on some of the most “classic” philosophers one might think of when someone mentions philosophy. The bulk of our focus was on Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Categories. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:50, I walked into the classroom, ready for lectures and in-class discussions alongside around 20 other students. Assignments consisted of small discussions and deliverables with a team of 3 to 4 classmates, as well as drafts, peer reviews, and final versions of two papers. In each of our papers, we had the opportunity to connect our personal interests to the works of either Plato or Aristotle. I knew I was enjoying this class when, talking to my friends about the topic I chose, they pointed out my palpable excitement.
WinterConcord, NH
As a Rockefeller Center Judicial Fellow, I spent my off term working under Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald. My experience working in his chambers was incredibly meaningful, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is becoming an increasingly important part of everyday life. What you may not know is that in 1956, researchers gathered at Dartmouth during the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, laying the foundations for what we know as AI today. Nearly 70 years later, our legacy continues with Dartmouth students conducting cutting-edge research, pushing the boundaries of AI. Meet Fabrice, a '27 from Rwanda majoring in computer science, who has been doing some impressive research on AI!
What made you choose Dartmouth? I wanted a place with a tight-knit community and a strong emphasis on undergrad education. I had been interested in research, so I wanted a college where I could do research as an undergrad.
Did you know you wanted to pursue research in AI before coming to Dartmouth? What sparked your interest in AI? To be honest, not really. In fact, I thought I was going to be an English or Chemistry major. After not initially getting the classes that I wanted, I walked into COSC 1: Introduction to Programming and Computation and found the class concepts interesting. After taking COSC 1, I really became interested in computer science.
The research I did with Professor Alberto was on applying AI to aquatic robots and creating a system of robots that can detect pollution in an aquatic environment. I did some things related to environmental conservation in high school, so applying AI to explore the whole process of detecting pollution in an aquatic environment was really interesting.
I learned a lot from Professor Alberto. He didn't just teach me stuff; he asked me questions like, "What do you think?" and "How do you think we can solve this?" Professor Alberto gave me a supportive environment in terms of mentorship and motivated me to see that I can also contribute something novel.
Photo courtesy of Fabrice '27.
Tell me about some of the other projects you've been working on. I'm currently working on a project protecting musical artists' songs. Some artists are complaining that AI models are learning their voices. I'm working with Professor Adam Bruer in the Department of Computer Scienceto protect their songs so that no AI model can train with their voice without authorization. I'm also working on an algorithm helping professors improve the questions that they are asking each student and then infer their knowledge over what they've learned.
What's been the most rewarding part of your work? Seeing these projects from start to finish, actually finishing them, and sending them to be reviewed for publication, and being the first to create contributions like this. The whole process of seeing something I worked on being accepted by the community or being used by the community.
What challenges have you faced while working on these projects? One of the challenges in projects like these is that we are tackling difficult problems, which can be hard as an undergrad. One thing I'm really grateful for at Dartmouth is the support from my professors. If you have an interesting idea for a potential research project, you can just email a professor, and that professor will be happy to chat with you and go over your ideas together.
What advice would you give to a prospective student interested in AI but unsure where to start? Try to learn how you can integrate and embrace AI in what you're doing. You don't need to be a CS major! Really try to understand AI, how it works, and how you can use it to improve whatever you are trying to do while knowing its benefits and limitations.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Have you ever wanted to read one of Shakespeare's first folios, touch a lock of George Washington's hair, or just learn more about the past through archival textual research? Well, then Dartmouth is the place for you!
Ah, college—a new beginning. Read on to hear what the transition was like for me, from being a nervous but excited high school senior to slowly settling into college life.
Classes at Dartmouth aren't always held in the classroom. Whether you go down to the river for a lab experiment or venture to The Hood, you never know what to expect. Come with me as I take you along on my journey in an unconventional classroom!
