Hello friends! My name is Diana D'Souza, and I'm pursuing a double major in Government modified with Economics and Chinese. On campus, I'm the Co-President of Women in Business and a Chinese language research assistant. I'm also involved in the Dartmouth Outing Club and recently led a fishing first-year trip at the Boston Lot Lake. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, reading, and spending time outdoors.
I ended up taking this class for two reasons. First, I needed to fulfill my CI requirement; second, my friend was also taking it. Regardless, it ended up being my favorite class fall term. Professor Washburn is an engaging, spontaneous professor and we studied everything from memes to The Tale of Genji. By the end of the term, I found myself to be a more confident and humbled writer.
This was my second time taking a 9 am class with Chen Laoshi. She is understanding, funny, and always eager to help. Even though this was a fast-paced class with daily quizzes, weekly tests, and new vocabulary sets every other day, I became extremely close with my classmates and more excited about learning the language. We ended the term over a feast of dumplings Laoshi prepared!
Because this term was online, I used my extra time to study a subject that has always fascinated me. Professor Ayubi was incredibly accommodating by allowing us to complete work at our own pace. The most memorable parts of the class were examining anti-Muslim materials during a virtual tour to Rauner Library and exploring Muslim punk rock through the movie Taqwacores.
SummerEdison, NJ - Remote Internship
My summer plans were derailed due to the pandemic, but Mr. Forbes, a Dartmouth alum, graciously allowed me to intern at his consulting firm. Over the course of two months, I became a master at navigating Microsoft Visio and writing grant narratives. I also lifeguarded the 5am shift (pain) at my local community pool.
Students at Dartmouth say ENGS 12 will change your life, and I'm one to agree. Professor Robbie helped me rethink and redefine my approach to creativity and radical collaboration. After the class, I became involved in the design community, participating in the Designation, 3 Day Start Up, and Tuck's entrepreneurship program, TuckLAB. I'm even a TA for the class now—oh, how the tables have turned!
WinterEdison, NJ - Remote Internship
In hopes of studying abroad, I declared a five-year D-Plan. I'm still a '23 at heart, but I'll be graduating with the '24's. I ended up working at my local newspaper, TAPinto News, and continuing my linguistics research with Professor Donahue.
SpringEdison, NJ - Remote Internship
With the help of the Magnuson Center, I landed an internship at Q30 Innovations, a medical device company. As a law development intern for Mr. Greene, a Dartmouth alum, I compiled a 20-page patent portfolio and provided recommendations for FDA clearance. I also took part in two Rocky programs, RGLP and MLDP.
Professor Dorsey is by far my favorite Dartmouth professor. He hosted in-person office hours every Friday, where we talked about anything from Japanese healthcare to craft beer to our personal lives. The class was an absolute blast, in which we dissected comics and listened to Japanese folklore. Class highlights included a field trip to a nearby Japanese Zen garden and a zoom call with Japanese folklorist Nakagawa Goro.
This was my hardest academic term to date, but I’m extremely proud of my work in this class.
Over ten weeks, Professor Samwick challenged us to design a financially viable social
enterprise. My team ended up creating BayStay, a one-stop service for homeless individuals in
the Bay area to locate a new roommate and temporary communal housing. The best part of the
experience was getting to interview leading experts on homelessness and pitching our business
model to an angel investor!
Given my areas of study at Dartmouth, it’s no surprise that I loved my introductory international
relations course with Professor Powers. She did a great job helping the class transition to in-
person learning by providing us with reading guides and laying out clear expectations in her
memos. We used high-level theory to explain the motivations of terrorists and the likelihood of
nuclear war. In my final paper, I presented my own analysis of why the United Nations was
powerless to prevent Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In this upper-level government seminar, my classmates and I met once a week for three hours.
Although it was sometimes tough to focus, I appreciated having the rest of the week to prepare
and complete readings. During the term, we debated a range of topics, including whether the
government should regulate marriage or whether having a nanny was inherently anti-feminist.
Another cool aspect of the course was that the class was entirely driven by student discussion
and debate. Professor Rose pushed each student to flesh out her thoughts through open office
hours and writing workshops. Looking back at my final paper, I’m really proud of my newfound
ability to argue complex philosophical topics in a clear manner.
