3D Magazine :: April 2022

DARTMOUTH IN ALL ITS DIMENSIONS NO. 13 | APR 2022

Dartmouth College is defined by its people, and 3D is a magazine that tells their stories.

It’s not meant to be comprehensive, but an evolving snapshot as vibrant and prismatic as the school itself. 3D is Dartmouth in all its dimensions.

On the cover: Alisya Reza ’22 Photograph by Don Hamerman

A cozy study area that features a browsing collection of mysteries, thrillers, popular novels, and classics, the Tower Room in Baker-Berry Library offers stunning views of the Green from its velvet armchairs.

APRIL 2022 // ISSUE 13 02 03 06 12 16 20 24 26 32 34 38 42 44 48

First Hand It’s a Fact Humans of Hanover Your First Office Hours Walking the Walk Basecamp to the World Welcome Home Show Me Something Cool Onward & Upward D-Plan Courses of Study Funding Outside the Lines On Course Threads

Dartmouth College is located on traditional, unceded Abenaki homelands.

Admissions Editorial Board Erin Burnett, Editor Topher Bordeau Isabel Bober ’04 Sara D. Morin Student writers Caroline Cook ’21 Gabriel Gilbert ’23 Selin Hos ’25 Shuyi Jin ’23 Chukwuka Odigbo ’25 Estelle Stedman ’23 Sydney Wuu ’24

Lee A. Coffin Vice Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid

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PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

“Dartmouth expanded its longstanding need-blind admissions policy to include all international citizens.”

I have been a dean of admissions since the 1990s, but over the past few months at Dartmouth I have been thrilled to coordinate the enactment of some of the most significant admissions and financial aid policies of my career. That’s a big statement, and it’s true.

In January, Dartmouth College expanded its longstanding need-blind admissions policy to include all international citizens.

That’s great news for any international applicant for whom affordability is an essential factor. Our adoption of universal need-blind admissions means financial need will never limit access to a Dartmouth education. Dartmouth now becomes the sixth college or university in the United States with universal need-blind admissions and a commitment to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need. It is a dramatic commitment to access and equity for all students, regardless of citizenship.

Our new policy was made possible by a $40 million anonymous gift to expand global access. The historic donation—the single largest scholarship gift in Dartmouth’s 253-year history— capped a $90 million, multi-year fundraising goal to offer needblind admissions to all non-U.S. citizens, beginning immediately with the Class of 2026. The fact is, we are living in the most international moment in human history. It was important to us at Dartmouth that international citizens be recognized as full and equal members of our applicant pool and, ultimately, our student body.

In addition to this change in our admissions policy, we unveiled two financial aid policies that improve access to a Dartmouth education for all students. The first is the removal of a parent contribution for students from families with $65,000 USD or less in total income and who possess typical assets. The second: the guarantee of a full tuition scholarship without loans for all students from families with total income of $125,000 USD or less and who possess typical assets. Both initiatives apply to all accepted candidates regardless of citizenship. As always, all aid at Dartmouth is based on need.

Finally, as the pandemic continues to have an impact on learning environments around the word, we have extended our test-optional policy for a third admissions cycle. For all candidates to the Class of 2027, the submission of an SAT or ACT score is a personal choice. To test or not to test: each application will be fully and equally considered with or without that element.

As I’ve said many times, “optional” is not a trick word. Optional means it is your choice.

Students who are applying to and enrolling at Dartmouth today will have lives and careers that stretch to the 2070s and beyond. Our ongoing goal is to create a diverse, inclusive, and globally minded community here in Hanover, one that prepares students for that adventure with a peer group of students drawn from all backgrounds. These new policies make that goal a reality.

It has been a career highlight as well as a personal honor to help frame these new initiatives at Dartmouth.

It’s a fact.

IN AND OUT OF CLASS

20

CLASS OF 2025 PROFILE

6.2

44

%

Most Classes Are Fewer Than 20 Students

24

%

%

Admit Rate

Domestic Students of Color

13

%

Students Belonging to Low-Income Households

International Citizens

7:1

Student-ToFaculty Ratio

8% / Midwest

20% / Mid-Atlantic

17% / New England

24% / West

16% / South

15% / Outside the US

80

%

of Students Participate in Internships

60

%

of Students Engage in Research

4,556

15

Type of School Attended

%

First Generation to College

54

%

34%

Number of Undergraduate Students

12%

INDEPENDENT

PUBLIC

RELIGIOUS

FINANCIAL AID AT DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth is the sixth college or university in the United States that practices universal need-blind admissions and has a commitment to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need.

100

% 62,900

Demonstrated Financial Need Met

55

%

$

Average Need-Based Grant in the Class of 2025

0

$

Zero Expected Parent Contribution for Families with $65k USD or Less in Total Income and Who Possess Typical Assets

Financial Aid Recipients in the Class of 2025

125K

$

Full Tuition Guarantee for Students from Families with $125k USD or Less in Total Income and Who Possess Typical Assets

admissions.dartmouth.edu | 3

TULIO HUGGINS ’23 HOMETOWN: MECHANICSBURG, PA MAJORS: ENGLISH AND HISTORY WITH A CONCENTRATION IN CREATIVE WRITING

“College has made me ask the question, ’Why do I believe what I believe?’” reflects Tulio Huggins ’23. A thought leader in religious spaces on campus like Christian Union and the ecumenical journal Dartmouth Apologia, Tulio’s understanding of his lifelong faith has only deepened since he first set foot in Hanover. “Having regular conversations with people who are deeply curious about their own faith has allowed me to wrestle with those tough questions about mine,” he says.

Tulio thought he’d be a government major until a course called “Everything Has a History” changed his mind. “That class really cemented the idea that the past affects our everyday lives and our future,” he remembers, crediting the course with setting him on his path towards a history major. After adding a second major in English with a concentration in creative writing, Tulio further realized how his religious upbringing and academic interests inform one another. “I really love learning about the influence of different time periods. For instance: what was the context of this Bible verse? What was the response from the medieval church during this time period? My majors have influenced me to look at my beliefs through different lenses, and I think that’s helped me deepen my faith.”

Tulio’s academic pursuits transcend the classroom. In his firstyear summer, he conducted research with Professor of History Robert Bonner on the post-Civil War political climate in Georgia.

The next year, he earned funding from the Department of English that enabled his research with Professor of English and Creative Writing Ivy Schweitzer on the history and legacy of Reverend Samson Occom, who played an instrumental role in raising funds for the founding of Dartmouth College. Both experiences were transformative. “My research has helped me to further understand what I’ve learned in my classes: that history does repeat itself.”

In his junior fall, Tulio leaped at the opportunity to study in London with fellow Dartmouth classmates and professors on the Department of English and Creative Writing's Foreign Study Program (FSP). While there, he had the chance to interview the Bishop of Derry for a piece for Dartmouth Apologia. “The Dartmouth name opens doors,” Tulio says. “Because Derry was the site of ethno-religious conflict, I wanted to understand the Bishop’s perspective on ecumenism and intra-Christian relations.”

Tulio’s time away from campus proved to him that the Dartmouth community stretches across oceans. “The reason I picked Dartmouth is because I saw a community, and I felt I could make it my home,” Tulio reflects. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had conversations that have gone well into the morning with people from different spaces in my life—like my Greek house or my Christian community. Dartmouth students really help one another learn and grow, and that’s made me a better person.”

—Chukwuka Odigbo ’25

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Acts of

PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

Faith

Pictured: Outside the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center

Heya Shah ’26, Mumbai, India Ryan Alves Rocha ’26, Três Corações, Brazil “My interest in the intersectionality of gender, class, and “At PINE Restaurant, Professor Michele Tine and I will religion in the developing world brings me to Dartmouth. engage in an exciting conversation about her research I want to understand how public policy shapes the lives on the impacts of poverty on schooling. Then, I’ll head of women. The modified majors at Dartmouth will let to the Dickey Center, where I’ll explore the intersection me explore women's, gender, and sexuality studies and of schooling and public policies through my Human government simultaneously, while the D-Plan’s flexibility Development Fellowship. I’ll end the day walking to will help me combine academics with public policy expe- McLaughlin, excited to eat brigadeiros with the Brazilian rience through the Rockefeller Internship and First-Year Society and certain that Dartmouth is the close-knit Fellows Programs. I look forward to relaxing on the Green, intellectually-driven community I’ve always longed for studying in the stacks, and being part of Dartmouth’s as a first-generation college student.” collaborative and close-knit community next year.”

Mahina Damon ’26, Honolulu, HI “Dartmouth’s intimate scale enables the kind of inclusive, supportive community that I hope to join. My primary goal is to learn from one of the top Indigenous Studies programs our country has to offer. I also hope to enroll in classes taught by Professor N. Bruce Duthu in Native American law and policy and to join the Native American Program to broaden my Native community. I would also love to join the Dartmouth Outing Club, attempt to conquer backcountry skiing, and engage with professors over lunch at PINE.”

