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!
If you have not heard already, Dartmouth's academic calendar runs on a quarter system called the D-Plan where you take 10 week terms. There are four terms in a year, where you must be enrolled in classes for three of the four terms. This means you have twelve terms total you will take at Dartmouth. Dartmouth only requires you to have a residence term (terms where you are enrolled in classes) for your first year fall, winter and spring, two out of three terms of your senior year, and one summer overall.
Now, I will be taking this time to explain my D-Plan and my reasoning behind some of these decisions. First, I took my first year terms which were required so that means I took three out of my twelve terms I needed to take. Next, I decided to do a less common route than most students, and I studied abroad during my first year summer. Since I was enrolled in classes during the summer while I was in Rome, that counted as my fourth term I need for graduation.
For my sophomore year, I am taking the fall off so I can take an academic break. Following this term, I will be at Dartmouth during the winter term but after I will be studying abroad again in Vienna. I decided to do two different study abroads because I wanted to take advantage of the financial aid Dartmouth offers for study abroads. Plus, I will be doing a trip for my intended major which is music and one merely for a fun, academic interest. To finish my sophomore year, I will take my summer term on at Dartmouth to spend time with friends and have a fun end to the year. This means I will have taken 7 terms which is one more than what most people do.
I will most likely only take my winter and spring terms during my junior year. This is because I will have already taken an extra term in my prior two years by taking classes during my freshman summer. Finally, I will most likely take my fall, winter, and spring terms at Dartmouth during my senior year. However, I take four credit terms because I am a music major who takes extra classes for music lessons and ensembles. Therefore, I may take one of these terms off and be in Hanover to work on my senior thesis the entire term!
This shows that the Dartmouth D-Plan is truly what you make out of it. My schedule is one of the crazier schedules that I know of at Dartmouth than most. Everyone's D-Plan will look different because it is built that way to allow for everyone to have their own flexibility!
Applying early to a university can be overwhelming and confusing. As someone who did not apply to Dartmouth through early decision, here are a couple tips that I could have used when thinking about applying early to a school!
