Hi! I'm Reece, and I am '28 from Northern California! I hope to study Government, Policy, and Religion in college but come winter, I'll just be hoping to survive the snow. Outside of classes, I love to read, crochet, and journal, and can't wait to expand on my interests this year. I love the outdoors—but hate hiking—and I can't wait for my first spring on the Green! I hope my blog can help answer your ungoogleable questions, and please follow along for chaos that is bound to ensue!
As a student interested in both government and religion, I was thrilled to take this course in the fall—concurrent with the presidential election. The Professor, Randall Balmer, was a really engaging speaker and a leading expert in the field—he even authored two of the course books! We spent our class time discussing many historical and modern elections and discussed in depth the religious influences on the various figures. Overall, this class was really interesting and a great introduction to the religion major!
I took this class with Professor Devin Singh, and it really solidified my interest in studying Religion at Dartmouth. We began the course by outlining the various emergence theories of money, and spent a significant amount of time debunking the most popular: commodity theory (i.e., that money emerged to help people trade). We examined historical evidence, discussed relevant texts, and were able to build our own theories about the history of money. The second half of class focused on the religious connotations of wealth. Overall, this course challenged me in a positive way and highlighted the importance of studying religion in contemporary society.
I wanted to try something new this term, so I took my first pure STEM course at Dartmouth—a mini departure from what I have done in the past. At first, I was apprehensive as Computer Science 1 is a larger class held in a big lecture hall, but my fears were quickly squashed. Throughout the term, I felt so much support from my peers, all the TAs, and even the professor himself. Professor Campbell was an engaging lecturer who kept classes interesting, always telling little anecdotes about his life and his journey to CS, all while adding a few dad jokes here and there. He held weekly office hours, concept chats, and coffee hours with students, so there were plenty of opportunities to get to know him on a personal level. Although I am not a STEM or CS major, and will probably not take another CS class at Dartmouth, I really enjoyed this course! It taught me the foundations of computer science, pushed me as a student, and made me realize how important it is to try new things!
As part of my language study abroad (LSA) in Rome this summer, I took classes in both Italian language and culture. In Italian II, I finally gained confidence in my language skills and felt more comfortable conversing with locals and my teachers completely in Italian. I could more clearly express my feelings and thoughts in Italian and become a stronger writer in the language.
Although I did not expect this to be a glamorous class, as taking a quantitative statistical class of some kind is just a requirement for my Government Major, SOCY 10 was a pleasant surprise! From interactive and through lectures by Professor Smith, to working in small groups to write a research paper on a topic of our choosing, to learning to code for data in STATA, my expectations were blown out of the water.
Have you ever wanted to read one of Shakespeare's first folios, touch a lock of George Washington's hair, investigate the academics of your favorite childhood lyrical author, or just learn more about the past through archival textual research? Well, then Dartmouth is the place for you!
Out of all the libraries on campus, the Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth holds a special place in my heart. Not only is it perfectly located right in front of the Green, with comfortable, large couch seating and floor-to-ceiling windows that let in the sun, but it holds—as the name suggests—all of Dartmouth's "special collections." Ranging from four thousand-year-old Sumerian clay tablets to first edition Jane Austen novels and old Dartmouth yearbooks, there is nothing unique, interesting, or important that you cannot find in Rauner.
Aside from being a great study space and an excellent resource for research, Rauner is also a classroom. Coming to Dartmouth, I made it my goal to take at least one class in Rauner, and this past fall, I completed that bucket list item.
In my course, HIST 49: Early Modern England, we met weekly in one of Rauner's many classroom spaces. In our Thursday X-hour, a shorter block of class time that can be used in addition to or as a substitute for a normal class period, our class would all gather to discuss the week's reading and examine relevant primary sources.
One of the Rauner Classrooms
One week, while discussing the Elizabethan era of England, our professor brought out Mr. Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, also known as a Shakespearean First Folio. As this was one of the most expensive items in the Rauner Collection, having been published in 1623, we were all very surprised and excited to see it out in our classroom for students to read, touch, and examine all with our bare hands.
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Published in 1623
In fact, all items in the Rauner collection, regardless of cost or rarity, are free and available for students to use for research or personal interest.
For that very class, we were tasked to write a term paper on a topic of our choosing, and I decided to research Protestant and Catholic relations, specifically anti-Catholic rhetoric, in Early Modern England. As part of the research process, I revisited Rauner to read one of the most iconic texts on the topic: Foxe's Book of Martyrs, officially named The Actes and Monuments. Published in 1563, I was able to examine firsthand accounts and historical retellings relevant to my research.
John Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Although this is one isolated case, the Rauner Special Collections Library is always available to students. Whether you want to conduct research into the history of Dartmouth, read old letters written in ancient script, or touch contracts signed by kings themselves—like the deed-indenture signed by Henry VIII in 1537—you can find it all at Rauner. And if you ever want a collection introduction, the librarians are always there to help!
Ah, college—a new beginning. Read on to hear what the transition was like for me, from being a nervous but excited high school senior to slowly settling into college life.
