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.
If you've read my other blog posts, you know that I emphasize the strength of Dartmouth's numerous programs abroad. This last spring, I spent 10 weeks on one of these programs as an intern at the American University of Kuwait! In this post, I'd like to share my experience and thoughts on the program for any prospective students who might be interested in the Middle East, and the Gulf region in particular.
Because of my interest in anthropological research in the Gulf, I knew that interning at AUK would be a wonderful experience and opportunity. I was lucky to meet many friends, peers, and mentors at the university, and had lots of fun both in and outside of work. As a part of my internship, my main task was assisting with the AUK Oral History project. The main goal of my work was to interview Kuwait-residents born before the 1960s to collect oral accounts of life before the oil boom. Due to the rapid urbanization and commercialization of Kuwait, and the Gulf writ-large, preservation of this valuable history is critical in order to understand that these countries are more than what some academics would call 'petrostates'. They do, in fact, have a robust network of traditions, cuisines, and mixtures of cultures from all across the Arab world and southeast Asia, as well as their own distinct cultural identities. Therefore, working on this project was really rewarding for me to learn lots about Kuwait's history.
Outside of work, I spent lots of time with my friends in Kuwait, a mixture of both Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis! The food in Kuwait is excellent due to the large migrant population and mix of authentic cuisines, as well as the rigid food quality standards imposed by the government; therefore, I will certainly miss the great restaurants that Kuwait has to offer. Because Kuwait is a smaller, family-oriented country, many of the activities I did for fun were more laid-back in relax. A lot of times, my friends and I would simply drive around town, or take a short trip to the desert to do a bit of drifting. Or, sometimes we chilled at somebody's diwaniyah, which is a meeting place connected to the house with couches, tea, and great conversations. Additionally, we spent lots of time in shisha bars, massive Gulf-style shopping malls, cinemas, and museums dedicated to Kuwaiti cultural heritage!
Overall, I strongly recommend prospective students to look into the exchange or internship opportunities at the American University of Kuwait. It was certainly one of the highlights of my Dartmouth experience, and I hope that I will have the opportunity to return to Kuwait, again and again.
Dartmouth changed my life. A large part of that change comes from the support I have received from professors. Learn more here about some mentor-mentee relationships I have made!
