Toni Fabian

Liberal Arts Education: My Fall Term Classes

This is an excerpt from Dr. Petre's class notes, this is about the different elasticities of demand and supply and its' impact on determining if the burden of tax is set onto the consumer or producer.

Here at Dartmouth, the "normal" workload is 3 classes per term. Many students might find that surprising and might assume it to be more lenient compared to a 7 class schedule in high school. However, these courses fly by very quickly and it is vital for one to keep up with the rigor in order to succeed. Currently, I am taking three amazing classes for my freshman fall term. Now, since I just completed week 3 of my fall term, I will discuss my experiences and lessons learned in all my classes. 

To begin, I will discuss my most interesting class, Economics 1 with Dr. Petre. Econ1 is the gateway course for the Economics major. Each week we are responsible for completing problem sets, quizzes, classwork, and discussion boards. I love this class a lot because Dr. Petre makes learning really fun and is very kind and wants everyone to learn! In week 1, I learned about supply and demand and the factors that shift those curves. Also, every week we relate what we learned in class to the real world. For example, we read about food banks and their past struggles with efficiency. As a class, we discussed solutions and delved deeper by asking questions and collaborating with each other. 

This slide is from my presentation on "Unaccompanied." This book contains poems that discuss the impact of migration and the loss of cultural identity and history. My presentation was supposed to be 10 minutes, but I am very passionate about this topic and accidentally spoke for 20 minutes, lol!

Now, the second course that I am taking this term is called LATS 5: Complexities of Latino Identity taught by Professor Di Blasi. I enjoy this class so much because we read a lot about central issues and themes that shape the Latinx experience in the United States. This class involves in-depth class discussions and reflections. I truly enjoy going to class every day because I am given the opportunity to grow and learn something new every day. Recently, we discussed the impact of the Mexico-US Border and its effect on Latino populations. 

Finally, my third course is Writing 5: Predatory Communication Maneuvers and Cognitive Traps taught by Professor Kremer. We have done research and wrote about case studies that have famously affected the world. For example, most notably the Elizabeth Holmes Case and the public media. From that case study, I am currently developing an essay that is arguing the importance of educating future generations by offering tuition-free programming in schools to help students be cognizant of the dangers of groupthink. This course has helped me grow as a writer and a thinker by giving me the tools to strengthen my sentence structure, writing style, and claims. 

This is an image of my edits and revisions on my argumentative essay about the Holmes Case!

 I hope you enjoyed reading about a glimpse of the courses offered here at Dartmouth, and what it means to have a liberal arts education. Dartmouth is truly unique, in the sense that you are given the freedom to explore and take courses that you are genuinely interested in pursuing.