Chadani Timsina ’26, Syracuse, NY Brennan Welsh ’26, Lake Charles, LA Joanna Jou ’26, El Paso, TX “After classes with Professor Randall Balmer, my favorite “Dartmouth’s mission to provide an unparalleled educa- “Dartmouth feels like home. Coming from a small school, I tion to students regardless of their financial limitations author, and immersing myself in LGBTQ+ courses like value Dartmouth’s tight-knit community. I’ll be surrounded and backgrounds appeals to me. Everyone deserves ’Evangelicalism’ and ’Getting It: Sex and Religion,’ I will and engaged in endless conversations that continuously access to a rigorous education no matter their identity be equipped to study the complex relationship between celebrate multi-dimensional intellectual curiosity. I’m or income. As an activist who fights for racial equal- excited to invite Professor Witters to lunch at PINE, where modern Christianity and the LGBTQ+ community. With ity but also understands the importance of self-care, Dartmouth’s D-Plan, I can travel the world to research I’ll ask him to be my mentor as we connect over what Dartmouth’s emphasis on student physical, social, and how these communities interact. Whether I’m trying to shapes human biology. I’ll find myself exploring health ski or ordering level-ten spiciness at Base Camp Cafe, mental well-being delights me. Dartmouth’s willingness inequalities while interning at DPCS Community Health to take action makes me want to join the picturesque no day of research will be complete without the New and guiding future Dartmouth Bound participants through community and collectively fight for equity and justice.”

Hampshire air pushing me out of my comfort zone.” creating their own Dartmouth.”

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PHOTOGRAPH BY NAME

HUMANS OF HANOVER

Matt Catrambone ’26, Chester, NJ Felipe Pavanelli ’26, Campo Grande, Brazil Chelsea Mills ’26, North Potomac, MD “As I cross the Green to get to Professor Whaley’s language “I imagine myself engrossed in a discussion about “Whether I’m working in the Empower Lab or riding up the Dartmouth Skiway quad with friends, the spirit is contaHellenistic and Roman philosophy with Professor revitalization class, I reflect on how to apply his resources to gious. At Dartmouth, I’ve redefined my childhood dream Margaret Graver as we dine in ’53 Commons. I'm also my research on endangered indigenous languages in Brazil. of becoming Jack Bauer’s human-computer. Instead, eager to paddle along the Connecticut River with my My D-Plan’s versatility enlightens me as I merge my passions I’m tackling a more personal mission: using analytical friends on a People of Color Outdoors trip. My night will in MUS 17.06: The Language-Music Connection. After skills learned in my engineering major to support social conclude in the Shabazz Center with peers who share lunch, I discuss study abroad possibilities with my Brazilian good. Employing sifting techniques I learned in 'Data mates. Dartmouth’s environment makes the college experi- an interest in African heritage. Each day will illustrate ence even more paradoxical: unknown, yet familiar; diverse, the belief reiterated during Dartmouth Bound: my social-​ Wrangling,' I build models to make civic engagement yet close-knit. It is the place I can both mature and become cultural background and academic interests will be cele- accessible. I’m part of Thayer’s ’do-er’ culture, pursuing the researcher I aspire to be.” brated by the Dartmouth community.” tough questions to strengthen the Hanover community.”

DARTMOUTH IS DEFINED BY ITS PEOPLE, SO WE’RE EXCITED TO CELEBRATE THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY. IN EXCERPTS FROM THEIR “WHY DARTMOUTH” ESSAYS, STUDENTS FROM THE CLASS OF 2026 SHARE WHAT DREW THEM TO THE COLLEGE.

Dickson Alexander ’26, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Ellie Rodgers ’26, Nashville, TN Catherine Jewitt ’26, Emerald Hills, CA “As an aspiring neuroscientist who is passionate about “Dartmouth’s commitment to undergraduate studies “Dartmouth is the opportunity to bask in the beauty through its liberal arts curriculum is unparalleled. I hope linguistics, music, and art history, I know that Dartmouth of advanced math; to discover seemingly insignificant to explore areas of study other than my major and utilize will enrich each aspect of my life. Some days you’ll find details in a complex tangle of history and share them the D-Plan to pursue internships and research fellow- with fellow Outing Club-goers on the Appalachian Trail. me in LING 35 studying the structure of language or in ships at any time of year. Additionally, Dartmouth’s small the Hood curating its permanent collection in Museum It’s the opportunity to laugh, cry, and freeze my butt off Collecting 101. Outside the classroom, I’ll be conduct- student body and its 7:1 student-faculty ratio will create for the sake of learning alongside (temporary) strangers a comfortable learning environment that will enable me ing research sponsored by the Women in Science Project with a shared passion for exploring life to its limits. Most to build strong relationships with my professors and fel- importantly, Dartmouth is the opportunity to smell the in Brad Duchaine’s Social Perception Center, practicing a low students. Lastly, I hope to take full advantage of the Chopin nocturne during my piano lesson at the Hop, or pines, stoke that Dartmouth Night bonfire, and grin at university’s rural location through the Outing Club.” embracing Hanover’s beauty on the ski slopes.” how far its flames will carry me.”

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Pictured: Inside the clock tower of Baker Library

All Things Be

DHWANI KHAREL ’22 HOMETOWN: BROOKINGS, SD MAJOR: GOVERNMENT; MINOR: PUBLIC POLICY

PHOTOGRAPH BY NAME

ing Equal

When gender equality advocate Dhwani Kharel ’22 learned she’d been named a recipient of the Truman Scholarship—the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for students pursuing careers as public service leaders—she was speechless, but strategic.

“I care deeply about improving the lives of women,” says Dhwani, who will use her scholarship to cover the full cost of attending law school. “Every domain of public life, from healthcare to education, is touched by the inequalities that women face.”

Dhwani’s academic pursuits in government and public policy are inextricably tied to her passion for women’s rights. “Economic justice is a huge part of any women’s rights agenda. If women don’t have access to economic opportunities, it really limits what they can do in any other area,” she says. Dhwani teamed up with Associate Professor of Government Deborah Brooks to help expand the International Menstrual Health Entrepreneurship Roundup (IMHER), a website that aggregates information on global menstrual health education for low-income girls and women around the world. Dhwani also has been an active member of Dartmouth’s Sexual Assault Peer Alliance since her first year, serving as an empowerment-based resource for peers affected by sexual or gender-based violence.

Dhwani’s government major has led her to explore other avenues for advocacy. Through Dartmouth’s Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, she was paired with an alumni mentor for an internship at the Congressional Research Service in Washington, D.C. to study congressional behavior. Amid all she learned, it was the living-learning experience of her internship that Dhwani appreciated the most. “While living in D.C. for ten weeks with 20 other Dartmouth first-year students, I made so many new friends. I think that goes to show just how much Dartmouth’s programs support students not only in the classroom, but in other realms of their life.”

Now a senior, Dhwani is hard at work on her thesis about the political theory of care ethics and its impact on healthcare, education, and other aspects of public life. “When we think about care, we often think about childcare, but it’s a lot broader than that. I’m interested in studying a theory that emphasizes dependent relationships between people and thinking about how governments should apply it to create better social infrastructure.”

Dhwani credits her first-year Living-Learning Community (LLC)—a residential community that emphasizes interdisciplinary growth—with setting her on the path to success. “I grew up in South Dakota, which is not a diverse area at all, but my Thriving Through Transitions LLC was one of the most diverse spaces I entered at Dartmouth. All of my closest friends are people that I met there. They reassured me that I’d find my place here, and my time at Dartmouth wouldn’t be the same without them.”

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JOSE HERNANDEZ BARBOSA ’23 HOMETOWN: OAK LAWN, IL MAJOR: COMPUTER SCIENCE

& XIA ZHOU ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

JOSE HERNANDEZ BARBOSA ’23 WAS SEARCHING FOR RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES THAT WOULD COMBINE HIS INTERESTS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND BIOLOGY WHEN HE MET ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE XIA ZHOU. TOGETHER, THE PAIR HAVE BEEN WORKING IN PROFESSOR ZHOU’S LAB TO DEVELOP A MEDICAL DEVICE THAT MEASURES GLUCOSE LEVELS WITH LIGHT SENSORS. JOSE AND PROFESSOR ZHOU SAT DOWN WITH US TO REFLECT ON THEIR PARTNERSHIP AND THE PROGRESS THEY’VE MADE SO FAR.

Tell us more about the medical device you’re developing and why you’re miniaturizing it.

Fast forward a few years. Where do you hope to see yourselves and this project in the future?

Professor Zhou: The goal of our project is to design a noninvasive method for measuring the glucose levels of diabetic patients using laser light. Right now, the mainstream method of measuring glucose levels is invasive and painful.

When you shine light on the skin and measure the reflection of the light—as well as the changes in the properties of the reflected light—you can use it to infer the glucose level under the skin. We built a prototype with a glucose sensor last year that we are now in the process of miniaturizing. Jose has been helping scale down the system into a smaller and more wearable device.

Professor Zhou: The ultimate goal is to design a closed-loop system for diabetic patients that can sense your diet continuously, measure glucose levels noninvasively, and automatically adjust insulin deliveries to the body.

Hopefully, we can wrap up the prototype and conduct a pilot study with actual diabetic patients to understand the reliability of the sensing results. It might be difficult to completely replace existing devices, but we’re realizing the benefits of a low-cost, portable alternative.

