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!
As you probably have heard a thousand times, Dartmouth is committed to a liberal arts education. As part of the liberal arts education, each student completes a set of distributive and world culture requirements before graduation. One of the distributive requirements is art: creation, performance, history, or criticism (ART). There is a wide range of courses you can choose from to fulfill the art requirement, but I will only talk about a few of them that my friends and I have taken.
During her freshman winter, Tianwen took SART 29: Photograph 1, an introductory course to the theory and practice of photographic methods. For one of their assignments, Tianwen used Jamie and me as subjects for some outdoor and studio shots. We not only got to see an aspiring photographer working on her craft, but also got to explore the photography studio in the Black Visual Arts Center. It was exciting to watch Tianwen work with lights in the studio and chemicals in the dark room. Tianwen admits that it is a very time-consuming class, but also a very intriguing and enjoyable one.
Tianwen and Jamie in the photography studio.
In her freshman fall, Jamie took THEA 30: Acting 1, which teaches the techniques for portraying characters authentically and creatively. No prior experience is necessary and there is great emphasis on self-expression and self-discovery. The class also promotes collective understanding and highlights building an ensemble. Jamie says her favorite part of the class was studying characters and making up a background for them with an acting partner. Jamie also took THEA 40: Technical Production, which introduces the technical aspects of live theater, anything from the construction of scenic items to lighting from sound to design.
This term, I am taking CRWT10: Introduction to Fiction. We focus on a different aspect of creative writing each week with short story reading assignments and writing exercises. It is a small seminar class, so we learn through discussions about our writing and the craft of experienced writers. Prof. Crouch, who is an author herself, brought multiple writers to our class, including Cris Sittenfeld, Flynn Barry, and Tillie Walden. She also took us to Still North Books and the second-hand bookstore Left-Hand Books to teach us about the publishing industry. Other than author visits, my favorite part of the class is certainly reading the stories of my peers. It is so inspiring and exciting to learn about their perspective through the stories they write.
As I approach the halfway mark of my Dartmouth journey this spring, I find myself reflecting on the significance of distributive and world culture requirements in shaping my academic experience.
This is my final term before senior year, which is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. One thing I am excited about is the classes I am taking this term, so let me tell you more!
This is part two of me "nerding out" about my honors thesis! If you want to learn more about independent projects, theses, or the humanities at Dartmouth, check it out!
Many small classes at Dartmouth are seminar-style and are the cornerstone of the intellectual exploration and intentionality that define the learning experience at Dartmouth.
