Hi, my name is Brandon and I'm a '25 from just outside of Chicago. I study Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies, and am involved with multimedia journalism and videography on campus. I am passionate about documentary filmmaking and using film as a tool to present lived human experiences in subjective visual, aesthetic, and sonic terms. In my free time, I love to spend time with my cat, follow the Chicago Bulls, and study Arabic. Please enjoy these snapshots of my life in Hanover!
This was definitely my favorite class of fall term—the readings were heavy, but they all felt incredibly relevant to the coursework. For each class, we read both Jewish and Arab perspectives throughout history. Moreover, Professor Avishai has a vast network of connections with important members of Israeli government, and even figures who we read about in the history books (including former prime ministers!). Overall, that class was a lot of work but very effective in helping me understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Professor Smolin's lectures were always something for me to look forward to. In this intro class, a wide variety of subjects regarding the Arab world were covered. Topics such as culture, Islam, literature, poetry, politics, and history were covered from the pre-Islamic period to the more recent Arab Spring. The readings were fascinating, and the professor also incorporated a wide variety of video resources to accompany the readings. I loved this class!
I found myself regularly engrossed in Professor Fishere's lectures in Arab Political Thought. Tracking the development of political ideologies from the 1800s until today was fascinating, the discussion-based classes helped me get to know tons of my peers.
While in Morocco this summer, I had the chance to take intensive Arabic 21 and Arabic 22. Working with a local teacher, Ilham, I had the chance to study both standard Arabic and Moroccan Arabic .My favorite part of the class was the opportunity to engage with the language in cafes and shops.
Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy was definitely a class that took me out of my comfort zone. Having never taken a class on philosophy, I had lots of fun studying readings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Furthermore, I liked that the class focused heavily on group-work, with weekly group meetings and write-ups being a critical component of the class.
This class made me think critically about how we use different media, and how different media use us. I always considered media and technology as tools we use to navigate life, but never thought about the ways that media influence us and perceptions of the self. Taking this course inspired me to be involved more with digital humanities in order to think critically about how different media can alter the meaning of a message.
I had a great spring term living in Kuwait while interning at the American University of Kuwait! Working as an intern with the Oral History Project and International Relations departments, I met many amazing friends and gained experience with oral history and digital humanities. As someone who wants to continue doing research on the Arab Gulf, this experience was incredibly valuable.
Filmmaking & Visual Culture was about the intersection of filmmaking and anthropology, and I really enjoyed the course. The course looked at film through a post-colonial lens, thinking about how it can be used as a tool to tell stories, empower communities, and challenge structural violence. As a final project, we were required to make our own films with the broad requirement that they had to tell some kind of story or narrative. Having this sort of creative freedom was lots of fun: I did a short film project about a farmer in the Upper Valley.
This was the first science course that I had ever taken at Dartmouth, and I actually really enjoyed it. The course was focused on being able to identity the names and functions of the bones and muscles in the human body: we covered a lot of ground in a short 10-week term. In addition to studying human anatomy, we also studied the anatomy of monkeys and chimps, comparing their evolutionary trends to those of humans. We also had the chance to visit the Geisel School of Medicine cadaver lab on multiple occasions to review for exams, which was definitely a unique experience. Overall, I'm glad I took the opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone a little bit with this class!
I love to make and watch documentaries, so taking ethnographic film was a great way to look at filmmaking in academic, anthropological terms. We watched and analyzed many documentary films throughout the course, considering factors like documentary ethics, filmmaking style, and multi-media approaches. We also did a lot of critical media analysis, looking at how the medium of a piece of work impacts the message it is trying to convey. Additionally, we were able to work on and submit our own short documentary films as final projects for the course.
In this blog post, I want to share my experience with personal funding from Dartmouth, specifically during winter break. Due to my interest in audio design, last term I started producing a podcast for one of my professors at Dartmouth titled Making Sense of the Middle East (check it out on Spotify and Apple Music). During winter break, my professor was traveling to Washington DC, and figured that it would be a great opportunity to interview interesting people from the podcast. In order for me to accompany him, we obtained funding of $500 from the Middle Eastern Studies department: enough to fly me out from Chicago, cover hotel expenses, and food/travel for a couple of days. Thus, there are constantly ways to get funding from Dartmouth for your projects or ideas; the most important thing is to ask and look for opportunities!
Aside from funding, the trip provided me an experience to meet many people that I wouldn't have met otherwise. My professor got connected with two Saudi dissidents who shared their stories about how they were removed from Saudi Arabia. One of the interviews was focused on the economic, political, and security situation of Saudi Arabia, while the second was focused on women's rights. They were both incredibly rewarding; as somebody interested in studying the Gulf and Saudi Arabia in particular, hearing their perspectives and arguments was a joy. Furthermore, it was my first time in DC—having the chance to see the famous monuments, experience downtown, and meet up with friends from Dartmouth made the trip invaluable.
In this particular instance of funding, my professor and I went directly to the relevant department (Middle Eastern Studies). However, while most departments offer personalized funding, there are other ways to obtain funding as well. For example, a friend of mine was able to land a film internship in Morocco. To help cover his cost of living for the 2.5 month duration of the internship, he reached out to the Dickey Center for International Understanding, who gave him the funding he needed to pursue this opportunity. Thus, by being creative and looking for opportunities, you can find funding for all endeavors at Dartmouth.
Dartmouth has also allowed me to obtain long-term funding for the podcast so that I can continue to work on it through this next winterim. By applying for a URAD (Undergraduate Research Assistantships at Dartmouth) grant, I'm able to be funded $1,200 for the work I do with my professor during the term. Dartmouth offers a wide variety of other grants, including ones that are more faculty-led and others that are more student-led.
Last term, I became an executive chair for DURA (Dartmouth Undergraduate Research Association) to help raise awareness about research opportunities on campus. The amount of funding that exists for undergraduate research is quite impressive; I urge prospective students (hello '27s!) to reach out with any questions about research at Dartmouth via email: brandon.mioduszewski.25@dartmouth.edu.
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