Welcome to my page, I am a '27 from central New Hampshire! I came to Dartmouth for the liberal arts curriculum, so I plan to explore the academic disciplines before deciding what to focus on. I am currently looking at environmental science and religion. In addition to blogging, I work as an Interfaith Trip Fellow with the Tucker Center for Spiritual and Ethical Life. I enjoy mountain biking, running, skiing, singing, and drawing.
Academic Program
Intended: pre-health, anthropology, environmental studies, and religion.
This discussion and reading-based class was incredible and relevant! Content ranged from the historical impact of the printing press to AI in the workforce and transhumanism, and all of the topics were grounded in religion and some of the frameworks religion provides. I pondered on ideas from this class all the time.
I was captivated by the first class meeting of the term reading Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' and eventually chose to focus on it for my research paper at the end of the term. All of the readings captivated my attention, however, Kafka, Han's 'The Vegetarian', and Kristeva were the authors that made the biggest impression on me. The class discussions resulted in wonderful insights relevant to humanity at a macro level. My favorite aspect was our professor instructing us to focus on the ideas before picking apart the writing style.
This class made me think about the bigger picture of health in a systems focus. Ultimately this class helped me realize that there are a lot of structural health system challenges in the U.S. and around the world. I particularly liked learning about the histories and anthropological side of things. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were my favorite topic in the class because the frameworks are very limited, so some do not receive enough focus and funding.
My Spanish language study abroad was wonderful. In addition to improving my Spanish proficiency, I learned a lot about the culture and history of Spain- especially in the autonomous community (region) of Cantabria where Santander is located. My favorite class on this trip was literature, every class had a different theme relevant to the history and culture of Spain and this was explored with movies, videos, and readings that resulted in some great insights during class discussion. The homestay aspect and excursions bolstered the conversational and cultural aspects of the LSA.
This class sits at the center of the two interests that I have chosen for my modified major, anthropology and environmental studies. There are a few reasons I love this class. First and foremost, there is a SIP fieldwork aspect to it (I wrote a post about this!) which means I can experience local communities and have a tangible impact. Next, my professor has a wonderful design for the content and structure of the class. Also, I am genuinely excited to learn about the content and perspective this course utilizes by considering the many dimensions of disaster. I particularly like exploring the historical factors that turn a scenario into a disaster, and how that can be prevented.
This is the second half of my Dartmouth-sponsored spring break trip with my Interfaith Living Learning Community (LLC). Join us as we continue to explore Washington DC! (The first part of this 2 post series can be found here)
Smithsonians: African American History and Culture, Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Asian Art.
All three of these Smithsonian museums had exhibits related to religion. At the African American museum, most of the religious content was also intertwined with music culture and there were some neat items on display from famous performers. The Holocaust Memorial Museum as a whole is related to religion, but there were some rooms and specific exhibits that spoke directly to the role of religion in the Holocaust, such as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, for which the museum had a Torah on display that had been defaced on Kristallnacht. The museum as a whole was a challenging experience, especially emotionally, but it is valuable in that it motivates people to make sure that genocide is not continuing. Our group did discuss how this pertains to current events such as Gaza at lunch afterwards. At the Asian Art musuem, I loved the first exhibit we went to which had the canteens that are the main photo for this post. The brass inlaid with silver canteen was fascinating since it was made in Mosul, Iraq which had a long history of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian artisans working together. The porcelain canteen was made a couple hundred years later, and it is believed to be modeled after the brass one. I liked the Buddhist exhibits even more than I enjoyed the canteens, since the four lives of the Buddha reminded me of my own faith since they are both Dharmic (I am Sikh). I was fascinated by the depiction of Buddha trying to achieve enlightenment but the world making effort to stop him from doing so. Even though it did not have religious ties, I also loved the Peacock Room and it was fun to hear the story behind it from our tour guide (a retired Professor from Georgetown).
Peacock Mural Asian Art Gallery
Holocaust Memorial Museum Shooting a Clergyman Photo
Organizations: Interfaith Alliance and the Department of Education Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
On the second day of the trip, we visited Interfaith Alliance which is a non-profit advocacy group. That meeting allowed us to model and get some wonderful suggestions for how to make impactful changes on our campus. After visiting with Interfaith Alliance, our group checked out the Supreme Court since it was across the street and then went to check out the Capitol Building. Afterwards, we had some free time and we split up. A couple of us went over to the Library of Congress, some went shopping, and then a few of us reunited for conversation time. On the final day of our trip, we had a wonderful meeting at the Department of Education with the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships directors, along with a representative from the Department of Justice, and everyone talked about their backgrounds before diving into some questions and discussion. We talked about religious discrimination on college campuses, but we also talked about religious literacy (including from media sources) and that progress has to start somewhere.
Lily at Capitol Building
Interfaith DC ASB Trip at Department of Education
Free time!
After going to the Gurdwara on the fourth day, some of the group went with me to the United States Botanic Garden, then to get Gelato, dinner, and then had a makeshift kareoke night back at our air bnb house. I was able to meet up with a classmate from middle school who goes to college in DC which was wonderful. The other people in the group went to a family friend's house and had dinner and social time.
National Botanical Garden Tropics Room
Orchid Room Botanical Garden
Our advisor did a great job with turning the group into a family and this was thanks to a few things, we stayed in a house so we could hang out at night and have breakfast in the morning. Every person had the job of navigating the group to get to certain places (which taught us to be patient and kind with one another) and we had to travel with at least one other person during free time, so we spent more time with each other.
Reflections
Throughout the trip we had journal prompts, brief reflection forms, a worksheet from Interfaith Alliance, and group check-ins. At Center DC we also learned the acronym PIES (physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual) which I think is something I will continue to use going forward. The check-ins helped me center myself amidst a busy trip, and we did one in our free time.
Every Dartmouth student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. Here's my experience navigating the language requirement!
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
Coming back to Dartmouth for my senior year, I have been loving pursuing my major. However, what I love about the liberal arts education is that you can take classes for interest far beyond any classes in your major.
