Hi, and welcome to my corner of the woods! I'm Lauren, a '27 from Munger, Michigan. In the winter, my favorite activities on campus are writing in Sanborn and watching hockey at Thompson Arena. I'm excited to share a bit about my favorite place with all of you!
I took this class as part of Dartmouth's first year writing requirement. We read a pro cyclist's life narrative, discussed research papers on controversial topics in sports, and wrote our own papers on a contentious sports technology of our choice. I really enjoyed this course's emphasis on discussion, and the small class size!
This was my first class in the classics department, which was super exciting as a classical studies major! We learned about the ancient Olympics and the connections between athletics and other aspects of ancient Greek society. I loved the final project in this class, which involved creating an argument about how the ancient pentathlon was scored!
To conclude my language requirement, I took Latin 3! This class was super exciting because we began to read ancient texts and poetry. We also took a class trip to the Rauner Special Collections library so we could physically handle and read some manuscripts. And as an added bonus, Latin counts as a prerequisite for my classical studies major!
As a part of my language study abroad in Italy, I also took a class on Italian history and culture! We went on field trips to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, participated in walking tours of Rome, and watched a lot of great cinema in this class! I loved it so much that I decided to minor in Italian.
This class, in addition to being a pre-requisite for my major, was super interesting! I loved learning about archaeology through hands-on projects and lectures that felt like TED Talks.
My favorite course on my Italian LSA+ in Rome is focused on Italian literature, which we are studying in a reverse-chronological order! It has been incredibly fun to see different topics and styles evolve over time and to learn from the works of the best writers.
I’m absolutely loving this hands-on introduction to paleography, and the fact that my class meets at Rauner every day! I can’t wait to hear from our guest lecturers, too, and I’ll be sure to share those experiences on the blog. All in all, Latin 10 was a great way to get back into the language after a term away in Rome.
I signed up for this Latin class after the FDOC (first day of class), and I'm so glad I added it to my sophomore summer schedule! Our class is combined with GRK 30.08 History and Structure of the Greek Language, and it has been incredibly interesting to compare the ancient languages and learn a bit of Greek.
FallIvrea, Italy
This term, I'm interning with the Olivetti Leadership Institute in Ivrea, a small town in northern Italy.
WinterHanover, NH
For my second off-term, I'm back on campus! I'm keeping myself busy by working, spending time with friends, and working on my to-be-read list.
Throughout my time at Dartmouth—and in the interest of completing the language requirementand myClassical Studies degree—I've taken six Latin courses. Of those six, five were supported byLearning Fellows. At the time, I didn't really think twice about that. It's only this term, my first working as a Learning Fellow, that I've realized how helpful the program really is.
For anyone unfamiliar with the concept, a Learning Fellow (LF) is essentially a peer mentor embedded in a course. They attend class alongside students, meet regularly with the professor, and gather with other LFs in weekly "huddles" to talk through classroom dynamics and what students seem to be struggling with. First-time LFs also take part in pedagogy classes run by the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning, which focus on how students learn and how to support that process. It's a system that's thoughtfully designed and based on a lot of collaboration.
In this photo from my Latin 1 class, my LF Maura is sitting on the right and helping out Professor Lynn!
As a LF, I can definitely empathize with the struggles faced by my students. I remember sitting in class and staring at a sentence that everyone in my group had translated differently (all of us incorrectly), growing frustrated with the language. When one of my LFs would pop over and check in, their presence always brought a sense of relief or confirmation that we weren't completely off base. LFs made Latin feel achievable, and eventually, even enjoyable.
After two years of receiving that support, I decided that with my free time this term, I wanted to give back to the program. I'm now an LF for aLatin 1 class, and the experience has been rewarding and also a bit strange. I'm back in the same classroom where I once sat as a beginner, but in a completely different role.
When I was in Latin 1 and Latin 2, my professor used to bring her dog to class!
The shift has taken some getting used to. I catch myself wanting to jump in immediately with the right answer, and have to remind myself that my job is to guide, not rescue. I see students make the same mistakes I once did, and it's oddly comforting. The other day, I almost blurted out the answer to one of the professor's questions before remembering that she wasn't asking me!
The pedagogy sessions have been an unexpected highlight of my LF experience. Sharing ideas and anecdotes with other LFs and discussing how students engage with material has made me more thoughtful about learning as a process. It's also really interesting to interact with LFs from other departments like Chemistry, Sociology, and Physics and incorporate some of their ideas into my Latin LF strategy.
Notes from a pedagogy session on confusion
Being a Learning Fellow this term has made me more patient and more aware of how much care goes into teaching well. It's also planted a new idea in my head: maybe I want to teach someday. At the very least, I'm grateful for the chance to be the person I once relied on, and to hopefully help out the next wave of Learning Fellows in their very first Latin course.
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Gabe Brigham '26, a psychology and sociology double major, showed me around his dorm room, where we discussed Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
On the final segment of The Stretch, we explored other planets, walked atop volcanoes, and went to the very bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back). Read about it here.
The Sierra Nevadas, Death Valley, and Yosemite. Mapping our surface and searching for the earliest evidence of life on the Earth Sciences study program. Read about it here.