Jose: Yes, and I’ve been working on the interaction between patients and the sensor itself using a mobile Android app. I’ve been introduced to microprocessors and embedded systems; right now, I’m working on how our microprocessor interacts with our Android app. It’s been really fun sharing code and fixing up the app itself. I’m getting real life experience working with Professor Zhou in ways that I never thought I could.

What are the respective paths you’ve each taken to get to this project?

Jose: I originally thought I would be a biomedical engineering major, but my first computer science course was life changing for me—I had never taken a course where I was excited to go back home and do homework. I really love coding and the fact that computer science can be used to solve problems. I started thinking about research when I applied for the E.E. Just Undergraduate Fellowship Program, which supports students from underrepresented backgrounds with funding for research projects. One of my computer science professors pointed me to Professor Zhou’s lab. I thought her research was a great intersection of my two interests, so I reached out to her via email.

Professor Zhou: My research area is in mobile computing in general, and my recent focus has been on the use of light to enable data communication and sensing. Sensing is a broad topic—it includes human sensing, like measuring the glucose levels of diabetic patients, and physical sensing, like measuring eye movements. The goal is to take advantage of the ubiquity of light around us to add additional functionality to the environment.

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Jose: This research project has allowed me to see a bunch of new ways to connect computer science to the real world. This past summer, I had a software engineering internship at Google. After graduation, I’ll probably go into software engineering at a startup or at a big company to further figure out what I want to learn before potentially applying to graduate school.

What’s special about doing research at Dartmouth in particular?

Professor Zhou: Dartmouth students are quick, independent learners. You can give them high-level guidance and they will be able to find solutions. I am really glad to see the number of options available on campus to support undergraduate research. The E.E. Just Fellowship is one avenue, but there are multiple funding sources available through Undergraduate Research and Advising.

Jose: I think any student can do research at Dartmouth. I’m also amazed by the amount of money and funding that Dartmouth gives students to do research. I get $1,600 in funding each term to do research part-time with my professor as an E.E. Just Fellow. I heard about the program from my mentor in the First-Year Student Enrichment Program (FYSEP), another key program that supports first-generation low-income students at Dartmouth. The whole point of the E.E. Just Program is to build a community of students from historically underrepresented backgrounds within their areas of study. It really helps students step into the world of research and potential future professions.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

Pictured: Outside House Center A, a student-centered social and study space

Dartmouth professors are prominent leaders in their fields and dedicated teachers in their classrooms, but some of their most valuable work happens when they sit down with students one-onone. A great opportunity for those mentorship moments is during office hours, regularly scheduled times when professors make themselves available for review, extra instruction, or any other topic that’s on their students’ minds. Visits intended to answer a quick question often evolve into in-depth conversations that profoundly impact a student’s college experience.

When we asked members of our faculty if they had any advice for prospective students, their responses sounded a lot like the lessons Dartmouth students have reported learning during office hours. Consider this your first visit.

Your First

“DON’T WORRY IF YOU DON’T HAVE A GOOD ANSWER to that absurd question, ’What’s your passion?’

We’re not expecting you to know what your ’one true calling’ is yet! Your time here at Dartmouth will give you lots of fantastic opportunities to explore diverse interests and follow various curiosities, which will let you learn not just about the world but about yourself.”

Eugene Korsunskiy / Associate Professor of Engineering

“STAY CURIOUS, PRACTICE KINDNESS, AND ASK FOR HELP. Take seriously any invitations for self-reflection— inside and outside the classroom—and know that you have time, that you are not supposed to have it all figured out. Breathe.”

Office Hours Sienna Craig / Professor of Anthropology and South House Professor

ILLUSTRATION BY FERNANDO COBELO

“THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE WILL CHANGE YOU and your interests will change, too—choose a school that allows for that change and for exploration, rather than a place where you are locked into a major or school or area of study from the start. Look for opportunities outside the classroom that will help you become part of a community where you can thrive. Choose a college where you can feed your sense of curiosity and find the most moments of delight.”

Lorie Loeb / Research Professor of Computer Science and Faculty Director, DALI Lab

“AS AN INCOMING DARTMOUTH STUDENT, you will receive a lot of advice about choosing a major. Here’s mine: don’t major in the field that you think you should study or that someone else wants you to study. Instead, major in what you love to study. The enduring value of a Dartmouth liberal arts education lies not in the acquisition of a store of knowledge but in the discovery of different ways of thinking and learning. Will you define academic and career success according to what others tell you or according to what you find exciting and rewarding?”

“A FRIEND ONCE ASKED ME WHY I WAS SO WISE, and I replied, ’I’ve made a lot of mistakes.’

I said it so quickly, I didn’t know I felt that way until that moment. It’s a fair example of the power of spontaneous intelligence, the way what you know reorganizes around answering a question. When you don’t speak up in class, you keep yourself from learning what you already know, so ask questions and answer them—this is why we are in that classroom, to do this together.”

Alexander Chee / Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing

Edward Miller / Associate Professor of History

admissions.dartmouth.edu | 13

“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE YOU GO TO SCHOOL; it only matters who you are. Because, although you’ve heard it many times before, it really is true. Wherever you go, there you are. So be there, with everything you have. Be heartful. Be vital. Be a good friend to others and to yourself.

Then, you will love wherever you are. And it will love you.”

Russell Muirhead / Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics; Co-Director, Political Economy Project

Go to a place where you and other mentors who to explore and grow. Learn

battling within us. One is all that’s negative in the world while the other represents joy, happiness, love—all that’s positive and lifeaffirming. Which wolf wins the battle? The one you feed. Nourish the positive wolf.”

Trica Keaton / Associate Professor of African and African American Studies; Affiliated Faculty, Departments of Sociology and Film & Media Studies; Faculty Associate, Corsortium of Studies in Race, Migration, and Sexuality

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“GET SOME SLEEP. The remarkable array of academic opportunities and co-curricular activities at Dartmouth can be a little overwhelming—so many great things to do and not enough time to do them. But sleeping less so that you can do more is almost never a good idea. So, make sure that you consistently sleep at least 50 hours a week. It will make every part of your life better.”

Paul Christesen / William R. Kenan Professor of Ancient Greek History

“ACADEMIC TERMS AT DARTMOUTH ARE SHORTER than you are used to, and they are faster paced.

Although you participated in four or five extracurricular activities in high school, don’t do that when you get here. Pick one extracurricular, do it well, and only once you get the hang of Dartmouth should you think about adding in more.”

Thomas Cormen / Emeritus Professor of Computer Science

ILLUSTRATION BY FERNANDO COBELO

“ALWAYS REMEMBER THE TALE OF TWO WOLVES,

“DOES DARTMOUTH FIT THE NARRATIVE that you’ve developed for college? Can you see yourself taking certain Dartmouth classes; studying in specific places (on campus or abroad); having conversations with the Dartmouth students you’ve met; participating in a club or program you’ve read about; walking to class on a brilliant fall afternoon (or a very cold winter morning)? To be clear, your experience will never conform exactly to what you predict (which is a good thing), but this is a great exercise for determining if you’ve found your people and your place.”

Charles Wheelan / Senior Lecturer and Policy Fellow, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy

“MAKE ROOM FOR FAILURE. Think of how much you learn from playing games, for example—how you’ll go back time after time to accomplish something after failing over and over. Try to see life that way, and let yourself fail sometimes. Success is all in the follow-through. Try something weird. Sometimes solutions come from left field. Think wildly and keep your sense of wonder as you solve old problems with new approaches. Make gratitude a habit. Gratitude is good for you, for others, and for the planet. When we feel gratitude, we experience life totally in the present. There’s no room for worry, doubt, and distraction.”

“MY BEST ADVICE AS YOU HEAD TO COLLEGE and into life is to resist the temptation to play it safe. Take chances and be adventurous—in your social interactions, in your selection of courses and major, in your choice of a career. Contrary to everything you’ve heard, your GPA does not define you, and my fondest hope for your time at Dartmouth is that you discover the delights of the life of the mind.”

Randall Balmer / John Phillips Professor in Religion

Mary Flanagan / Professor and Chair of Film and Media Studies and Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Digital Humanities

can thrive. Find professors challenge you and help you from your (brilliant) peers.

—Brendan Nyhan / James O. Freedman Presidential Professor in the Department of Government

“MAKE TIME FOR BOTH ACADEMICS AND FRIENDSHIPS. There can be temptations to go off balance in both directions. Rather than seeking out friends, seek out activities you enjoy; there, you’re likely to find meaningful connections. Value your friendships and spend time nurturing those that support you.”

Janice McCabe / Associate Professor of Sociology; Affiliated Faculty, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Allen House Professor

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PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

Walking the Walk

B R A NDON ZHOU ’22

THERE ARE FEW SPACES AT DARTMOUTH ON WHICH BRANDON ZHOU ’22 HASN’T MADE HIS MARK. WHEN NOT CONDUCTING RESEARCH FOR HIS SENIOR THESIS ON LANGUAGE LEARNING IN IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES, HE’S LIKELY TO BE FOUND GUIDING TOURS OF CAMPUS, CHAIRING DARTMOUTH’S GREEK LEADERSHIP COUNCIL, OR PLAYING PERCUSSION IN THE COLLEGE WIND ENSEMBLE. NOW A SENIOR FELLOW IN THE OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS, BRANDON LOOKS BACK AT HOW HE FOUND COMMUNITY AT DARTMOUTH—AND SHARES THAT IT WAS REALLY THE COMMUNITY THAT FOUND HIM.

