Hello, Eda here: full-time learner, part-time writer, and pretty much a happy amateur at everything else. My hobbies include reading, discovering new movies, and looking at the pictures of my cat. On campus, you can find me peer supporting for the Mental Health Union and SAPA, writing for Spare Rib, doing research in psychology, or listening to Turkish & English alt-rock. Feel free to ask me about taking a gap year, transitioning to a new cultural space, or college in general!
This class discusses the concepts of sex and gender in the broader context of issues related to race, class, national identity, and more. I loved this class because it helped me better understand how systemic inequality affects individual lives and made me think about ways to change it. Professor A'Ness is such an inspiring prof!
In this first-year writing seminar, we discussed how avant-garde movements from futurism to punk rock have constituted a rebellion against the status quo. I loved all the readings for this class and Professor McCann inspired me to take more courses in the English department!
In this course, we learned all the basics of fiction: character, plot, setting, etc. My favorite parts of the course were receiving feedback from other students, reading my peers' work, and having fiction readings as assigned course work! I also appreciated all the guest speakers we had, who were experienced writers in their respective genres.
As an aspiring clinical psychologist, this course has been one of the best classes I have taken at Dartmouth so far. The class focused on the etiology, diagnosis, characteristics and treatment of various mental disorders. Professor Hudenko has been one of the greatest lectures I had the pleasure of meeting. As a clinical psychologist himself, he had extensive knowledge in not only the theory, but also the practice of clinical psychology. He also succeeded in making a lecture-based class feel interactive and dynamic.
We covered the complex neural and biological mechanisms of multiple mental health disorders ranging from common conditions like anxiety to more complicated illnesses such as schizophrenia. In addition to reading about the cutting-edge research in this area, we also read memoirs and watched documentaries about the mental illnesses to focus on how these conditions are affecting people in real life. Professor Funnell is one of the best profs I had!
As an aspiring clinical psychologist, this has been one of my favorite classes at Dartmouth. We learned about different therapy methods, how and when to use them, their advantages, and shortcomings. The class was incredibly engaging with Professor Hudenko's frequent demonstrations of methods, therapy videos, and guest speakers. I would recommend this class to every psychology major.
I worked at Dimock Health Center as part of my community health internship. I was part of a team of summer interns who were college students like myself. We worked as patient advocates that helped people reach out to resources regarding housing, food, utilities, etc. Most of our work involved calling patients, helping them fill out forms, and researching resources. I learned so much about community health resources and how to communicate with a diverse set of patients. It was an invaluable experience!
I took classes in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London. My favorite class of the term was called London Performance Now, which involved going to different performance events in London and discussing them in class. It was the perfect opportunity to explore the cultural landscape of London.
As the title of the course suggests, this class was about food: its history, economics, and cultural practices. I learned a lot through this course thanks to guest speakers, thought-provoking readings, and engaging assignments. My favorite assignment in this course was writing about a family recipe; I learned so much about my family's history as well as the cultural conflicts in my home country. Overall, it was among the best classes I have taken at Dartmouth. Plus, we even got to eat delicious food cooked by our classmates!
Last term, I was pleasantly surprised when my transition from gapper to freshman was way smoother than I imagined. I was anxious and not necessarily looking forward to being back in the classroom after being a fully autonomous, independent learner for an entire year. But I quickly realized I could still stay in charge of my own learning even in formal academic settings. Thanks to Dartmouth's flexible and rich liberal arts curriculum, I can learn how to be a better writer while exploring avant-garde movements, question the faults of the current education system, and uncover the mysteries of the brain in a single term. Here are my winter term classes and what I am looking forward to in each of them.
ENGL 07.47: Tales of the Avant-Garde
After taking my first-year writing class in the English department in the fall term and seeing how much my prose improved, I decided to take my writing seminar from the English department too. Though the classes are just beginning to gain speed, I am already happy with my decision. What I love the most about this class is certainly the readings. We have already read avant-garde manifestos from the first half of the 20th century that I have found fascinating both from a literary and historical perspective. The first novel we have read,The Moon and Sixpence, is now among my favorite works of fiction. It's so refreshing to read fiction for a class amidst all the heavy nonfiction reading we've been doing for other classes. That's why what I am looking forward to the most is the assigned readings for this class!
PSYC 6: Introduction to Neuroscience
I am not really the greatest STEM person out there, but here I am: considering whether I should major in neuroscience. I was always fascinated by human behavior and thought processes, and this class is kindling that interest even further. It's so satisfying to see how what I am learning in this class complements my knowledge of psychology. We are currently learning the anatomy of the nervous system and molecular neuroscience. I can't wait to learn more about higher-level brain functions involved in decision-making and problem-solving. Who knows, I might find myself deciding to major in neuroscience when that day comes.
EDUC 20: Education Issues in Contemporary Society
I have always questioned the shortcomings of the education system in Turkey, but I knew very little, if anything, about the American public education system. This class allows me to think critically about the big-picture policy questions regarding the education system in the US while inspiring me to think about how education fits into our broader socioeconomic context. I also love how I can build upon what I learned about systemic inequity in my Sex, Gender, and Society class by taking this class in a completely different department. Not to sound like a total nerd, but the prompt for our first memo was one of the few special assignments that got me excited to write a paper for a class, which asked us to evaluate our formal schooling based on our definition of education. I look forward to discussing and writing about such thought-provoking questions related to education and society.
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
As a senior, one of the most exciting things for me is my thesis project. In this blog, I describe how to approach making a senior honors thesis. As Dartmouth focuses on their undergraduate research, many students complete a thesis, so let's dive in!
