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.
Rauner Special Collections Library is a great quiet study space with an atrium. The central aspect inside the building is the glass cube that houses the rare books as well as a life-size plushie version of the Cat in the Hat, a nice little nod to Dartmouth alumnus Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). What might catch your interest more than just the architecture of Rauner Library are the rare books it houses, including Shakespeare's First Folio and George Washington papers. Check out this article for more about the well-known items!
I have been to two curated sessions at Rauner Library, one for my Religion and Technology class and the other with the Great Issues Scholar (GIS) program run by the Dickey Center. For Religion and Technology, we focused on Medieval hand-made books and incunables (the first books that were made after the invention of the printing press). With GIS, our group was looking at pandemic history since the winter term of the program focuses on Global Health.
Medieval Books
These are probably my favorite items that I have interacted with at Rauner Library.
These hand-made books took months to make and were so expensive to procure that sometimes wealthy families had to decide between a book or another building on their estate. Given that these books are European, the pages are made from animal skin, whereas if they were from other areas and eras they could have been papyrus. I still find myself in awe of the craftsmanship that went into these books; scribes who tended to be in monasteries created their own signature font, and for the fancier books that had scenes depicted, there were generally traveling masters who had refined their craft that were requested to do the art. It is not uncommon to see lapis lazuli, gold leaf, or velvet used in these books.
Side View of Medieval Book
Medieval Book Pages
Medieval Book with Elaborate Art
Medieval Book with Engraved Cover
Incunables
The material for these books was not animal skin but rather a mixture of textiles. This era was rather revolutionary in terms of the accessibility of books, before the printing press only the richest people had books. The printing press also spurred change in terms of writing in the vernacular, not just Latin (which was considered an elitist language).
Incunabula with Drawing
Pandemic Books and Historical Documents
We looked at the plague, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, and the Spanish Flu. Excepting the plague, there were documents from each pandemic that were part of Dartmouth's history.
Dartmouth Letters on AIDS
AIDS Infographic
Map of the Dartmouth Campus during the Spanish Flu
Academics can be challenging at Dartmouth. But there are lots of groups across campus here to support you through your academic journey. Read on for my experience asking for help and a few organizations that might be helpful to you!
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
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!
