Hello! My name is Chase and I am a '25 from South Carolina. I'm currently considering studying more film scoring and video game composition to learn about writing music for movies and games! But when I'm not hanging out with friends or doing classwork, you can find me composing music. I'm involved in the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble (DCWE), Dartmouth Chamber Orchestra (DCO), and the fraternity Zeta Psi.
As someone who did not know the ins and outs of marine policy, I loved learning about aspects of the blue economy. This class encourages us to be aware of the human aspect of marine problems regarding coastal erosion, pollution, and climate change. Professor Webster is the coolest!
I could not recommend this class enough to anyone who goes to this school! Professor Beaudoin has truly influenced me as both a musician and a student. We learn the music from the 1800's to present day including famous composers like Tchaikovsky, but also music by Beyonce and even the music of Dartmouth's professors. This is much more than a music history class. It is a class about music, our lives, and exploring the concept of sonder through musical lens.
If you're scared of coding or have a love for music, this is the class for you. This computer science class is cross-listed with music to teach students how to code using a language called processing to learn the basic principles of design through coding. We created several projects throughout the term, but Professor Casey really taught me that there is more to music than I think. For my final, I created an interactive keyboard which created a visual effect for each key that created music which made it a musical instrument! Genuinely such an amazing and fun class that I think people should consider.
Although this class is only offered during the F.I.R.E. study abroad program, it was such an amazing class. I absolutely adored having Professor Canepa teach us about Italy from its politics, music, food, and much much more. This class taught me hands on what Italian culture is through visits to famous landmarks, food tastings, or tours of Italian regions. If you don't want to study abroad, I suggest taking a class with Professor Canepa because she truly is one of my favorite professors I have had yet.
FallHanover, New Hampshire
I was on an off term, but decided to live on campus to join a fraternity and work in town. I took the time to write music for one of my friend's short films and learned a lot about the film music industry.
Dr. Moseley has been one of my most favorite professors by far. I have loved taking this class to divulge into my musical passion through creating music and learning about ways to create music. If you are interested in taking a music class, I highly recommend Dr. Moseley if you find a class with him that interests you!
I took this class with composer Miguel Kertsman who was incredibly knowledgeable in every type of compositional technique that I wanted. I studied electronic music composition with him to understand music digital signal processing better.
Although I'm not a fan of reading literature for the classroom, this class completely changed the way I perceive literature. I adored this class with Prof. Hollister as it engaged with the dissections of film, novels, and short stories regarding how humanity views the end of the world.
I took an off-term this Fall, but I decided to sit in on a class on how to arrange music for strings and woodwinds! After many hours of long work, I had a piece performed and recorded by professional musicians that I worked on in the class!
This has to be arguably one of my favorite classes I have taken at Dartmouth with one of the most qualified and talented professors! Throughout the term, I mixed eight different songs of all different genres and learned the ins and outs of sound engineering. This means figuring out the best ways to create and produce music in the industry. Now, I feel confident publishing my own music and have started helping others publish theirs too by working on their projects!
Jodie Mack's "History of Visual Music" truly changed my Dartmouth career. In their class, students learn about the ways artists has dealt with the intersection of sound and sight through film, sculpture, and live performance. Throughout the term, students present two films or performances of their own creative works. Now, Professor Mack is one of my advisors for my thesis which is a long-form piece of visual music!
SummerGreer, SC
During this Summer, I spent time at home with my parents while teaching at a high school marching band. I took a lot of time to write music to prepare my composition portfolio for grad school applications and took time to visit friends before we graduate!
Throughout this year, I am working on a film entitled "Queer Idyll." You can read more about the senior fellowship and my project on the blog, or at the link on above. My favorite part of my research and project this term has been visiting farms owned or cared for by queer individuals. I have witness so many amazing stories, beautiful locations, and friendly people!
Dartmouth holds true to its commitment to funding outside the lines through so many different opportunities. In this blog post, I will focus on the Dartmouth Senior Fellowship since I am one of the fellows this year. Every year, a panel of Dartmouth faculty selects several students to participate in their "Senior Fellowship" program. The Dartmouth Senior Fellowship provides an independent culmination opportunity for a student through a proposed project that is considered to be a major. The Senior Fellows will work on their project throughout their senior year without enrolling in traditional classes while receiving funding and a scholarship.
At the end of the Winter term, students will submit proposed projects to the Undergraduate Advising & Research (UGAR)alongside requested budgets, proposed timelines, and preliminary bibliography among other things. For every project, the student finds a primary and secondary advisor to help guide their project through meetings throughout their senior year. If a student has not completed their distributive requirements, then they will additionally submit their proposed academic coursework to UGAR to ensure they graduate. After the Committee on Senior Fellowships evaluates the proposals, they will invite students to attend an interview with the committee and UGAR alongside their advisors to choose the final cohort.
Reading a book outside before it gets too cold and the view from my office at night!
Since the fellowship is an alternative to a traditional major, projects can be within one academic discipline or spread across multiple. However, every fellowship project requires the "scope and breadth of imagination goes beyond" the existing curriculum. My project this year, Queer Idyll, stretches across several departments: music; film; women, gender, and sexuality studies; and dabbles into environmental studies. Queer Idyll proposes the creation of an avant-garde musical film that guides an audience through an emotional exploration of rural, queer identity through the visitation of farmland. With this in mind, I have contacted professors from Dartmouth and other universities to connect myself with academic resources, queer farmers, and various art that my film might respond to.
The beginning of my bookshelves in my office where I will store my books and music equipment!
Prior Senior Fellows now are professors at Dartmouth, famous musicians, creative playwrights, and the leaders of their scientific fields. In my opinion, the best thing about this program is that it allows for such a wide range of projects to be funded, which results in intriguing conversations among the cohort and presentations. In my next blog post, I will provide the specifics and updates for my project after I complete a trip to visit some more farms!
One of the staple characteristics of the D-Plan is the off-term, a term in which you are not taking classes! Most students at Dartmouth will take at least one off-term, and this winter happens to be my turn! What will I be doing?
It's hard to believe that it has been a year since I wrote my first end-of-fall-term reflection. It felt like only yesterday that I stepped into my dorm room this September, eager to reunite with my friends.
Most students have to go back to college after Thanksgiving to take their finals, but not at Dartmouth! We have a six-week winter break, known as "winterim!" Let me tell you how I spent my winterim!