One of the first steps to making a college your home is finding community.

At an ever-evolving place like Dartmouth, community can be comforting but also complicated—and while my community has certainly changed during my time at Dartmouth, the feelings of belonging and home have never wavered.

I first arrived at Dartmouth with a lot of uncertainty around who and what my community would be. My search began when I stepped onto campus for both international pre-orientation and First-Year Trips, a program that brings incoming students and upper-level student leaders together for outdoor adventures like hiking, cabin camping, organic farming, and nature photography. While gearing up for my own flatwater kayaking adventure, surrounded by fellow Trippees with different backgrounds and varying levels of experience in the outdoors, I felt our class unity begin to click.

Watching so many upper-level students dedicate their time and energy to welcoming new students made me want to do the same. In later years, I helped coordinate behind-the-scenes logistics for First-Year Trips and dressed up in wacky costumes to welcome new students. The unique opportunity to meet nearly every single incoming first-year changed my view on what community means. I learned that the individual connections you make are just as important as the bonds you create with your future friend group—and that even the briefest conversations can have a profound impact on someone’s sense of belonging.

As someone who didn’t think much about joining Greek life as a prospective student, I’ve been so grateful for the community that I’ve found through my fraternity. Despite being separated by states—and sometimes even countries—during the pandemic, this resilient community showed me how to truly care for one another, whether Zooming until five in the morning or exchanging gifts during our virtual Secret Santa.

The Dartmouth Center for Social Impact (DCSI) has added another layer to my Dartmouth story. One of the most amazing opportunities I’ve had through DCSI is serving as a mentor to first-generation, low-income high school students from the Upper Valley in their college application process. Whether working in local schools, attending a global citizenship conference in Durham, England, or completing an internship in Washington, D.C., I’ve felt myself grow from being around others, regardless of their age, identities, or background.

It’s normal to be uncertain about how and where to find community in college. There isn’t a linear roadmap to finding your people and passions at Dartmouth. Community shifts, changes, and evolves, but this I know for certain: Dartmouth creates communities that last lifetimes even in places you least expect them—communities that will welcome you just as they’ve welcomed me.

Indicates location on the Dartmouth Green where Brandon is standing. admissions.dartmouth.edu | 17

ALISYA REZA ’22 HOMETOWN: JAKARTA, INDONESIA MAJORS: COGNITIVE SCIENCE AND THEATER MODIFIED WITH ENGLISH

“I’ve always been intrigued by how the mind works,” reflects Alisya Reza ’22. “I figured out pretty early on that I’m interested in studying human relationships—specifically, sex and infidelity in romantic relationships.” A double major in cognitive science and theater modified with English, Alisya chose her path of study for its inherently interdisciplinary nature. “Cognitive science takes into account philosophy, linguistics, computer science, and psychology, all of which factor into how the mind works.” Now in her final year at Dartmouth, Alisya says her studies in cognitive science helped inspire the capstone project for her theater major. “My senior thesis is a one-woman play about female sexuality in a world that so often seeks to suppress, take ownership of, or control women and their bodies,” she says.

Alisya added another field to her impressive academic repertoire after taking "Introduction to Creative Nonfiction" on a whim.

“In that class, I thought, ’I think I’ve found my genre.’ I had always wanted to explore something creatively, and it was rewarding to find the right outlet.” She attributes a large part of her interest in the subject to Professor of English Jeff Sharlet, with whom she took "Intermediate Creative Nonfiction." “Something that I really appreciate about professors at Dartmouth is that they will spend their energy and time talking with you regardless of whether you’re a major in their subject,” Alisya says. “There’s something special about being surrounded by professors who are really accomplished in their fields and are also here to help undergraduates.”

Alisya hasn’t just made waves in the classroom. As a longtime volunteer for the First-Year Trips program, she plays an integral role in welcoming new students to campus. An international student who was initially intimidated by the nature-oriented program, Alisya strives to make the experience welcoming for all. “First-Year Trips are less about the outdoors and more about bonding with your new classmates,” she says, noting that Trips are inclusive in more ways than one. “My trip normalized introducing yourself with your pronouns and strived to set a positive culture. I love that it’s a tradition that’s always fluid and always changing for the better.”

The community at Dartmouth—especially that forged by the International Student Association (ISA) during international student pre-orientation—is what makes Alisya certain she’d choose Dartmouth all over again. “I think the kind of person who goes to Dartmouth is somebody who cares about getting to know people,” she says. “While being an international student is a really important part of who I am, I also feel I’m able to belong here independently of that. My Dartmouth experience would be incomplete without all the people I’ve shared it with.”

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Forging B

Pictured: Outside The Collis Center for Student Involvement

PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

onds

Passionate, committed, and selfless only begin to describe Tinotenda “Tino” Kuretu ’22, a student leader and social justice advocate who strives to work at the intersection of economic development and global health. From a young age, Tino began to wonder why some people die from easily treatable diseases like cholera and malaria while others thrive. “I was always intrigued by that question and how I could answer it,” Tino says. “Studying economic development has helped me understand how I can find solutions—and also how the global health field can help me reimagine how healthcare works in my home country of Zimbabwe.”

Tino was attracted to Dartmouth because of the abundance of research opportunities for undergraduates and began his own research on molecular biology and drug discovery in the summer following his first year. As a sophomore, he began researching policy interventions for low-value care in the U.S. thanks to an E.E. Just Undergraduate Research Fellowship. The two-year award is designed to increase the number of underrepresented students

at Dartmouth who choose to enter a STEM doctoral program after graduation.

Given his interests, it’s perhaps not surprising that Tino is also a budding social entrepreneur. He notes that one of his all-time favorite classes, “The Economics of Governments and Public Policy,” taught him about the many ways that education and healthcare can be accessed, which sparked his interest in social entrepreneurship. His first entrepreneurial venture was a result of a visit to nearby Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where he experienced firsthand the challenges of navigating healthcare settings in a country where most healthcare professionals do not share his first language.

With the help of a $23,000 award from the Verizon and Clinton Global Initiative 2021 Social Innovation Challenge, Tino launched Macaw, an app that connects healthcare workers and patients with translators to allow them to communicate between any two languages in real time. “You can think of Macaw as the Uber of translation,” Tino says. “The app aims to fill the vacuum of the

many languages that are underrepresented in translation services.”

Outside the classroom, Tino keeps busy as an executive board member of Dartmouth Coalition for Global Health and as a cofounder of the Sadie Alexander Organization, a student group dedicated to supporting underrepresented students in economics. Following graduation, he will begin work as an analyst at a healthcare consulting firm in Boston—but in the future, he envisions himself returning to his home country to work at the intersection of economic development and global health. His Dartmouth education has forged the path to that return. “I wanted to be at a place where my colleagues and professors would push me to change my way of thinking, and I can confidently say that Dartmouth’s academic rigor and freedom have made me change the way I think— not only as an intellectual but as a person.”

—Sydney Wuu ’24

basecamp

world to the

IN AND OUT OF THE CLASSROOM, YOUR DARTMOUTH EXPERIENCE CAN CROSS INTELLECTUAL AND INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTOPHER LARSON / EYEEM

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PHOTOGRAPH OF TINO BY DANIEL XU ’25

MARY COFFEY PROFESSOR OF ART HISTORY AFFILIATED FACULTY, LATIN AMERICAN, LATINO, AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES PROGRAM

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Mural PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

When taking a class with Professor Mary Coffey, expect to visit The Epic of American Civilization, a sprawling twenty-four panel mural and National Historic Landmark painted in the 1930s by Mexican artist José Clemente Orozco.

Dartmouth’s resident expert on the mural, Professor Coffey describes the priceless artwork installed in Baker Library’s Orozco room as “expansive in its sense of time, geography, and history.”

To Coffey, the genius of Orozco’s mural is hinted at in its title.

“He’s reorienting the narrative of American history. His mural shifts the axis entirely from an east/west axis to a south/north one.” Its contrasting panels are rich with “radical moments of possibility,” painting a history of North America rooted in Mesoamerican civilizational achievements and their legacies.

Professor Coffey’s interest in the social, political, and economic roles of art inspired her to study modern Mexican visual art in graduate school. “Growing up in Indiana, I was about as far from Mexico as one can be, psychologically, intellectually, and to some extent geographically.” A visit to a local Latin American art exhibit changed everything. “It was one of those powerful moments where you have this profound sense of your own ignorance, just at a time in your life where you think you’re starting to become smart about something.”

Professor Coffey’s training as a modernist and Latin Americanist is instrumental in her teaching. “I don’t come at the teaching of American art from within the tradition of American art historiography, but rather from a different tradition, Latin American art historiography, which makes me see the art in a different way. Questions about Mexican art historical traditions, race and nation, development, politics—those things have always informed the way I teach.” Professor Coffey also finds enormous value in the perspectives of her students, several of whom are cited by name in her book Orozco’s American Epic: Myth, History, and the Melancholy of Race. “My thinking about the mural was utterly transformed by my students, by the questions they ask, by the way they interact with the mural.”

