Mucho gusto! Let's get to the fun stuff first. I love journaling, dancing in the gym, and being outside in some sunshine. I am from Tucson, Arizona and a '28. I am a proud first generation and low-income student who comes from a loving Mexican and Native American family. An early riser and bubbly personality are some ways to describe me. So before you leave, welcome to Dartmouth! I am Dezstany and I hope you join me on this journey into the woods!
This course was one of the reasons I chose to apply early decision to Dartmouth! I know, how could one course even influence such a big decision? Hearing Professor Duthu describe cases regarding the dispossession of Native tribes, the cultural tensions that many Native youth experience because of the effects of the Doctrine of Discovery, and economic development issues amongst many Native reservations made me edge out of my seat with excitement. The description did not disappoint because although it is one of my earliest classes, I always find myself running to class to learn something new. Professor Duthu presents in a way that wakes you up, makes you laugh, and encourages you to ask some pretty tough questions about tribal regulations. It has been extremely interesting how "bullets of the past are hitting present targets", meaning that many federal policies that happened decades ago still have very noticeable impacts in Indian Country (land in which tribal members own or previously occupied). I love being able to schedule office hours for any leftover questions. Would definitely recommend it!!
Lotería! The name of a traditional Mexican lottery game played during holidays. My final project was presented through the form of Lotería. In this class we analyzed the political and economic settings that domestic laborers and caregivers face within the United States and in Latin America. I really valued the different students that the class attracted as we all became extremely close in the ten weeks we worked together. This class was both an Art and Culture Identity credit so our assignments were extremely interesting as we got to do a lot of interactive learning with movies and plays!
Should we commit a small wrong to save many? Equality or equity? What does it mean to practice effective altruism? I know, very philosophical questions yet that’s the whole point. This class was a crosslisted course between the Government and Public Policy departments. I greatly enjoyed this discussion led class as we talked about issues regarding immigration, the meaning of work, and technological regulations in the labor force. The readings were a usual amount for a Government course as it averaged to about thirty pages per class. I was able to make new friends based off of our class discussions which helped make the class feel more collaborative. Professor Rose was always open to meeting outside of class for office hours and encouraged participation in an effective manner. Walking away from this course I am able to talk about current issues from various philosophical viewpoints.
The Full Immersion Rome Experience, FIRE, has classes Mondays through Thursdays. A typical class day begins with drill at around 9:20 am. Thankfully, the Dartmouth Rome Center, where our lessons are held, is only a 30 minute walk away or a 20 minute tram ride. We are based in Trastevere, a young and vibrant part of Rome that hosts a mix of locals and other students who are studying abroad. Our class is a ten minute walk away from the Pantheon and is right next to a wonderful shopping center named Campo di Fiori. Most days I get my usual order of two pizzette margherita at "il forno" (the bakery in Italian). We get a short break after drill and begin our official day with our language class. At the beginning of the program, we took Italian I and are currently taking Italian II. Both Italian I and Italian II are taught in a two hour time period. After these language classes, we have our second set of drills. By this time it is usually about 1:10 pm. If it is a Tuesday or Thursday, our day extends to 4 pm as we have our Italian culture class, Italian IV, from 2 to 4 pm. As you can see we are in the classroom for a pretty significant amount of time yet this grants us the opportunity to have Friday free as a travel day.
All the students who participate in the FIRE program live in the same apartment but are spread across various rooms. For example, I am in the "small apartment" that holds three other amazing girls. The two other apartments both have a total of five people. We met up at Termini Station in the morning to ensure that we would have a relatively full day in Florence. Whenever the program travels as a group outside of Rome we are always accompanied by our Dartmouth professor, Nancy, and our API manager, Vicenzo. Their presence makes traveling a lot easier as they both know the language and physical layout of Italy much better than any of us on the program.
Our homework for Italian IV heavily consists of reading and discussions. Italian I and II have more language focused activities. When we were learning basic introductions, one of our assignments for Italian was to go to a library near our apartment and talk with some locals. For Italian II when we were learning about sports we had to talk with someone in a sports environment. I actually ended up making a good friend from this assignment and we now talk in Italian every time we see each other at the gym.
Our lessons in class are quick as the normal Italian I and Italian II that would usually take a total of twenty weeks at Dartmouth condenses into a total of ten weeks in Italy. It's a balance to juggle all that Rome offers while keeping up with the high academic standards of a Dartmouth class. I am grateful for our Italian IV as this culture class allows us to connect with places in Italy that I would have never known.
One of my favorite museums, the Borghese Gallery Museum, was actually a museum we discovered on a group tour. I think it is easily one of my top three favorites in Italy as it has a beautiful blend between nature, baroque style paintings, sculptures, and some temporary pieces of art.
Another example of discovering a hidden gem was this cute boutique that pulled inspiration from cultures all over the world. We learned about the significance of the "Made In Italy" branding during this unit.
Additionally, when we were learning about the Colosseum, the lesson didn't end inside our classroom; it actually ended right in front of the monument that holds so much history.
The time in class in Rome is significantly longer than the normal time it would take to complete these sets of courses at Dartmouth because of the additional experiences we have access to by being physically in Italy.
I hope this provides a more overall picture of what a study abroad experience at Dartmouth may look like. Thankfully if you have any questions about them when you are a student, departments and faculty are always more than happy to meet with you to address any concerns.
So what do you think? Is studying abroad at Dartmouth a bucket list item for you?
I expected Japan to be unlike anything I'd ever known—and in many ways, it was. But, somewhere between sipping matcha in Kyoto and wandering temple gardens in Tokyo, I realized something strange: I kept finding little pieces of Dartmouth.
Between vineyard walks and a tasting with the owners, come along on our visit to Mystic Island Winery, hosted by Dartmouth alum KC Kung '98 and his wife, Rita Kung.
