Aloha to the page of a wanderlusting writer juggling college life and several other hobbies into an eternally-short 24-hour day. I hope to shed light on the Dartmouth experience as I explore the brave new world of Hanover, NH and everything going to college here has to offer. In my free time, you can find me trying to learn a new language or building the perfect Spotify playlist (alternative/indie, anyone?). I hope you enjoy!
Taught by Gordon Henry, an Anishinaabe poet and author, this class taught me to explore Indigenous storytelling within digital contexts. I took this class with only seven other classmates, allowing us to really engage with films, comic books, and television shows in Indigenous languages or produced by Indigenous artists.
Taught by Timothy Pulju, this class taught me how to identify and understand how languages evolve over time and why. I analyzed and reconstructed fictional languages of imaginary nations in order to understand the link between language and culture, and ended up having such an appreciation for the complexity and beauty of language's place in history!
Taught by Lindsay Whaley, this class let me discover a newfound love for ancient apocalyptic literature. We analyzed ancient texts and compared them to modern apocalypses, looking at the zombie apocalypse phenomenon and other apocalypses in pop culture and comparing them to the ancient tradition of writing apocalypses. Additionally, I learned the Greek alphabet and now I can even stumble through ancient Greek passages.
FallNew Orleans, LA
Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law
Taught and organized by David Peterson, this class let me get into the shoes of a real linguist as we did fieldwork (virtually!!) with the Zophei language. I learned how to describe a never-before-learned language's phonology (sound system), how to characterize its grammar and words, and ultimately got to present my research to experts in the language family around the world in a workshop at the end of the term!
WinterHanover, NH
Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law
Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class taught me how Native literature can provide lens by which to evaluate, critique, and ultimately revise Federal Indian Law. During this class, I read works by Native authors like Tommy Orange and Louise Erdrich '76 alongside the opinions of definitive case opinions in American law and explained how literature can be a catalyst for Indigenous sovereignty.
Supervised by N. Bruce Duthu, I spent this off-term performing research after being awarded a Sophomore Research Scholarship to study contemporary Hawaiian cultural and linguistic revitalization. I studied 19th-century newspapers and contemporary Hawaiian texts in order to understand how Hawaiian language revitalization both past and present has advanced and continues to enable a contemporary bodied Hawaiian politic of sovereignty.
Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me about how languages create meaning through words. During this class, I learned how to analyze different languages' morphological processes and compare different approaches within the field as to morphological structures.
Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class offered me a glimpse into the lived realities of Native people in Indian Country Today. I learned about the economic, social, cultural, and historical roots for the struggles of Indigenous people today within the United States, and was able to write about the contemporary battle for Native Hawaiian visibility and Hawaiian sovereignty.
Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me how to engage in language documentation and how, as a linguist, we can put our skills to use to help communities seeking to document and revitalize their languages. I worked on the Satawalese language, spoken on the island of Satawal in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ultimately, my team created two dictionaries - one in English, one in Hawaiian, a website, and several materials that focused on the Satawalese tradition of wayfinding and non-instrumental ocean navigation.
Taught by Charles Eastman fellow Sunaina Kale, this class taught me about the role of sound in delineating, conceiving, and comprehending relations between people and the land in Indigenous musical traditions. Over the course of the class, we discussed Indigenous musicians, listened to music from Native peoples around the world, heard from masterful Indigenous musicians, and ultimately presented a project that creatively analyzed a song of our choice. My project focused on the song "Ask Yourself" by Foster the People, and I wrote a poem that integrated aspects of Indigenous languages and worldviews to answer questions posed by the song.
This term, I formally began the research process for my upcoming honors thesis in the Linguistics department on Hawaiian semantics! While living in Hanover, I also began working as a Senior Fellow with the Admissions department—a position I will be holding for the entirety of my last year at Dartmouth.
What does non-STEM research actually look like at Dartmouth?
A:
Great question. Here at Dartmouth, we use the word "research" all the time. If you're anything like me, when people said the word "research" I would inevitably think of a (mad) scientist in a dimly lit building, hunched over a laboratory table, passing fluorescent chemicals from beaker to beaker. While I am sure people at Dartmouth do that kind of research, that's not me–let's talk about what research looks like for the non-STEM folks.
I have done research at Dartmouth both in the humanities and the social sciences. The distinction between those two fields is sometimes a bit blurred, especially in a field like my major, linguistics. Yet while there is overlap, there are distinct methodologies and practices that characterize the research within those areas. Let me explain with some examples from my own experience to illustrate it as best I can.
Humanities research tends towards involving qualitative data. This means that rather than work with numbers and figures—quantitative data—you're instead involved in interrogating texts, surveying literature, and crafting original arguments. For example, during my time as a Sophomore Research Scholar, my project focused on the Native Hawaiian sovereignty movement and its relationship to Hawaiian language revitalization. I worked with my advisor to look at what other scholars were saying about sovereignty. As I read articles and books, I had guiding questions that stayed with me: were these scholars using Hawaiian language? Did these scholars talk about the role of language revitalization and the sovereignty movement? I'd meet with my advisor weekly to discuss my findings, get more recommendations as to what I should read, and even receive the contact information of scholars who could help me learn more about my topic. Humanities research is all about interrogating work, discussing anything and everything with your advisor, and eventually building an argument or analysis.
On the other hand, my social sciences research has looked very different. This is because the social sciences are different! Linguistics is just one field in the social sciences, but can involve texts, interviews, numerical data–anything and everything is on the table. If you're doing research in a branch of ethnic studies, your research may look a lot like humanities work. If you're into government or economics, numerical data and statistics will come up all the time. There is a ton of variation. For my linguistics research, my work has involved transcribing an interview, counting how many times a certain word comes up in a conversation, and organizing words from dozens of languages as I try to build a language database. I'd meet with my advisor every week to check in, get advice about my project, and receive feedback on my prose as I built abstracts and essays. It was much like humanities research, but involved a lot more poring over language data as opposed to reading articles from other scholars.
The theme to non-STEM research is that it's highly individualized. Every project is different, but methodologies are shared between the humanities and the social sciences all the time. Often, you'll find that you might like a certain kind of research and dislike another. That's okay! As you explore research opportunities at Dartmouth, never be afraid to ask a professor about what research with them might look like. Professors at Dartmouth are the best people ever, and they truly care about making the research process accessible to undergraduates. Hope this helps, and happy researching!
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
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?
