Hello! My name is Cal Shin, and I am a '27 planning to double-major in Economics and Philosophy. Outside of academics and blogging, you can find me drawing (perhaps even designing for The Dartmouth), hosting my radio show as a proud deejay at WebDCR, perusing the Free Market, or hanging out with friends. Ultimately, I am an artist and a storyteller. I hope you enjoy reading about my Dartmouth experience; the journey has just begun!
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.)
Welcome to the first part of Dartmouth Debunked, a series of comprehensive blog posts answering common questions first-years have prior to their arrival at Dartmouth. This week, I'll be talking about the different first-year housing options.
What is a house community, and what kind of events do they offer? Dartmouth has six housing communities: Allen House, East Wheelock House, North Park House, School House, South House, and West House. Students are randomly sorted into one of the six house communities, and, barring special circumstances, remain part of these house communities for the duration of their four years. Each house community has a designated group of dorms, a house professor (a Dartmouth faculty member) and Resident Fellows, and a common space for members of each house community to gather for events. Housing communities offer a variety of events throughout the year that are advertised through weekly newsletters and/or social media. School House, my house community, offers events such as weekly sushi-and-tea and therapy dogs.
A typical week's worth of events for School House.
How do I apply for housing? How am I assigned a roommate? Students will live in dorms that correspond to their randomly assigned house community. Early in the summer, students apply for housing via an online portal and fill out a roommate questionnaire. The questionnaire asks about: room preference (single, double), what time you tend to wake up, what time you tend to go to bed, your personal cleanliness, feelings on sharing belongings, and preference on rooming with or being on the same floor as someone who has an Emotional Support Animal (ESA). Because students cannot choose their roommate in their first year, Residential Life randomly assigns roommates based on the roommate questionnaire with the goal of assigning roommates with a similar lifestyle. I remember getting my housing assignment on July 18, 2023, so you should expect to receive your housing assignment at a similar time in July.
What do I do if I need housing accommodations? Not everyone will receive a roommate! Some people are randomly placed in a single room (others go through the housing accommodation process to get the type of housing they need). The housing accommodation process is designed for anyone who needs certain types of housing (i.e. single rooms, rooms with no carpet, single-gender floors, dorms with elevators) due to medical or religious reasons. Students will fill out your housing questionnaire as usual, and then afterwards, they will contact the proper people to apply for accommodations.
Is there gender-inclusive housing? Students will be matched with a roommate of the same sex. Most floors are coed (i.e. your neighbors may or may not be of the opposite sex). Some floors are separated by sex (male on one floor, female on another). Some dorms have single-use and/or gender-inclusive bathrooms. Students can specify whether they want gender-inclusive housing in the housing application.
How are the dorms, really? Every dorm is different. First-year North Park and East Wheelock dorms have elevators; the others do not. First-years in Allen House will live in the Choates, which is located near Berry Library and Frat Row. East Wheelock dorms are close to Alumni Gym. North Park dorms are located near Dick's House and the First-Generation Office. School House dorms consist of the Choates or Massachusetts Row, which is right next to FoCo. South House dorms are slightly more centrally located than East Wheelock dorms and are located near the Hood Museum. West House dorms are the farthest, located near the Connecticut River, ECSC, and the Irving Institute.
Tell me more about Living Learning Communities (LLCs)! If dorms don't sound like a good fit, Living Learning Communities (LLCs) are also an option. Members of an LLC are housed either in North Park dorms or separate, LLC-specific buildings. Applying to an LLC requires a separate application with LLC-specific essays, and not all LLCs are open to first-year students.
I encourage everyone curious about housing to explore the website of the Office of Residential Life to see the different options available.
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!
