Hello! I'm Cal Shin, and I am a '27 from Cary, North Carolina. I am hoping to double-major in Economics and Philosophy. Outside of academics and blogging, you'll find that I am involved The Dartmouth as a writer and designer, WebDCR as a radio show host, and Dartmouth QuestBridge Scholars Network (DQSN) as an executive board member. Ultimately, I am a storyteller, and I hope you enjoy these stories about my Dartmouth journey!
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.
As I am wrapping up my second term at Dartmouth, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on where life has taken me—at least within this cozy college town.
Most people decide to take lighter courses in their first term, and slowly ramp up the difficulty (and perhaps the workload). I, however, opted to take a lighter courseload in the winter term. I'm from a warmer area and have never been a huge fan of the cold, so I knew that I would need to focus on adjusting to the Hanover winters and single-digit temperatures (in Fahrenheit). After careful consideration, I decided to take ECON 1, PHIL 3, and WRIT 5.
ECON 1: The Price System - Analysis, Problems, and Policies:This class is an introduction to the wonderful world of economics, and is a prerequisite for the economics major. I never took an economics class prior to coming to Dartmouth, so I was initially nervous about whether I was sufficiently prepared, even if it was supposed to be an introductory class. Thankfully, my worries were assuaged. Professor Lee broke down all concepts in a step-by-step manner that was easy for a layman to understand! Don't be fooled: it's not an easy class. Despite the challenge (or maybe because of it), I genuinely enjoyed it and am considering further pursuing economics. In fact, I liked both the class and the professor so much that I took her out to lunch at the Pine through the Take a Faculty Member to Breakfast or Lunch program!
PHIL 3: Reason and Argument:This is the second philosophy class I've taken at Dartmouth, and I am all the more determined to pursue this field of study! As someone who is considering majoring in philosophy, it was a good idea for me to take this course because it is a major requirement. When you hear the word "philosophy," your mind may wander to ethics, morals, the "big questions," and famous philosophers like John Locke or Kant. This class was nothing like that. Instead, we learned how to evaluate the strength of an argument, validity and invalidity, logical fallacies, sentential logic, and more. My favorite part of the course is the final essay, where we pick any passage that has some sort of argument, and then analyze it. I chose to write an analysis of someone's case against universal casic income.
WRIT 5: Future Fantasies - Imagining the Posthuman: Writing 5 is a mandatory writing course for all first-year students that consists of no more than 16 people per class. People are placed into taking it in the fall or winter term. I was scheduled to take Writing 5 during my winter term, so when course election rolled around, I scrolled through the list of various Writing 5 courses and decided to take a course called "Future Fantasies - Imagining the Posthuman." We had extensive discussions about the posthuman, what it means to be human, and how science fiction is strikingly parallel to current issues that our society has faced and continues to face. These issues included the various "-isms" (racism, colonialism, environmentalism), but also focused on current technologies such as the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. I have always been interested in the combination of technology, ethics, and bias, so this class fit right up my alley! My favorite part of this course was when I did my presentation on the ethics of AI art, and discussed what constitutes "real" art—something that is considered to be a "human" quality.
One of the readings for WRIT 5, Dawn by Octavia Butler, explores themes like colonialism, consent, and reproductive rights.
Beyond class, I have been working on finding my place at Dartmouth. I am aware that is an extremely broad concept, and that my identity within the lens of college will change over time. I have narrowed down the possibilities of what I want to study in the future, and am heavily considering double-majoring in economics and philosophy. I've taken the time to try new things. I've walked in the snow on my way to class, made and thrown snowballs for the first time, and joined The Dartmouth as a writer and a designer despite having no prior journalism experience! I've continued being an active member of leadership within Dartmouth QuestBridge Scholars' Network, and an enthusiastic radio show host every week.
Winter term has started and ended in a whirlwind, that's for sure. I cannot wait to see where spring takes me!
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a phenomenal total solar eclipse occurred — and we happened to be within the path of totality. As a result, Dartmouth hosted a variety of eclipse-related events on- and off-campus. Find out how I spent the eclipse!
