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.
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.
I lived on the same dorm floor as the GIS LLC (Living Learning Community) this year. I asked some of my floormates about their experience with it so that you can hopefully get a holistic sense of what GIS is like!
Dartmouth's most anticipated spring tradition is over, prompting an influx of Green Key posts from Dartmouth students online (including this one from myself)! Join me as I reflect on the most memorable parts of this weekend!
Eastern European Easter (loads of E's, I know), a mock wedding with the Dartmouth African Student Association, and of course, Green Key! What a busy week!
Green Key: A quintessential Dartmouth tradition along with Homecoming and Winter Carnival—and the one remaining tradition I had yet to experience as a freshman. Here are my impressions of my first Green Key weekend!
