Hello! My name is Cal Shin, and I am a '27 double-majoring in Economics and Philosophy. When I'm not studying or writing a blog post, you can find me drawing as the Design Editor for The Dartmouth, hosting my radio show at WebDCR, or spending time with my friends. And if I'm not doing any of those, I'm probably watching cat videos. Follow along as I share the moments that make Dartmouth feel like home!
I took this course with Professor James Binkoski and loved it! I had never taken a philosophy course prior to Dartmouth, so this introductory course in the department was perfect! After all, it combined my interests of philosophy with time and time travel — at least, how time and time travel are depicted in the media. This course may initially seem to be on the more technical side, but Professor Binkoski made sure to break down the various time travel theories — various ways scientists and philosophers think of time and its supposed movement — in a manner that’s easy for anyone to understand. A very popular course overall; I am fortunate to have been able to take it during my first term here!
I took this course with Professor Ha Yan Lee and it was absolutely amazing! I had my initial reservations about this course, mainly because I knew a lot of my classmates would have had some background knowledge while I had none. Professor Lee did a wonderful job of breaking down concepts in a manner that, as she often put it, is easy for even “your grandparents to understand”. Even beyond the course, the level of care Professor Lee exhibited towards her students is significant. She’s one of the most popular professors at Dartmouth, and for good reason! I ate lunch with her at The Pine through the Take a Faculty Member to Lunch program, and she gave me tremendous insight and advice! Because of this course, I have been inspired to explore more courses within the Econ department and potentially major in Economics.
I took this course with Professor Jasmina Savic and examined how the vampire figure evolved over time, starting with Slavic literature, going through Dracula and Twilight, and ending with “vampire” political figures. I realized what the portrayal of vampires could tell me about the thoughts of that society, including the fact that the early notions of vampirism are akin to modern-day diseases. For my final project, I wrote a research paper comparing the gumiho (the Korean nine-tailed fox) to several Western vampires.
SummerNew York City, New York
I had the opportunity to visit New York City for the summer! I met up with a good friend of mine, explored the city itself, and went to a networking event with other college students.
ECON 10 is one of the required courses for the Economics major. Based on my stellar experience with Professor Ha Yan Lee during ECON 1, when I saw that she was teaching ECON 10 this term, I immediately jumped at the chance to take the course with her. Once again, Professor Lee did an amazing job of breaking down concepts in an easy-to-understand manner. (The fact that her slideshows were colorful and featured various pictures of cats helped.)
My main interest in philosophy lies in normative and applied ethics, so when I saw the opportunity to take a class on the former, I didn’t hesitate! The class focused on consequentialism, utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. I enjoyed the ample opportunities for discussion, including discussion posts about the readings, as well as the table-wide conversations. My table, in particular, had lots to say, and there was one reading in particular where we ended up diving into discussion, not once, but twice! In fact, we had so much to say that all of us coincidentally chose to write our essay on this reading — and none of us knew until after we started talking about our papers!
While not explicitly required for the Philosophy major, you can choose to take this (and many other Philosophy courses!) as one of your four electives. Prior to taking this class, feminist philosophy was completely new to me. I had traditionally been exposed to “traditional” European philosophers, and taking the class helped me realize that my lack of exposure to other philosophers outside of this demographic was a product of epistemic injustice. The class consisted of weekly readings and discussion posts, some reflections, guest lectures from the authors of several readings, and a final project of pretty much any format about any topic of our choice! I walked away from the class with a much more nuanced understanding of agency, commodification, and labor; the harms that are a result of the very nature of women tailoring themselves under male desire seemed much more insidious.
Lots of Economics majors choose to take this class during their sophomore summer, myself included! This fast-paced class was both particularly rigorous and quite fulfilling. I walked away from every lecture feeling like I learned a lot, and by the end of the term, I realized I had gained a solid foundation in statistical knowledge, research, and best practices — all of which will be useful in my higher-level Economics courses. I particularly enjoyed working on the hands-on data exercises, where we got to handle real data through Stata!
