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.
Dartmouth is such a tradition-filled, energetic campus, and there's always something new to explore. From new hikes to new places to eat, I'm constantly falling in love with this school in the woods a little more each day!
In this blog post, I want to share with you my love of Dartmouth through the lens of food.
We have some great Dartmouth dining options, and I find myself eating 'on campus' most of the time. Dartmouth is a mid-sized school, and our undergraduate population is ~4,500 students. It's so amazing to walk into a dining hall and expect to see friends and people I know there and wave hi to these friends. It really makes Dartmouth feel like home. I also really enjoy eating in town occasionally. If I want to really get 'off campus,' I'll drive with a few friends to a diner or cute cafe in a nearby town! I also love making and eating food at the Roth Center for Jewish Life (Hillel at Dartmouth).
SO GOOD! I got the Collis special, the bulgogi bowl that day, and a mango smoothie. I also bought an avocado to add to the top of my dinner. 10000/10 meal
3. Lucky's Cafe
My friends and I drove to a cafe near campus to celebrate finishing our winter term! It's always great to get off campus for a little bit, and the breakfast sandwiches were SO good.
4. My Brigadeiro
Happy FWOC (first week of classes)! I did some reading for my Dickens English class at a cafe in Hanover. Passover started later that night, so this croissant was the perfect pre-passover snack.
5. Hillel at Dartmouth
Pizza and fresh fruit at Hillel = 18/18 meal.
Kosher cupcakes we catered for Purim Ball, an event where I was one of the lead organizers!
6. Shabbat dinners at Hillel
POKE BOWL SHABBAT. Hands down, this meal is one of the highlights of my term. 100000/10
Happy Passover! Fresh arugula salad, roasted potatoes, and kosher for Passover schnitzel made by our student chefs. What could be better?
Welcome back to Open Doors—your inside look at life in the Woods! This week, Sarah Getraer '26, a studio art major, showed me around her dorm room, where we discussed Dartmouth residence halls, classes, and campus life.
Senior spring is here and it is surreal to reflect on how much my daily routine has evolved. We have just welcomed the Class of 2030, and I am so incredibly excited for the next generation of Dartmouth students to find their home in Hanover!