Orozco’s reorientation of the Western civilization narrative “is an inducement for us to do the same thing. As we move through the mural, we relearn our own history, rethink our assumptions about progress and civilization, and walk away from the mural potentially transformed by that radical re-education.” Professor Coffey’s research culminates in “a teaching that’s all about undoing the story that we’ve been told about what the history of America is, and in that regard, it is very much a continuation of what Orozco’s doing in his mural.”

Orozco’s mural has as much to offer Dartmouth now as it did in 1934. “It’s an object that reminds us that this college has many histories,” she says. “Feeling like you belong at an institution has a lot to do with where or how you see your personal story intersecting with the institution’s history and values.”

—Estelle Stedman ’23

Musings Pictured: In the Orozco Room in Baker Library

PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

WELCOME

HOME

A focal point of Dartmouth’s arts district, the Hopkins Center for the Arts is a hub where students, faculty, and visiting performers celebrate Dartmouth’s excellence in the arts. Dartmouth’s dynamic performing groups offer students the chance to work with world-class professionals in choral music, jazz, gospel, pop, symphonic music, concert band, and contemporary dance. Student tickets are always $10 or less for events on the Hop’s slate of year-round programming, which features visionary artists, music and dance showcases, film screenings, plays, and much more.

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When high-school student Kira Parrish-Penny and her mother ended their day of touring Dartmouth, they had a choice to make: go back to the hotel or stay a little longer where the tour had ended—at Rauner Library, home of Dartmouth’s Special Collections. They chose the latter. Before they knew it, four hours had passed, and they would have been happy to stay longer. Indeed, for the rest of the night, they couldn’t stop talking about what they’d discovered.

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➵

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN SHERMAN

Daniel Webster’s Top Hat While arguing a Dartmouthrelated case before the Supreme Court in 1818, Daniel Webster, Class of 1801, delivered this famous line: "It is, sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet there are those who love it."

“Rauner certainly wasn’t the only reason I was attracted to Dartmouth,” says Kira, who is now Class of 2024, “but that day in the collections was magical.

I’ve come to know that all you have to do is ask a librarian to ’show me something cool,’ and your wish will be granted. During that first visit to the collections, they asked my mom and me what our interests were. They brought out some early sketchbooks of the painter Maxfield Parrish (no relation) for my mom. And for me, Robert Frost’s old notebooks.” (Rauner’s Frost collection comprises 45 linear feet of manuscript material as well as the poet’s well-worn suitcase.) “When Jay saw me trying to translate Frost’s scribblings, he brought over a transcript, and the experience just kept opening up.”

Jay is Jay Satterfield, head of special collections. Visionary, wise, and obsessively dedicated, Satterfield has a mission to bring the collections, no matter how rare and valuable, into the hands of Dartmouth students, their families, and anyone around the world who would be gratified to experience them. Such diverse and extraordinary artifacts as Daniel Webster’s top hat, a rare first edition of The Book of Mormon, and four-thousand-year-old clay tablets from Babylonia draw visitors from all over the globe.

Delivering magic “We encourage idle curiosity,” Satterfield says. “That curiosity leads people to look at cool things that suddenly help them see the world differently.”

Satterfield is adamant that Special Collections is just one jewel in the Dartmouth Library’s crown. A cornerstone of the Dartmouth experience for many students, the library offers exceptional staff support for research, teaching, and creative projects.

“We want students to realize they have agency, that their interests and viewpoints matter,” says Morgan Swan, the Special Collections Librarian for Teaching and Scholarly Engagement. “Certain items will speak to one person but not another. We want students to trust that, to connect according to their own interests and values.” Swan points out that in a typical year, Dartmouth faculty from across the curriculum bring their classes in for sessions led by Special Collections staff. In fact, nearly half the undergraduate population will visit Rauner for a class.

Although one associates Myers Family Professor of Environmental Science Ross Virginia with extreme adventures—an Antarctic Valley is named for him— he says he’s as excited to lead a class at Rauner as he is to lead students across

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the scrubby tundra of western Greenland. One reason is Rauner’s trove of resources, including The Stefansson Collection on Polar Exploration. “Getting to delve deep into how history and geopolitics intersect with science is my idea of fun. Rauner is a playground for me and my students.”

Virginia notes that there’s actually a massive amount of material beyond the Stefansson Papers. “Dartmouth’s polar resources rank among the premier collections in the world. Letters, photographs, logs—all kinds of materials, each item telling a story that the students put together. I want students to understand that they have unfettered access to these materials. I’ve never seen anything like the depth of this collection and the access we have to it. And Jay and Morgan and the entire library staff go to such great lengths to show us rare and wonderful things that we might not know to look for.”

Digging into the history of medicine Anthropology professor Sienna Craig echoes that sentiment, although she and the students in her class "The Values of Medicine" are delving into very different resources. “The class is entirely built around materials in Rauner,” Craig says. “We are digging into the story of this thing we call ’western medicine’ and how the values and cultural frameworks that undergird this system have changed over time.”

Craig notes that the resources she uses in the course are colorful and wide-ranging. “We start by looking at an early anatomy book from 1500 AD, Fasciculus Medicine by Joannes de Ketham, bound in what is probably 15th-century wood. We look at town records of graverobbers from Dartmouth’s medical school archive. In 17th-century letters, we look at what colonists learned from Indigenous communities, including here in Abenaki homelands.

We can weave the story of medicine through all these many facets.” She notes

that the students then pull together exhibitions on topics like gender in medicine and medical inequality. The best of the best are exhibited at Rauner.

Sovi-Mya Doan Wellons ’24 said that Craig's class inspired her to major in anthropology. “We focused on human-centered medicine. We looked at letters written by medical students or from one doctor to another. We learned about the smallpox epidemic and the development of vaccines—so relevant to what’s happening today,” she says.

Excited by the riches in Rauner, Sovi stopped by in advance of her class "Europe in the Age of Wonder" just to get a quick preview of the works they’d be reviewing. When hour three rolled around, however, she was still perusing the maps, illuminated manuscripts, and medical texts from the period. “I couldn’t tear myself away,” she says. “Whenever I can, I tell my friends to head over to Rauner, and invariably, the artifacts and manuscripts blow their minds just as they did mine.”

Look…and do touch “It’s impressive just how hands-on Jay and Morgan are,” observes lecturer Jeremy Sabella, who taps the collections in his teaching of Religion 1.01: What Matters. “They want the students to interact with what are sometimes priceless objects. There’s no ’look-don’t-touch’ philosophy. I remember when I first did a tour of the collections. I was working with two students on an independent study called Religion and Social Struggle. I really wanted the experience to be special. Even though I was a new lecturer, and the project was just for two students, Morgan rolled out the red carpet and invested incredible energy in finding the right materials.”

Sabella will never forget the looks on the two students’ faces when Morgan Swan handed them a medieval book of hours illuminated with gold

➵ Babylonian cuneiform tablets Dating back roughly 4,000 years, these tablets were used as the era’s record system. Sesame oil is at the top of the list on one tablet; another tablet is a receipt for four sheep and two lambs delivered on the 10th of the month.

➵ The Book of Mormon This first edition is one of Rauner’s most requested items.

Joseph Smith, who is said to have translated the original text, was born in nearby South Royalton, Vermont.

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PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BOOK OF MORMON BY ELI BURAKIAN ’00; PHOTOGRAPH OF THE CUNEIFORM TABLET BY ROBERT GILL

➵ The Stefansson Collection on Polar Exploration Founded as the private research collection of the Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the collection contains expedition records, diaries, biographies, bibliographies, photographs, and many other materials related to the history of the Arctic and Antarctic.

➵

➵

ILLUSTRATION BY MARLY GALLARDO

Medieval Book of Hours Created in France circa 1440, this book of hours is written in a fine gothic hand of the mid-fifteenth century. Bound in blue velvet with silver clasps, the text is decorated with gold leaf and ink infused with lapis lazuli.

Vintage Wooden Skis Open to skiers of all abilities, the popular Dartmouth Skiway opened in 1956. The College has sent athletes to every Winter Olympics since the Winter Games began in Chamonix, France in 1924.

PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BOOK OF HOURS BY DON HAMERMAN; PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SKIS AND SUITCASE BY JOHN SHERMAN

➵

Robert Frost’s Suitcase Rauner Library’s Frost collection is one of the largest in the world. It includes many of Frost’s surviving notebooks, correspondences, images, and this suitcase, which features the poet’s initials in gold above the handle.

and lapis lazuli. “Morgan explained that the family that commissioned it had to make a choice between building a castle or commissioning a book,” he adds. “Religion is such an abstract concept. Whether it’s a handwritten letter from Martin Luther or artifacts from when Martin Luther King Jr. visited campus, these materials make religion real, tangible.”