SummerHanover, NH - On Campus
While most of the ‘23s are off campus, I’m spending my junior summer in Hanover because I
took a gap year! I’m spending most of my time this term as a Paganucci Fellow at the Tuck
School of Business. I’m also working for Dartmouth Admissions and serving as Co-President of
Dartmouth Women in Business. Even though I’m not taking classes, I’m definitely keeping
myself busy!
FallWashington, D.C. - Internship
I spent my off-term interning on the China desk at the U.S. Department of State (DOS). I loved
being able to apply what I learned in class in a professional setting and getting to see diplomacy
and foreign policy in action. Some of my internship highlights included volunteering for the first,
historic Indo-Pacific Summit and meeting North Korean defectors. Still, I’m excited to be back
at Dartmouth, taking classes again, after six months off!
I took this class because it was the final culminating experience for my Chinese language major. Professor Ericson gave really engaging lectures that made it feel like he was reading us a story. As a capstone project, I wrote a 20-page paper about imperial Japan's use of visual propaganda in Manchukuo, analyzing primary texts in Chinese and Japanese.
This class explored the economics behind the gender gap, child penalty, and labor market discrimination. My favorite part was the MBA-style class study, which focused on the rationale behind Patagonia’s generous parental leave policies. Professor Olivetti was so helpful and held frequent office hours. Definitely take this class, even if you aren’t an economics major.
I have previously written about the Hood Museum in a Pines blog from my freshman year. Since then, I have been to the Hood several times. For example, I studied indigenous art at the Hood in my Ancient Native Americans class (NAS 11) and Japanese prints in my Sacred Architecture class (ASCL 62.10). My latest trip to the Hood Museum was for a business fellowship I'm participating in called the Paganucci Fellows program. The program is centered around delivering recommendations to combat misinformation surrounding climate change. Now you may be wondering, what does business have to do with art? More than you would expect!
Photograph of arsenic flowing through U.S. river
Last week, the Paganucci team headed to the Hood Museum for a hands-on session with two curators. We kicked off the session by describing and analyzing a painting. The team hypothesized that the photograph depicted an erupting volcano. After our brainstorming session, the curator told us that we were actually looking at arsenic being dumped into a river. At that moment, the painting looked surreal—we couldn't imagine this happening in the United States. We capped off the first part of the section by drawing similarities between analyzing an art exhibit and conducting a consulting project. In both cases, we were working in a team to draw insights and review findings while reacting and reflecting on the next steps.
Spriha '24 and I studied this mastodon tooth
In the second part of the Hood session, the fellows broke off into pairs of two. The curators asked us to create a myth about an object in ten minutes. My partner and I crafted a story about our designated object, a dinosaur tooth donated by a Dartmouth alum. We argued that the rounded tops of the object were gums and the sharp, hollow edges were teeth showing signs of wear. We finally learned at the end of the session that our object was a mastodon tooth—pretty close if I say so myself! The exercise ultimately taught us about how easy it is to confidently spread misinformation and put us in a new mindset for approaching the consulting project. As a side note, the curators also showed us another really cool yet scary example of misinformation. The Hood has sculptures of petrified monkeys attached to fish bodies that were sold as "mermaids" to customers at circuses.
"Mermaid" seen at travelling circuses
Through this blog, I show you all a small snapshot of the interdisciplinary learning that happens during the Paganucci Fellows program. Since visiting the Hood, the fellows have been in a host of team meetings and bonding events. We also just wrapped up a mid-point check-in and presented a roadmap to our client, and I can't wait to show you guys our final product!
The fellows on a call with Professor Nyhan, a leading mis/disinformation expert at Dartmouth
Being a super senior ('23) is like being an incoming freshman ('28) in that you get to make a new set of friends. Luckily, Dartmouth is a small school with many social spaces students can tap into.
In this post, I share what I'll be doing during my off-term this spring, and also give some advice for finding internships and off-term work in the context of Dartmouth's quarter system!
FYREE is a program organized by Dartmouth Engineering that offers first-year undergraduate students an early opportunity for hands-on experience and mentorship.
