Hi! I'm Reece, and I am '28 from Northern California! I hope to study Government, Policy, and Religion in college but come winter, I'll just be hoping to survive the snow. Outside of classes, I love to read, crochet, and journal, and can't wait to expand on my interests this year. I love the outdoors—but hate hiking—and I can't wait for my first spring on the Green! I hope my blog can help answer your ungoogleable questions, and please follow along for chaos that is bound to ensue!
As a student interested in both government and religion, I was thrilled to take this course in the fall—concurrent with the presidential election. The Professor, Randall Balmer, was a really engaging speaker and a leading expert in the field—he even authored two of the course books! We spent our class time discussing many historical and modern elections and discussed in depth the religious influences on the various figures. Overall, this class was really interesting and a great introduction to the religion major!
I took this class with Professor Devin Singh, and it really solidified my interest in studying Religion at Dartmouth. We began the course by outlining the various emergence theories of money, and spent a significant amount of time debunking the most popular: commodity theory (i.e., that money emerged to help people trade). We examined historical evidence, discussed relevant texts, and were able to build our own theories about the history of money. The second half of class focused on the religious connotations of wealth. Overall, this course challenged me in a positive way and highlighted the importance of studying religion in contemporary society.
I wanted to try something new this term, so I took my first pure STEM course at Dartmouth—a mini departure from what I have done in the past. At first, I was apprehensive as Computer Science 1 is a larger class held in a big lecture hall, but my fears were quickly squashed. Throughout the term, I felt so much support from my peers, all the TAs, and even the professor himself. Professor Campbell was an engaging lecturer who kept classes interesting, always telling little anecdotes about his life and his journey to CS, all while adding a few dad jokes here and there. He held weekly office hours, concept chats, and coffee hours with students, so there were plenty of opportunities to get to know him on a personal level. Although I am not a STEM or CS major, and will probably not take another CS class at Dartmouth, I really enjoyed this course! It taught me the foundations of computer science, pushed me as a student, and made me realize how important it is to try new things!
As part of my language study abroad (LSA) in Rome this summer, I took classes in both Italian language and culture. In Italian II, I finally gained confidence in my language skills and felt more comfortable conversing with locals and my teachers completely in Italian. I could more clearly express my feelings and thoughts in Italian and become a stronger writer in the language.
Although I did not expect this to be a glamorous class, as taking a quantitative statistical class of some kind is just a requirement for my Government Major, SOCY 10 was a pleasant surprise! From interactive and through lectures by Professor Smith, to working in small groups to write a research paper on a topic of our choosing, to learning to code for data in STATA, my expectations were blown out of the water.
The Hood Museum of Art, located near the center of campus, less than a two-minute walk from the Green, is Dartmouth's very own art museum. Free and open to all students and visitors, it's a popular destination for students to bring family and friends visiting campus.
I tend to visit The Hood, as it's commonly called, whenever my parents are in town, or if I have a free hour or two on weekends. Before this last term, I'd never visited The Hood for an academic purpose, unlike some of my friends, who were assigned time there for homework in an art or creative writing course.
Surprisingly, in my Italian 3 course in the fall, we visited The Hood one day in class, and I want to tell you a bit about this unconventional classroom.
We first all met outside of the museum to discuss our theme for the day, and then we were each given a worksheet with tasks and helpful Italian vocabulary.
My Italian Worksheets & Vocabulary Sheets
In groups, we then wandered around the museum to explore all the new exhibits. My favorite collection from last year was a group of impressionist paintings and a single Monet on loan to the museum for a period of time. Unfortunately, that exhibit was phased out, as The Hood regularly changes what's on display. This means there is always something new to see at The Hood, keepingthe exhibits fresh and exciting.
American Revolution Exhibit
After looking at our first few art pieces, we had to write a couple of sentences in Italian describing the exhibits. I won't bore you all with my mediocre language skills, but I will say it was a nice, unique challenge. Being in the physical space with the artwork was a new experience as I was able to discern more details to include in my description that I would not have been able to by just looking at a photo.
All the groups then gathered to share what they had learned, discuss their chosen exhibit, and ask one another questions. While this may seem like a simple activity, it was conducted entirely in Italian and was actually quite reminiscent of my experience in Rome.
My Italian 3 Class in The Hood
One thing I love about Dartmouth, whether you are in an abroad program, on campus, or visiting one of these unconventional classrooms, is the commitment to new ways of thinking and learning. I never would have expected to visit The Hood in my simple Italian class, but I loved every minute of the experience and will definitely be back sometime soon!
Have you ever wanted to read one of Shakespeare's first folios, touch a lock of George Washington's hair, or just learn more about the past through archival textual research? Well, then Dartmouth is the place for you!
Ah, college—a new beginning. Read on to hear what the transition was like for me, from being a nervous but excited high school senior to slowly settling into college life.
In 1956, researchers gathered at Dartmouth to lay the foundations for what we know as AI today. Nearly 70 years later, our legacy continues. Meet Fabrice, a '27 from Rwanda majoring in computer science and conducting research on AI.