Happily, you don’t have to enroll in a course to tap the collections, as Christian Dawkins ’22 can attest. As part of the Historical Accountability Student Research Program, Dawkins, a history major, decided to delve into the desegregation of fraternities at Dartmouth. “I decided to focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in 20th century fraternities, but I touched on the history reaching back to the first fraternity in 1842. The archive is massive— material from every fraternity that has existed at Dartmouth. I discovered racial, cultural, and gender discrimination, but I also found that a student-led referendum in 1954 demanded that every fraternity eliminate its discriminatory clauses. The referendum passed overwhelmingly.” Dawkins will be posting a digital exhibit of the project in the coming months.

A model for veterans’ education Like Christian, Ryan Irving ’24 tapped the Rauner collections to turn a personal interest into a significant research project. Ryan applied to Dartmouth while serving in Afghanistan as a sergeant in the Marine Corps. He is majoring in government and dreams of doing veterans’ advocacy work after graduation.

“Dartmouth is the model for how veterans in education should be treated,” Ryan says, and that belief was only strengthened when he decided to develop an exhibition on Dartmouth’s military past for Veteran’s Day. “Veterans’ Day is the Student Veterans Association’s Superbowl,” he says, “so we wanted to provide the campus with an interesting and informative

event. We reached out to the Rauner staff and explained that we wanted to do this project. They said, ’Great idea! Let’s do it.” The librarians at Rauner didn’t just help me research. They were passionate and invested.”

With the help of Morgan Swan and other members of the library staff, Ryan and his team of campus veterans organized a powerful exhibition with letters from and about soldiers and artifacts such as a badly damaged helmet worn by a Dartmouth veteran who survived D-Day. He also showcased prominent veterans like Dartmouth President Emeritus James Wright, who helped draft language for the Yellow Ribbon Program in the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill.

“Dartmouth has amazing stories to tell from the Revolutionary War to Afghanistan,” Ryan adds. “It didn’t seem right to let them go untold.” He already has begun to plan an exhibition for next Veteran’s Day. Omar De La Osa Febles ’25 similarly found a welcoming committee in the staff at Rauner. Before he enrolled, he took a pre-college course as part of the First Year Student Enrichment Program, which allows first-generation students to preview the Dartmouth experience. “The course was called Culture, Identity, and Belonging,” Omar says, “and it looked at the school’s culture and how we could converge our own individual cultures with Dartmouth’s to shape a new identity for the school.” He worked closely with archivist Peter Carini researching the continually morphing cultural identity of Dartmouth.

The experience solidified his bond with the Special Collections. “I realized that this was a place to call home. I felt I belonged here.”

Not surprisingly, Omar now works at Rauner. “Working in the collections is like working in the shipping and handling department of a history factory,” he laughs. “My job is to get this collection into the hands of the community. I want everybody to have the experience I’ve had in getting to know it. There’s nothing like it anywhere.” admissions.dartmouth.edu | 29

JOE EARLES ’23 HOMETOWN: ATLANTA, GEORGIA MAJORS: HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

Joe Earles ’23 walked to school—2,193 miles, to be exact—to begin his second year at Dartmouth. Conquering the Appalachian Trail, the world’s longest hiking-only footpath, which runs directly through the Dartmouth campus, has been on Joe’s bucket list since his sophomore year of high school. The 147-day trek took him from his hometown near Springer Mountain, Georgia through Hanover and up to the Northern Terminus at Katahdin, Maine. His favorite part of the journey is one that many a Dartmouth student have trekked: the 50-mile stretch of trail that the Dartmouth Outing Club maintains from the Ledyard Bridge over the Connecticut River to Route 112 in Woodstock, NH. During the pandemic and before embarking on his epic hike, Joe took a gap year to intern on three different political campaigns in his home state of Georgia. He also worked as staff on Raphael Warnock’s Senate campaign and volunteered at a COVID19 vaccine distribution site in Southern Atlanta. “It was electric,” Joe says. “It was amazing to be able to campaign all across the state and meet the coolest, most passionate people. It felt like we had the power to do something really good.”

An aspiring history and geography major, Joe credits the passion of his professors for transforming his worldview. Some of his all-time favorite classes include “Civil Rights in the United States in the 20th Century,” “Colonialism, Development, and the Environment in Africa and Asia,” and “Geographical Information Systems (GIS).” His intellectual conversations with peers, he says, continue far beyond the classroom. “Those were the biggest things that stood out to me about Dartmouth—both the unparalleled outdoor culture and the amazing number of people who are interested in class and in discussing what they’re learning with one another,” Joe says.

Outside of class, Joe is a member of the gender-inclusive Greek house Alpha Theta, Gospel Choir, the Disco Troll ultimate Frisbee team, and the Dartmouth Outing Club’s Cabin & Trail group. Ever the adventure seeker, he hopes to take advantage of the D-Plan’s flexibility to either pursue more political work during the 2022 election season or complete the Te Araroa, an ambitious thru-hike in New Zealand, in a future winter term.

Joe is still pondering his post-Dartmouth options. Whether that means politics, teaching, or pursuing a career in spatial research mapping, his ultimate goal is to do what will help change the world for the better. Joe commends both his professors and his peers as superb teachers. “My professors have absolutely made me more of a learner and challenged me to think harder and be more compassionate. It’s really, really exceptional to be in a space where everybody is interested in what they’re studying. I learn so much just by talking with my peers.”

—Sydney Wuu ’24

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Walks of

PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

Life

Pictured: On a stretch of the Appalachian Trail in Hanover

ALUMNI WHO CARRY DARTMOUTH INTO THE WORLD

upward

onward &

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WHEN SAMANTHA “SAMMIE” MALTAIS ’18 JOINED HARVARD LAW SCHOOL’S CLASS OF 2024, SHE BECAME THE FIRST WAMPANOAG CITIZEN TO DO SO SINCE HARVARD’S FOUNDING. A MEMBER OF THE WAMPANOAG TRIBE OF AQUINNAH HAILING FROM HER ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS OF NOEPE—NOW CALLED MARTHA’S VINEYARD—THE 2021 WINNER OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN LAW SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP SAYS THAT HER VICTORY WAS “ON THE SHOULDERS OF SO MANY FOLKS WHO MADE SACRIFICES AND ADVOCATED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. KNOWING MY COMMUNITY WAS STANDING BEHIND ME MAKES ME EMPOWERED TO BE HERE.”

Sammie says her education is interwoven with her life experiences. “As Native students, we grow up with such a politicized identity,” she notes. “We grew up in these communities where we’ve listened to tribal leaders and activists talk about the institutional limitations we face in asserting our rights as Native peoples. I wanted a college experience surrounded by peers interested in advocating for Native communities.” The roots of her academic interests, which are deeply grounded in her Native identity, found eager soil at Dartmouth.

“Dartmouth was far and away my top choice,” she recalls, remembering her first campus visit via the Indigenous Fly-In Program. “Other Native students, the Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) faculty, and the Native American Program staff were pillars of my experience.” A double major in government and Native American studies modified with anthropology, Sammie valued the mentorship of N. Bruce Duthu ’80, Samson Occom Professor of Native American Studies. “As a leading figure in federal Indian law, he really shaped the legal foundation that I’m bringing to Harvard today. His classes gave structure to values I held deeply from being raised by a tribal leader in a tribal community.”

Sammie’s decision to modify her major with anthropology helped chart a new course for her postgraduate career. “That modification stemmed from my interest in cultural preservation, which led me to Dartmouth’s New Zealand Foreign Study Program. One of the reasons I joined the Peace Corps in the Kingdom of Tonga, a Polynesian monarchy never politically colonized, was my desire to learn about different forms of Indigeneity. The

differences and similarities between our identities and communities helped shape my perspective on global Indigeneity."

When the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated her return home in March 2020, Sammie found new avenues to fight for global Indigenous rights through London-based nonprofit Survival International, where she co-led her first campaign, #MayflowersKill. “It was about centering Indigenous voices on the narrative of the Mayflower’s arrival, the beginning of settler-​ colonialism in the United States, and that history of erasure and romanticization.”

Building on her international experiences, she joined a second campaign, #Decolonize Conservation. “I come from a coastal community.

Sea level rise will impact Indigenous folks first and foremost,” she reminds. “That campaign helped illuminate the problematic nature of a lot of conservation work—like greenwashing and the myth of net-zero—and the importance of centering Indigenous land stewardship in the fight.”

These campaigns have shed light on Sammie's future. “Working at the intersection of environmental justice to advocate for an Indigenous perspective in environmentalism—it’s where I see myself using my legal education,” she reflects. “I’m very driven by my goals, not only for my tribal community but tribal communities across Indian Country. I truly think that justice for me is a future free from the legacies of colonialism. It means tribes have the sovereignty and self-determination to combat climate change in a non-performative, impactful way. That is my motivating force.”

—Gabriel Gilbert ’23

PHOTOGRAPH BY KAYANA SZYMCZAK

Angie Janumala ’22 Hometown: Bronx, NY Major: Quantitative Social Science (QSS) Minor: Digital Arts

D-Plan

With Dartmouth’s distinctive year-round quarter system, you customize your own academic calendar.

Dartmouth offers four 10-week terms per year.

Within some guidelines, you choose which 12 terms to enroll and which to have incredible experiences elsewhere. Here, Angie Janumala ’22 walks you through how she’s explored all Dartmouth—and the world—has to offer.

