Welcome to my page, I am a '27 from central New Hampshire! I came to Dartmouth for the liberal arts curriculum, so I plan to explore the academic disciplines before deciding what to focus on. I am currently looking at environmental science and religion. In addition to blogging, I work as an Interfaith Trip Fellow with the Tucker Center for Spiritual and Ethical Life. I enjoy mountain biking, running, skiing, singing, and drawing.
Academic Program
Intended: pre-health, anthropology, environmental studies, and religion.
This discussion and reading-based class was incredible and relevant! Content ranged from the historical impact of the printing press to AI in the workforce and transhumanism, and all of the topics were grounded in religion and some of the frameworks religion provides. I pondered on ideas from this class all the time.
I was captivated by the first class meeting of the term reading Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' and eventually chose to focus on it for my research paper at the end of the term. All of the readings captivated my attention, however, Kafka, Han's 'The Vegetarian', and Kristeva were the authors that made the biggest impression on me. The class discussions resulted in wonderful insights relevant to humanity at a macro level. My favorite aspect was our professor instructing us to focus on the ideas before picking apart the writing style.
This class made me think about the bigger picture of health in a systems focus. Ultimately this class helped me realize that there are a lot of structural health system challenges in the U.S. and around the world. I particularly liked learning about the histories and anthropological side of things. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were my favorite topic in the class because the frameworks are very limited, so some do not receive enough focus and funding.
My Spanish language study abroad was wonderful. In addition to improving my Spanish proficiency, I learned a lot about the culture and history of Spain- especially in the autonomous community (region) of Cantabria where Santander is located. My favorite class on this trip was literature, every class had a different theme relevant to the history and culture of Spain and this was explored with movies, videos, and readings that resulted in some great insights during class discussion. The homestay aspect and excursions bolstered the conversational and cultural aspects of the LSA.
This class sits at the center of the two interests that I have chosen for my modified major, anthropology and environmental studies. There are a few reasons I love this class. First and foremost, there is a SIP fieldwork aspect to it (I wrote a post about this!) which means I can experience local communities and have a tangible impact. Next, my professor has a wonderful design for the content and structure of the class. Also, I am genuinely excited to learn about the content and perspective this course utilizes by considering the many dimensions of disaster. I particularly like exploring the historical factors that turn a scenario into a disaster, and how that can be prevented.
By telling you which events I attended this year as a Great Issues Scholar I hope to give you a sense of some of the program's event offerings throughout the year. There were a few things I did not attend, notably, there were 4-hour weekend simulation sessions once each term that I was not able to fit into my schedule but some of my friends were able to and they enjoyed them.
GIS Welcome Event Fall 23 Term (Eli Burakian '00)
Fall Term (International Security)
Welcome event to get to know fellow scholars
Introduction to International Security lecture and questions, Government Professor Benjamin Valentino
Rose Mutiso, an alumnus, talked about her path to her current career
Selling Kabul, play at a local theater
Alumni Reception at Homecoming Weekend
Conversation with Dr. Gifford Wong and Dr. Abraham Holland, Alumni who work at the Institute for Defense Analyses
Term-end Lunch conversation event with other GIS students, and we were given an optional book for winterim (winter break) called Living on the Edge: Experiences of Homelessness and Care in Rural New England written by Elizabeth Carpenter-Song, a professor in the Anthropology department. I highly recommend her book!
Former President of Kosovo GIS Lunch (Eli Burakian '00)
Rauner Special Collections Library Pandemic History, curated collection viewing and discussion with a small group
Lunch and Questions with Former Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga
Global Health Career Alumni Panel, backgrounds and questions
Term-end lunch and conversation with fellow scholars
Margot Wallstrom Event Information Card at the Dining Hall
Group Q&A event with Jean Charest (Bella Neireiter photo)
Spring Term (Climate and the Arctic)
Introduction to Climate and Arctic lecture and questions with Melody Burkins
Lunch and Questions with Margot Wallström, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
Questions with Jean Charest, Former Premier of Quebec
Dartmouth Ice Core Lab Visit and Lecture
Hood Museum curated climate collection viewing and discussion
GIS underground (Heating and Energy systems at Dartmouth), brief lecture and a tour
End-of-year celebration
This program was a key part of my first year at Dartmouth and helped me think through what is important to me and is playing into what I am considering studying and possibly majoring in. Not only did I get exposed to some incredible people and ideas, I also got to learn more about what Dartmouth's campus has to offer and become more familiar with different possibilities to work towards addressing current global challenges. It also allowed me to get to know my classmates better and some of my good friends also participated in this year's program.
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
