你好! or hi! My name is Yutong, but feel free to call me Taylor. I'm a '27 from Beijing, China. This will be my first time living ten thousand miles away from home and my first time embracing the New England winter, which makes everything more exciting! I'm also a big fan of Dartmouth Outing Club, and you can find me canoeing in the Connecticut River or taking a walk at Pine Park. I can't wait to show you my college life with my blogs!
Coming to Dartmouth with a solid background in French (Delf B2), I find French 3 a perfect fit for me -- it helps me to consolidate a lot of key grammar and vocabs, and fun weekly cultural activities like coffee hours and french lunch table offers me chances to relax in busy times. While the class is very rigorous and requires a lot of hard work, my professor is so nice and makes the class very fun! I also look forward to going to Dartmouth's Toulouse LSA program after completion of this class!
This course explores how Buddhist concepts of embodiment affect daily life and society in Southeast Asian contexts, and how the intersection of religion, sexuality, and gender impact broader understandings of authority, wisdom, beauty, death, and loyalty. The class takes on many forms beyond mere lectures -- a visit to the Hood Museum of Art, mindfulness practices, and small Buddha-crafting projects. Our professor (the sweetest Prof. MK Long) also invites many of her colleagues at other institutes as guest lecturers to our class so that we can learn from real experts specializing in different countries in Southeast Asia. I have learned a lot from the class and decided to become a religion major after this course!
Having never enjoyed math classes before college, I'm surprised (again) by how I'm becoming a math major and falling in love with math here! My professor (Prof. Shu Longmei, who graduated from the best university in my hometown) is incredibly good at teaching the concepts -- not just explaining things clearly but also showing us the beauty and elegance of calculus. I really look forward to taking more math classes in the future!
In my last blog, I introduced some of Dartmouth's research opportunities to first-year students. This blog will provide an overview of more first-year research opportunities. Programs such as the Undergraduate Research Assistantships at Dartmouth (URAD) and the Leslie Center for the Humanities are just the beginning of what makes research at Dartmouth accessible and genuinely transformative for students.
Undergraduate Research Assistantships at Dartmouth (URAD)
At the core of Dartmouth's commitment to undergraduate research is the Undergraduate Research Assistantships at Dartmouth (URAD) program. URAD offers all students the chance to work closely with faculty on ongoing research projects, providing a unique hands-on learning experience across various fields. Whether contributing to a study in environmental science, assisting with a psychology experiment, or helping analyze historical documents, URAD assistantships are a gateway to the vast world of academic research.
Leslie Center for the Humanities
Leslie Center for the Humanities offers student research fellowships to conduct independent mentored research projects. The fellowship provides students up to $1,800 to currently enrolled students for faculty-supervised research or creative projects in the humanities.
Finding a Research Mentor
Finding a research mentor at Dartmouth is remarkably straightforward and accessible. The college facilitates this process through an online database of faculty research projects, which provides a direct channel for students to engage with professors whose interests mirror their own. This proactive approach underscores Dartmouth's commitment to research, highlighting the institution's openness and the faculty's eagerness to guide the next generation of scholars. This approachable system ensures that students can easily connect with faculty whose interests align with theirs, fostering meaningful academic relationships from the beginning. Additionally, students can approach professors whose classes they enjoy to find a mentor and join a lab/project.
No matter your class year or area of interest, there are opportunities and various avenues to get involved with research!
At Dartmouth, there is an undergraduate requirement for language; after all, it is the liberal arts! Fulfilling this requirement looks different for various people and I will focus on my experience.
Traditionally, Dartmouth students take three courses during a term, but I decided to take four courses this term! Learn about course load and the academic system at Dartmouth.
As I approach the halfway mark of my Dartmouth journey this spring, I find myself reflecting on the significance of distributive and world culture requirements in shaping my academic experience.