As a Philosophy major, PHIL 11 is one of several classes I had the option of taking to satisfy one of my major requirements. I wanted to take some time to really focus on some of the most “classic” philosophers one might think of when someone mentions philosophy. The bulk of our focus was on Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Categories. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:50, I walked into the classroom, ready for lectures and in-class discussions alongside around 20 other students. Assignments consisted of small discussions and deliverables with a team of 3 to 4 classmates, as well as drafts, peer reviews, and final versions of two papers. In each of our papers, we had the opportunity to connect our personal interests to the works of either Plato or Aristotle. I knew I was enjoying this class when, talking to my friends about the topic I chose, they pointed out my palpable excitement.
WinterConcord, NH
As a Rockefeller Center Judicial Fellow, I spent my off term working under Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald. My experience working in his chambers was incredibly meaningful, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
I have wanted to take this class ever since my first year, and it did not disappoint! Don’t let the name of the class scare you - it’s not computer science-heavy. PHIL 26 was a philosophy class exploring the philosophical and ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) — and what better place is to do so than Dartmouth, the birthplace of AI? This class was co-taught by two professors, which made for one of the most engaging classroom experiences I’ve had so far. Each class was a lively discussion between us and the professors, especially since we were all interested in AI and its growing role in our daily lives. Some of the most fascinating topics we explored in that class included whether we can and should trust AI, personal relationships with AI (e.g., friendship, love, therapy), and fairness.
This week, I selected my classes for spring term! It may seem pretty early to select classes, given that winter term hasn't even ended yet. However, you generally select your classes near the end of the term prior, with the exception of the fall of your first year.
My course election process always starts with my extensive spreadsheet of classes I want to take in a given term. I keep a running list of classes I would like to take in my majors, interesting classes that meet any distributive requirements I might need, random classes I want to take purely for fun, and backups for each of those categories in case I don't get my first choice classes. I utilize the major worksheets offered by the Economics and Philosophy departments to keep track of my requirements, as well as any classes I might want to take that would fulfill those. Most departments have a draft schedule of classes for the next academic year. Such schedules are subject to change, but they help me map out my classes several terms in advance. While I tend to think about the classes I'd like to take far in advance, others choose to decide on a term-by-term basis.
About a week before the course election process begins, you get access to a confirmed course timetable (schedule) for the upcoming term. You can see all the classes that are offered in a given term, their timeslots, their professors, relevant distributives, and even the maximum number of students that can be in those classes. You can also choose to filter what you see in the timetable by department, which distributives they meet, and even when the classes take place (e.g. mornings, afternoons, evenings). Utilizing both my spreadsheet and the most up-to-date timetable, I picked three classes during course election week. Luckily, this is not first-come first-serve, so you have ample time to deliberate what you might want to take in the spring.
You can do much more than filtering your classes by department! For example, if you know you're a morning person, you might check the boxes that correspond to early morning classes (e.g. 9L, 10, 10A).
Once I selected my courses, I waited. The week after course election ends, an algorithm decides which of the three classes you get into based on a variety of factors, such as your class year, whether you are majoring or minoring in the department, and whether you've completed the necessary prerequisites. For example, the system would give more priority to a senior Econ major to get into an upper-level Econ course than a sophomore. After a week of waiting, you finally get your classes the day before course change period.
If you change your mind about your classes, didn't get all the classes you wanted, or want to switch your timeslot, course change period is for you! This process, unlike course election, is first-come first-served. Now, the timetable is revised to include how many students are currently enrolled in addition to the maximum number of students, making it easy for you to find which classes still have room and which classes are full. Luckily, I got all three of the classes I wanted for the spring, which means I didn't have to go through course selection.
Picking my classes for the spring has made me realize just how quickly this term has gone by. While I am having a wonderful time during my off-term, I cannot wait to reunite with my friends on campus in the spring!
Amid the whirlwind of a ten-week term, the quietest moments — studying in the sun, cooking with a friend, running through Pine Park — turn out to be the ones worth savoring most.
One of my absolute favorite classes I've taken at Dartmouth has been Cinematography I, which completely changed the way I watch films and think about storytelling. Read on to hear more about my experience!
Curious about the requirements needed to complete your plan of study at Dartmouth? Come explore with me what each distributive requirement means at Dartmouth!
As my friends and I navigate complex feelings of nostalgia and excitement, we all have very different senior springs. Find out what I have been working on and what it has taught me!
