Welcome! My name is Serena and I'm a '28 from NYC. I'm so excited to be here at Dartmouth and share my experiences with you! On campus you can find me organizing events at Hillel, hosting socials for the women's club frisbee team, trying every single Dartmouth tradition, and yapping in the library. I also love to run, play volleyball, hike, knit, and read fantasy books! If you want to hear about a city kid's adventures in rural New Hampshire, follow along as I experience life in the woods!
In this dynamic class, Visiting Professor Vera Kallenberg taught us a survey of Jewish history and culture from the European enlightenment to the establishment of the State of Israel while also sharing her wealth of knowledge with us! Our small, seminar-style class lent itself to profound conversations around the difficult topics that arose during our discussions. From the Haskalah to discourse around the modern-day Israel-Palestine conflict, our class approached these topics with respect and care for one another. We read historical texts and fascinating personal narratives for homework, and then wove our knowledge about the past and present together in class discussions. What an incredible course!
I absolutely loved this Junior Colloquia English class taught by Professor Beckman. This small, discussion-based class is designed to prepare an English major for the type of work they will do in their Senior year. Professor Beckman is such a brilliant and kindhearted professor, and, especially as the only first-year student in that class, I really benefited from meeting with her in office hours. We read King Lear, The Alchemist, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Roaring Girl alongside various other academic papers. I left every class amazed, my brain filled to the brim with new and exciting knowledge about Renaissance literature. I loved engaging in fascinating topics and discussion in this challenging, high-level class!
In this class, we studied fascinating literature from the 18th and 19th centuries in order to explore what the novel as we know it today emerged from. We studied scandalous female libertines, rogue nuns, and other criminal female characters! We started off reading the surveillance chronicle Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, and we also read Anti-Pamela by Eliza Haywood, A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne, and Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. I loved how Professor Garrison brought every reading to life through a mix of lecture, discussion, and even a book arts workshop visit.
I really enjoyed my first comparative literature class, “Literature and Psychoanalysis.” It was evident that Professor Kritzman cared about each and every one of his students. This was my first exposure to psychoanalytic theory, and I loved exploring concepts such as repression, desire, fantasy, truth, what it means to be human, and more. Just some of the authors we read included Freud, Zizek, Woolf, Mann, Kafka, Kristeva, Fanon, Sophocles, and Shakespeare.
Professor Harner is one of the best professors I have had the privilege of taking a class with, and I thoroughly enjoyed Lit History II. She is such a great teacher; she truly cares about you as a student, offers a ton of feedback, and knows so much about the subject she teaches. We studied 17-19th century literature from Britain and America, studying a pivotal decade each week of the term. I would rate this class a 100000/10!
After taking Literary History II with Professor Harner last term, I knew I needed to take another class with her! Not only was I beyond excited to read my first Charles Dickens novel in this class, but I was also ecstatic to be in the presence of Professor Harner’s brilliance, knowledge, and kindness once again. This class was a Junior Colloquium, a high-level English class that culminates in a 12-15 page research paper. We spent the entire term reading only two books, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and the adaptation Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, while simultaneously reading fascinating papers on literary theory to further our understanding of the texts.
Dartmouth has a ton of amazing dining options on campus, and some of the most popular dining locations are Foco, Collis Café, Ramekin, and Novack.
I'm currently taking classes forSophomore Summer, a term where all rising juniors are on campus together. In addition, there are also summer programs running on campus. This means that most on-campus dining options are open during the summer term.
Collis is known for its 'grab-n-go' dining style. You can take your food to eat on the green, in your room, or at a study session in the library. Collis always has lunch and dinner specials in addition to a rotating menu of freshly made soups. It offers fun items like fresh sushi, smoothies, soups, stir-frys, bulgogi bowls, and more. Rest assured, you will not go hungry at Dartmouth College!
Collis is more than just a place to order food at, however. In my opinion, it's one of the main dining and social hubs of campus. Dartmouth students love to socialize on the Collis porch, aka copo, aka clorch. If you didn't know already, we Dartmouth studentslove our acronyms.
I love going to Collis and stopping by to order a mango "life-changer," one of Collis' most popular smoothies. I also love sitting inside in the air-conditioned dining section of Collis Café for dinner with a friend or out on the Collis porch for breakfast.
Last term, I would always order their dinner special of beef bulgogi bowls!
They also have a ton of snacks, both refrigerated and shelf-stable.
It's been fun being on campus and experiencing Dartmouth in a fresh new way this term. During the fall, winter, and spring terms, Collis is always packed full of students. In the summer, however, the smaller number of students on campus means there is less traffic at Collis. The space feels more low-key and chill. It's nice to sit inside Collis and decompress!
I hope you have enjoyed hearing about Collis, and make sure to stop by if you take a tour of Dartmouth's campus!
So many amazing food options to choose from at Collis!
Last September, a friend and I crafted a ten-item bucket list for our final year as undergraduates. It's the end of our senior spring now. These are some of the boxes I've checked.