FIRST YEAR Fall I set out to try as many things as possible and not for the most well-thought-out reasons. I went vegetarian just because the dining hall had vegan sausage rolls, started learning Russian just because a drag queen I liked spoke it, and became a member of the Film Society just because they had free Domino’s pizza every Tuesday. Although I’ve had to change my diet and roll back these commitments over time, I try to keep a bit of that spirit with me when I face new opportunities. Now that I’m a first-year undergraduate advisor (UGA), I tell my residents that first-year fall is the term to try anything and everything Dartmouth has to offer—just because!

Winter Dartmouth definitely felt more difficult after the holiday season wore off, but I kept busy with ENGS 12: Design Thinking, a hands-on introduction to engineering principles and by far the most recommended class I had heard of at Dartmouth. Every project we worked on involved patience, teamwork, and learning to be very comfortable with messing up and starting all over again.

The continual late nights at Thayer School of Engineering took their toll, but by the end of term I had engineered six solutions to various community problems and had countless anecdotes for my new job—leading tours for the Office of Admissions.

Spring I found out I’d be part of the Religion Foreign Study Program (FSP) in Edinburgh, Scotland for sophomore fall.

All that was left to do was actually take my prerequisite class in the religion department. I chose REL 21.01: Religion and Social Capital, where we applied sociological and anthropological theory to all sorts of social networks, such as religious mutual aid communities, the phenomenon of regifting, Dartmouth’s Greek life, and the social network itself, Facebook. It also helped that I could study with my roommate, since they were taking the class too!

Summer Though Dartmouth will cover extra costs associated with off-campus study programs for financial aid recipients, I decided to remain on campus this term to earn some extra spending money for Edinburgh. I worked during the interim with Commencement and Reunions Housing, as well as throughout the term as a tour guide during our busiest season. I didn’t know yet that it would be my only on-campus summer at Dartmouth (thanks, COVID!), but I definitely lived it up by interacting with hundreds of campus visitors a day, getting closer to a few other first-years on campus, and enjoying the summer camp optimism that everyone on campus seemed to share.

Winter I was really nervous coming back to campus after my study abroad—after all, I was a changed lady, and I had the somewhat silly worry that my friends had moved on from me. But the nature of the D-Plan means you get to keep your old friends and always make new ones too, and I really felt this when I rushed my sorority. Another high point of the term was QSS 18: Introduction to Game Theory, where we used mathematical models to predict policy responses to runoff elections, economic monopolies, and this weird faraway phenomenon called the novel coronavirus.

Spring I was already planning to take an off-term after seven straight terms of classes, so I was lucky that my plans weren’t affected too dramatically by COVID. Those plans, to be clear, were sitting on the couch at home and watching the entire Twilight series. I also did some dog sitting and interned for a diversity-in-business initiative, where I researched and evaluated how major corporations addressed the pandemic and racial injustice in both messaging and action.

Summer With my family members also having to work from our new home in London, I took my sophomore summer classes from my neighbor’s house, five hours ahead of home sweet Dartmouth. But in some ways, I felt closer than ever to America and to Dartmouth. In GOVT 27: Racial Justice, we wrote papers about #BlackLivesMatter and Dartmouth’s Say Her Name lecture series, while my GEOG 18.01: Climate Extremes on a Warming Planet class tracked the disproportionate impacts of a heat wave that started in London and later hit Hanover.

Winter This term came with plenty of opportunities to connect with friends in my residential spaces at Dartmouth. I lived in my sorority house and watched The Bachelorette with fellow members and played plenty of Among Us with members of The Tabard, the gender-inclusive Greek house I joined in the fall. I also became a tour guide trainer this term, working with other upper-level tour guides to hire new members of the team.

Spring I headed back to London for my last term of remote classes—my first and only four-course term. The class that really stood out was COSC 27: Projects in Digital Arts, the culminating experience for my minor. With a 10-week turnaround, I learned Adobe After Effects and Blender and made an animated music video for a song I wrote in my songwriting class. I can’t overstate how satisfying it is to have total intellectual control over a project from beginning to end. That probably explains why I’m now working on a similar type of project, albeit with a much bigger scope: an honors thesis for QSS.

Summer I spent my off-term in London traveling around southern England, dog and cat sitting, and undertaking my own personal challenge: watching six seasons of Glee in five weeks. I also began working full-time alongside my awesome team of Senior Fellows, learning how to host information sessions and providing input on the Office of Admissions’ virtual programming efforts. Next year, I’m looking forward to beginning work on my thesis, which will evaluate existing and new ways to address and prevent campus sexual violence.

SOPHOMORE YEAR Fall I have countless stories to tell about my time in Scotland this term—I basically coined the phrase “study abroad changed me.” So I’ll keep it short: we compared prehistoric British rituals with modern synagogues and gurdwaras; celebrated Thanksgiving with Dartmouth alums; chased sheep on the tidal island of Lindisfarne; had many a (legal) dram of whisky; and I met the two loves of my life, haggis and halloumi. Okay, not that short.

ILLUSTRATION BY FEDERICA BORDONI

JUNIOR YEAR Fall This term, I found perhaps the defining experience of my academic career in MUS 36: Songwriting. Professor César Alvarez and teaching assistant Hamed Sinno—lead singer of Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou’ Leila—somehow turned a Zoom room into a place where 16 students could bring whatever was on our minds to each class and turn it into something musical, vulnerable, and loved. Thanks to my amazing classmates, I really felt at home in this classroom— even in the virtual setting.

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PETER CHABOT ’22 HOMETOWN: RYE, NY MAJOR: NEUROSCIENCE

& KEVIN PETERSON PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

PETER CHABOT ’22 MET PALEONTOLOGIST KEVIN PETERSON IN HIS CLASS “THE SCIENCE OF LIFE.” TOGETHER, THEY’RE RESEARCHING THE MORPHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL COMPLEXITY OF THE OCTOPUS. THEIR PROJECT IS A CRUCIAL TEST OF THEIR HYPOTHESIS THAT microRNA IS CORRELATED WITH MORPHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL COMPLEXITY IN HUMANS AND VERTEBRATES. ONE YEAR LATER, WITH ONE PAPER PUBLISHED AND ANOTHER IN THE WORKS, PETER AND PROFESSOR PETERSON REFLECT ON THEIR RESEARCH.

Peter: I’m a neuroscience major, but I’ve always had a huge fascination with genetics. So, when I took a biology class with Professor Peterson, I reached out to see what he was doing in the field. Now that I have this pretty substantial knowledge of microRNAs, I think it’s an area of study I can see myself working on in the future. Whether it’s in a clinical application or evolutionary perspective, I’m not sure yet, but as our research shows, microRNAs play a pivotal role in complexity and human consciousness, which is something I’m really interested in.

Professor Peterson: I’ve been working on microRNAs for quite a while.

Fifteen years ago or so, we found that there’s a group of genes whose acquisition patterns correlated with big jumps in animal complexity, and these are the microRNAs that we work on. We actually collected the data years ago.

Then, when Peter came along, I had the idea that “We should do this now.”

This study is the crucial test in terms of our ideas that these genes are behind morphological and behavioral complexity in humans and vertebrates. To make a very long story short, the only thing that correlated with the behavioral and morphological complexity was the microRNAs in the octopus. The implications of this are that we have a handle on what creates complexity. We also have a handle on how you evolve complexity, which is something that people have been looking at for decades. So, for me, it’s the culmination of a career, in a way.

What is this mirgenedb.org database you’ve been working on?

Peter: Our database allows cross-species identification of microRNAs, so you can see how they’ve been conserved through evolution and which ones are new. In the lab that I just started working in, where I’m doing my senior thesis, I still use mirgenedb.org, and I’m going to be using it throughout my studies.

It will be a big part of what I do because I’m working with microRNAs to serve as a biomarker for gliomas and glioblastomas, and I won’t be able to tell which ones are robust and have a big purpose in the nervous system without a database like mirgenedb.org. It’s revolutionary for that type of application.

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Professor Peterson: I started working on this project in 2012. There are now more than sixteen thousand genes from seventy-five taxa and, with help from people like Peter, I have annotated every one of them by hand. The thing is, we wouldn’t have been able to do the octopus study without it. I spent eight years entering data, and we’re now just getting the first papers out. Peter and I have another paper that we hope will be accepted soon that uses the database and does science that would have been impossible to do without it—and I can guarantee you it’s the only molecular database in the world designed by a paleontologist.

What have you learned from working with one another?

Peter: Professor Peterson is easily one of my favorite teachers. BIOL 11 was my first biology course at Dartmouth, and it’s still my favorite. It really established this different type of passion that I had for learning. After that class, I just became genuinely curious about so many things, and I wanted to go and seek answers. It was kind of life-changing. You don’t really realize the implications of learning in those classes until you actually do the research that aligns with them and realize how important that knowledge is to have. As long as you are consistent, try hard, and care about what you’re looking for, you’re going to find research, likely with someone who cares a lot about you and your career path. Dartmouth offers a really good platform for finding research opportunities through coursework.

