Every Tuesday in August 2020, we arranged for a specialized virtual visit for prospective students interested in studying the humanities as a substantive part of their college experience. These events were hosted by the Dartmouth College Office of Admissions in partnership with our faculty in the Humanities. Each session featured different Dartmouth faculty members and current students who will discuss their ongoing work in the Humanities.
The Humanities are a vibrant and vital part of intellectual life at Dartmouth. Join Professor Paul Christesen to explore some basic questions: What are the Humanities? What kinds of questions do the Humanities seek to answer? Why do those questions matter? How do we study the Humanities here at Dartmouth? What do I do with a Humanities degree? As we will see, the Humanities are a powerful means of coming to understand both the social worlds in which we are immersed and our place as individuals in those social worlds. The Humanities also invite us to contemplate fundamental questions about the kind of society in which we wish to live and the kinds of lives we as individuals would like to lead. And they offer us opportunities to express how we see the world and to give voice to our personal commitments. The Humanities in short, are well named since they explore what is means to be human, in the past, present, and future. (No recording available.)
Last year's fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the recent re-conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque remind us that buildings, too, have long and complicated lives. Art History Professor Nicola Camerlenghi's daily work is devoted to the study of those lives. Professor Camerlenghi specializes in the architecture of the Middle Ages, and his research, teaching, and student mentorship focuses on finding ways to deploy technology to study buildings and cities with long and complex histories, especially those instances that are otherwise a challenge to capture and understand. These methods include Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, GIS Mapping, and 3D modeling among other technologies. Join Professor Camerlenghi for a brief tour of exciting projects drawn from the cutting edge where technology meets the humanities and the arts. (Recorded August 11, 2020)
This session examines a range of 20th and 21st century experiments by writers committed to the idea that poetry is not merely something one creates in the privacy of one's own home—or in a classroom—but rather an occasion for public gathering, political awakening, and societal transformation. Professor Joshua Bennett explores a more capacious vision of how we can look after one another, and ultimately craft a world worthy of the most vulnerable among us. (Recorded August 18, 2020)
What opportunities does studying the humanities at Dartmouth create? How do students pursue those opportunities—on and off campus? Where does a degree in the humanities from Dartmouth lead? Professor Melissa Zeiger will lead a panel discussion of current students and young alumni to give prospective students a sense of what studying the humanities at Dartmouth involves, and where it might lead. (Recorded August 25, 2020)