Hey y'all! My name is Natasha, and I am a junior at Dartmouth College. I'm majoring in history and minoring in public policy and Chinese. In my free time, I love to watch New Girl, hang out with my friends, and explore the Upper Valley. Dartmouth is a pretty neat place— I hope you enjoy reading my posts about life here!
Academic Program
History Major and Minors in Public Policy and Chinese
This term, I am taking an asynchronous class titled "Nomad Rulers and Origins of the Modern World." In this class, we learn about the governments run by various rulers of nomadic origins in Asia from the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and learned so much about this topic! An interesting aspect of this course is that it is completely taught asynchronously. This format means that my classmates and I don't meet for class at a designated time. But that certainly doesn't mean we don't do any work! Rather, the professor uploads a pre-recorded lecture every week, and the class has to write a weekly discussion post on a topic related to the readings and the lecture. In addition, there is a final paper due by the end of the term that is 5,000 to 6,000 words long on a topic of our choosing.
At first, I was not sure about how an asynchronous class was going to work. The idea of setting my own schedule and not meeting for class every week felt foreign to me. However, as the term progressed, I came to love the asynchronous aspect of this course. Asynchronous courses truly teach you the importance of personal responsibility and cultivating good study habits. Every week, I had to plan out what I was going to do so that I finished all my assignments on time and didn't leave anything for the last minute. In addition, asynchronous courses gave me more flexibility in my day-to-day life. Whenever I had a busy day due to other courses or extracurriculars, it was easy for me to rearrange my schedule and concentrate less time on this class since we did not have a set meeting time. However, I always made sure to quickly catch up on the work for that day because I did not want to fall behind in the course.
While the course itself was asynchronous, there were opportunities to meet with the professor face-to-face (well, Zoom screen-to-Zoom screen) during office hours if you had any questions. Professor Crossley, the person teaching this course, is truly an expert on the course material and is always willing to answer any questions a student may have. My experience in an asynchronous course has been enjoyable, and I definitely would be open to taking another class like this!
Dartmouth's Chinese New Year celebrations brought a sense of home through themed dining, student-led events, and cultural gatherings, fostering community and appreciation for the holiday.
