Hi! I'm Lauren, a '26 interested in biological anthropology, classics, and global health! Originally from Long Island, NY, I grew up spending every free moment swimming in the ocean. Going to college in NH was a shift away from that; however, I frequent the CT River during the warm seasons! Outside of academics, I am a tour guide and am involved in paleoanthropology research, Global Health Fellows, Camp Kesem, and First Year Trips. I can't wait to share my Dartmouth experience with you!
Academic Program
Anthropology major concentrated in Biological Anthropology, Classical Studies minor
Latin 1 is the first of three introductory Latin courses at Dartmouth. The class is split into small teams; students complete coursework as groups. I cannot recommend taking Latin enough: the classes are tiny, the professors are fantastic, and some even bring their dogs to class (check out my blog about Dartmouth's Latin dogs). I finished the introductory Latin sequence, fulfilling my language requirement. Now, I am continuing to work in the department as a Learning fellow—a student who has already taken the class and attends class to facilitate group work.
After taking Latin 1 in my first term, when it came time to pick my writing seminar (the second required portion of the first-year writing sequence), I naturally chose the course themed on the Greco-Roman world. This course was incredible and was seminar-style, so we discussed readings, went to the Hood Museum of Art, and presented on a feature of art in Pompeii that we found particularly interesting.
My first anthropology course! This archaeology course introduced me to the field of anthropology and archaeology at Dartmouth. This course was lecture-style, with different lectures on everything, including the evolution of religious thought, human sacrifice, and Stonehenge! The professor was incredibly engaging, and we even got to pick lecture topics during the end of the term.
SummerWater Mill, NY
I spent my summer at home, working on my family's vegetable farm. I also started working as an Admissions Communications Intern for the Admissions Office!
Anth006 was my first biological anthropology course! This course was incredible; this introduction course delves into the concentrations within anthropology and everything from the first life on earth to applied anthropology today! We also often had guest lecturers, from visiting professors to graduate students, who would speak about their concentration and research.
Fossils, fossils, fossils! Our professor is a renowned paleoanthropologist, so the course focuses on fossil traces of human ancestors and relatives. Human Evolution is a lecture-style course, but every Friday, we go to the paleoanthropology lab to handle casts of fossils—which we were introduced to during lectures. These fossils are also our primary form of assessment, as we were assessed on the fossils in culminating lab practicals. It is incredible not only to learn about the discoveries that shape our understanding of human evolution but also to engage directly with replicas of them.
Anth017 course focused on individuals' experiences of illness. Our professor was a medical and psychological anthropologist, so it was interesting to hear about the intersections of her research and our course's themes. Throughout the term, we discussed various topics like illness behavior, the culture of biomedicine, and structural violence. We had daily readings and three full-length texts—which we read throughout the term. Our final project was a gateway to delve deeper into the course's themes. This opportunity was particularly enriching as it allowed me to integrate my URAD research into the course seamlessly. This personal connection made the final project a truly enjoyable and fulfilling experience.
The Sixties was an incredible Humanities course taught by a Religion professor. Each week, we broke down a year of the “long sixties”—starting with JFK’s assassination in 1963 and ending with Nixon’s resignation in 1974. We learned both about the history and the culture of the decade. My favorite part about this course was the emphasis on the music of the "long sixties." We listened to the top 30 songs for each year of the "long sixties," and now I have a fantastic playlist from all of the songs I have discovered due to this class (some Don McLean, Simon & Garfunkel, The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, The Supremes, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and so many others)!
As a first-year student at Dartmouth, you will fill out a housing form indicating your lifestyle habits and number of roommates preferences. After you fill out this form, Residential Life will sort you into two things:
You may wonder what a housing community is, as it is a unique aspect of Dartmouth's residential life. I like to explain housing communities on my campus tours by saying they are like Hogwarts houses. First-year students are sorted into them by residential life (think the sorting hat), students within that housing community will live in that community's dorm buildings throughout their time at Dartmouth (think Gryffindor Tower), and there will be friendly intramural sporting competitions between the different housing communities (think the Triwizard tournament).
I was sorted into School House as a first-year student and have lived in School House dorms throughout my time at Dartmouth. This means that my roommates, past and future, will all be members of School House. The purpose of this program is to encourage students to build community within their first-year dorms and continue living with the same cohort of people throughout their time at Dartmouth.
Outside of housing, School House has (free) weekly dumplings, awesome merchandise, intramural sporting competitions, and trips to Boston or Six Flags. Personally, I have made use of the first three offerings:
Every Wednesday, my roommates and I make an effort to go to the Cube to get dumplings.
If you ever see someone walking around campus wearing a sweatshirt that says "School," now you will know what that represents!
I played intramural ice hockey during my first winter at Dartmouth. It was SO much fun—even though the majority of my floormates (all in School House) had no idea how to ice skate.
After our game against Allen House (we won!)
I hope I have given you a general idea about what housing communities do, and now I want to break down which dorms belong in which housing community—as I found it helpful to visualize the dorms I was (and was not) eligible to live in after getting my housing community assignment. However, please note that sometimes, which dorm belongs to which housing community can change—especially with the renovation of dorms. For instance, my first-year dorm no longer belongs to my housing community—we lost Wheeler Hall to South House (due to the renovation of the Fayerweather Halls—which you may notice are not currently active dorms in any housing community).
You can also find the current dorms and floorplans for each college dorm on each housing community's page at the Office of Residential Life.
East Wheelock is a clustered housing community, with all of its dorms in one section of campus—down East Wheelock Street. East Wheelock has newly renovated dorms with elevators and A/C.
North Park is the other clustered housing community (referred to as the McLaughlin cluster), with all of its dorms on the northeast end of campus. People refer to this housing community as "the hotel." The majority of the dorm rooms are two-room doubles—and there are elevators and A/C in North Park dorms.
School House! My totally unbiased favorite housing community. I lived in Wheeler for my first year (lost to South House) and Mid Mass for my second year. I loved both of my dorms; in Wheeler, I had a fireplace in my dorm room and the Masses are so centrally located.
The current School House dorms areNorth Massachusetts,Mid Massachusetts,South Massachusetts,Hitchcock,Brown, andLittle. North Mass, Mid Mass, and South Mass are considered "the Masses" or "Mass row." Brown and Little are part of "the Choates" cluster (the other two "Choates" are Allen House: Cohen and Bissel).
West House is known for its "River Cluster" which are the two first-year dorms that are on the west end of campus. The older and removed first-year River dorms, however, are thought to be made up for with the upperclassmen dorms Fahey and McClane. Fahey-McClane is a beautiful new dorm building that has 5-person suites, elevators, and A/C.
West House's current first-year dorms are French, Judge, andRussell Sage. French and Judge are known as "the River."
South House has changed a lot since my first year—considering the first-year dorms during my first year were "the Fayes." They have absorbed their current dorms from other housing communities Wheeler (from School) and Richardson (from West). South House is known for its older dorms, which are in ideal locations.
Allen House is a very parallel housing community to School House. It is not clustered and has first-year housing further from center-campus, and upperclassmen housing is centrally located.
The current Allen House dorms are Gile, Streeter, Lord,Bissell, and Cohen. Gile, Streeter, and Lord are known as the "Gold Coast;" college-sponsored concerts like Green Key and Fallapalooza are hosted here! Brown and Little are part of "the Choates" cluster (the other two "Choates" are School House: Brown and Little).
Allen House's first-year dorms are Bissell(Choate), Cohen (Choate), and Gile (Gold Coast).
I'll argue why my dorm, French Hall, is not only the best in the River Cluster and West House but also the best dorm you can get as a first-year at Dartmouth.
