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!
I am excited about a lot of things this term, but Spare Rib is probably at the top of the list. Keep reading to learn more about my favorite extracurricular at Dartmouth!
Spare Rib is the feminist zine at Dartmouth College, founded in 1992 as a print publication to encourage dialogues about women's issues on campus. Twenty-five years later, an awe-inspiring team of '23s, who are now seniors, revived Spare Rib as an online zine during quarantine. I have had amazing conversations with some people who were involved in that process. I truly admire all the time, hard work, and love they have put into this project at such a difficult time.
I joined Spare Rib in 22S, my freshman spring term. At the time, I was still unsure about my place on this campus and was looking for like-minded people. If only I had joined Spare Rib earlier! Their vision of creativity, ideals of horizontal leadership, collaboration, sense of humor, and warmth were just what I was looking for in a campus community. I still remember going to my first peer group editing, fresh out of quarantine, anxious yet excited, and being completely absorbed by all the thought-provoking and inspiring conversations we had. That's when I knew for sure I was in Spare Rib to stay.
Last term, 22F, I kept writing for Spare Rib and brought five of my friends with me to weekly meetings, who ended up staying to do creative work for Spare Rib. I also started editing, copyediting, and recording pieces for the audio zine, which you can listen to on Spotify! This term, I am part of the executive team, working in community development with my amazing co-leads Maanasi and Batuhan (fun fact: Batuhan is a fellow blogger, read his blog here!). I am fresh out of our first exec meeting, and I could not be more excited to work with such intelligent, hardworking, and inspiring people.
In addition to creating a termly publication full of unique pieces of creative writing, analysis, and artwork, Spare Rib also works on building a community. Last term's community development leads organized a cabin overnight in one of Dartmouth's many lodges, coffee dates between members, and worked to solidify the vision of our organization.
I think what I love the most about Spare Rib is the people. But the horizontal leadership model comes as a strong second. It is such a daunting yet admirable task for a publication to employ such a model and I am so enthusiastic to be part of such a community.
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.
