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.
Taking classes during the summer is traditionally seen as a sign that someone is behind on graduation requirements, necessitating the need to spend what would otherwise be a break taking classes. Not at Dartmouth, though! Sophomore summer is a time when students take classes the summer before their junior year, and it is a requirement by the College. This means that I, along with my fellow '27s, spent the Fourth of July at Dartmouth.
My Fourth of July weekend started off on Thursday night (July 3) with a sleepover! Avid readers of my blog posts will know that I joined a sororityearlier in the fall, and sophomore summer is an unparalleled opportunity to spend time with other sisters who are also '27s! Playing games, munching on snacks, painting our nails, and watching Teen Beach Movie in our formal room was so much fun.
The actual holiday was filled with music and fireworks! My afternoon on the 4th started with some live music from student band Cherry Hills, where they played their own rendition of popular American songs, as well as a DJ set from a student DJ, at Kappa Delta Epsilon (KDE). This, like a lot of events, are open to anyone on campus with a Dartmouth ID. I enjoyed the live music in particular, and we sang along to popular songs like "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Sweet Caroline."
Later that night, I went to Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vermont with a couple other sisters to go see the fireworks. The sight was nothing short of spectacular.
The next morning, my friends and I took the Advanced Transit bus to visit theNorwich Farmers' Market. For the majority of us, it was our first time there, and we were pleasantly surprised by the variety of fresh produce, fruits, jewelry, ceramics, artwork, clothing, and food for sale! I ended up buying a jar of fresh dill pickles.
Farmers' Market!
Upon returning to campus, I headed to my sorority house, where there was a cookout with hot dogs, watermelon, popsicle sticks, chips, and lemonade. We relaxed on the porch swings, surrounded with a gentle breeze, blue skies, and laughter filling our conversations. Fourth of July this year was awesome, and I know I'll treasure the memories for years to come.
Despite Dartmouth being on the periphery of the broader Northeast region, its access to major transportation hubs makes travel stress-free. But, how can students without a car see the rest of New England?