Professor Peterson: I really like Peter as a person, and that’s ninety percent of working with somebody—it’s about that interpersonal relationship and connection. When I interviewed at Dartmouth, it was clear that the classroom, undergraduates, and teaching all mattered. In the interplay between one’s teaching and one’s research, each reinforces the other. Peter brought perspectives and insights and questions that I hadn’t thought of. That’s what makes Dartmouth special—the relationship that we have as faculty with undergraduates and the positivity that they bring to our science. I walked into this place, saw that the tenor around education with outstanding research was so different, and thought, “I am home.” I knew this was where I wanted to be. This is an institution that fosters relationships across generations, across departments, across peoples, and that matters.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

How does this research project inform your respective interests?

Pictured: Inside the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center

Courses of Study Curious about the areas of study that Dartmouth offers? Look no further. Dartmouth students don't need to declare a major until sophomore year, but the classes you take at Dartmouth will span disciplines far outside your chosen concentration. Here, Elina Pepper ’22 highlights the departments she’s taken courses in—and shares the inside scoop on her favorites.

How will you explore?

African and African American Studies Ancient History Anthropology Applied Mathematics for Biological and Social Sciences m Applied Mathematics for Physical and Engineering Sciences m Art History Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages Astronomy Biological Chemistry M Biological Sciences Biomedical Engineering Sciences M Biophysical Chemistry M Chemistry Classical Archaeology Classical Languages and Literatures Classical Studies Cognitive Science M Comparative Literature M Complex Systems m Computer Science Digital Arts m Earth Sciences Economics Education m Engineering Physics M

BIOL 11.03 Emerging Infectious Diseases: How Microbes Rule the World To this day, this course remains my favorite class I have ever taken at Dartmouth.

Co-taught by Professors Guerinot and McClung, this introductory biology class framed each new concept through the lens of an emerging infectious disease. Every class period focused on a new disease and how that disease could explain a foundational concept of biology, from learning about retroviruses and HIV to studying bacterial replication in the context of tuberculosis.

PHOTOGRAPH BY NAME

Hometown: San Diego, CA Major: Biology with a minor in Spanish on the Pre-Health Track

ENGS 13

Engineering Sciences

Mathematics

English

Medieval and Renaissance Studies*

Environmental Earth Sciences

Middle Eastern Studies

Environmental Science m

Music

Environmental Studies

Native American and Indigenous Studies

Film and Media Studies French French Studies M Geography German Studies Global Health m Government History Human-Centered Design m International Studies m Italian Italian Studies M Jewish Studies m Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies Linguistics Markets, Management, and the Economy m Materials Science m Mathematical Biology m Mathematical Finance m Mathematical Logic m Mathematical Physics m Mathematical Data Science M

Neuroscience Philosophy Portuguese (Lusophone Studies) Physics Psychology

Virtual Medicine and Cybercare This was one of the most revolutionary and informative classes that I have taken at Dartmouth. Co-taught by Professors Rosen and Hoyt, this course focused on telehealth, new technologies for patient care, and the applications of virtual reality and artificial intelligence in the healthcare field. Each class period hosted a guest speaker who shared their experience with one of these topics; we frequently had startup CEOs, government disaster response liaisons, and physicians visit our classroom. My final project centered around how cybercare and technology can help solve the worldwide physician shortage crisis.

Public Policy m Quantitative Social Science Religion Romance Languages M Romance Studies M Russian Russian Area Studies Social Inequalities m Sociology Spanish (Hispanic Studies) Statistics m Studio Art Sustainability m Theater

ENVS 18 / NAS 018 Indigenous Environmental Studies Cross-listed with the Native American and Indigenous Studies department, this course explores environmental issues facing Indigenous communities across the United States. Professor Reo was incredibly engaging and invited really interesting guest speakers throughout the term. One of our projects involved writing a policy letter to a government official on behalf of the Yurok tribe in regards to marijuana cultivation on sacred land.

Urban Studies m Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

PHOTOGRAPH BY NAME

m = minor only M = major only *= major modification only

ECON 1

SPAN 80.20

The Price System: Analysis, Problems, and Policies Though it was difficult, I loved this course!

Taught by Professor Curtis, this class explored introductory theories of supply and demand, consumer choice, and inefficiencies in the markets. Though much of economics is theoretical, Professor Curtis did an excellent job of tying back what we were learning to real-world scenarios.

The “Spanish Craze”: Hispanic Culture in the United States Professor del Pino became one of my favorite professors at Dartmouth after this class.

“The Spanish Craze” was a period in which Hispanic art, food, music, and culture permeated all aspects of American life. People in the United States were “crazed” for Spanish culture, even amidst political and social tensions. Professor del Pino did an excellent job of engaging the small class in discussion about how this craze has shaped the relationship between Spain and the United States to this day. Fun fact: the author of the textbook we read for this course visited one of our classes!

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Activist Pictured: In Pine Park, the oldest conservation area in Hanover

JESSICA CHIRIBOGA ’24 HOMETOWN: GLENDORA, CA MAJORS: GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY MODIFIED WITH LATIN AMERICAN, LATINO AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES

PHOTOGRAPH PHOTOGRAPH

BY NAME

BY DON HAMERMAN

Mind

Whether chasing sunrises atop Gile Tower with her Sigma Delta sisters, joining in on a lively debate with the Dartmouth Political Union, or running to her “Transnational Utopias: Latin American Anarchisms” class, Jessica Chiriboga ’24 takes a hands-on approach to exploring the world—an approach that she argues is the “ethos of Dartmouth College.”

An advocate for inclusive communities on campus, Jess serves as the president of Within, a group dedicated to LGBTQ+ activism on and off campus. “My vision coming to Dartmouth,” she says, “was to be part of something bigger and better, to reimagine what queer spaces can look like on campus, and really contribute in a positive way.” Jess plans events and discussions for Within that center around inclusivity, often with the help of the Dartmouth Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association (DGALA).

Her community-building work expands on a previous partnership that she established with GLSEN, a national K-12 organization that aims to eliminate the harassment and bullying of LGBTQ+ students in school.

Jess also works tirelessly to support the mental health resources needed for the community to flourish. As a senator for North Park House, one of six residential housing communities on campus, Jess serves as the mental health chair for the Student Assembly. She advocates for students’ needs while attending meetings with administrators and Counseling Center staff members.“As someone who has been very passionate about mental health advocacy for several years now, it feels good to be working for change for our classmates and for our campus at large,” she says.

When she isn’t cultivating a community, Jess plans for her future legal career. Last summer, she interned as a First-Year Fellow with the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center, which matches firstyears with a public policy internship in Washington, D.C. Jess was partnered with a nonpartisan nonprofit that works to advocate for the separation of church and state. “My internship opened my eyes to the power that nonprofits have in our political process,” she says. “I learned that constitutional law is my bread and butter.

I’d love to be a federal judge or a justice someday."

Jess ultimately lives according to a simple but powerful philosophy: “I really don’t want to live a life that I end up regretting,” she says. “There are so many spontaneous, cool, fulfilling, and heartwarming experiences that I’ve had at Dartmouth that fit so well with the version of myself that I always imagined myself to be and the version that I am continuing to grow into.”

—Selin Hos ’25

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While Dartmouth’s financial aid covers 100% of the demonstrated need of all its students, the opportunity for funding doesn’t stop there. Dartmouth students have access to resources that make all kinds of experiences possible and ensure that every student can take advantage of the diverse opportunities Dartmouth has to offer. We asked current students to share experiences made possible with Dartmouth’s financial support.

“Before I met with Leah Torrey at the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact (DCSI), I’d never heard of Reach the World or Philabundance. The internships I later held at both organizations—funded by DCSI and Dartmouth Partners in Community Service, an alumni group that supports social impact internships—changed my life. At Reach the World, I hosted a Zoom call with Eric Yuan, CEO and founder of Zoom, and raised more than $75,000 to support global education in underserved American classrooms. At Philabundance, I worked on Michelle Obama’s Pass the Love campaign, strategizing the distribution of nearly a quarter of a million meals to families across Philadelphia in just four weeks. As I apply for postgraduate opportunities, I know that making a tangible difference in the world is my priority.”

—’22 from Ohio

“Through a generous grant from The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy & Society at Dartmouth, I researched energy generation and dissemination in Nigeria under the mentorship of Associate Professor of Engineering Amro Farid. The project allowed me to expand my knowledge of sustainable means of energy generation as well as the economic and political factors affecting electricity generation and dissemination, especially in developing countries. I can unequivocally say that this experience has contributed not only to my interest in research but also to my truly all-encompassing liberal arts education.”

—’23 from Nigeria

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“While working on my English major, I fell in love with medieval studies and decided to refocus my Dartmouth experience to maximize my medieval opportunities. I was lucky enough to work one-on-one with Associate Professor of English Monika Otter conducting research for my thesis on medieval women.

Thanks to The Leslie Center for the Humanities Student Research Fellowship, which offers up to $1,500 to Dartmouth students for faculty-supervised research or creative projects in the humanities, I could focus directly on the literature that most interests me but wasn’t being taught in any other Dartmouth courses. The practice of reading, analyzing, and making arguments about every piece I read—while getting direct feedback as part of my process—was one of the most rewarding experiences in my time at Dartmouth.”

—’22 from Vermont

"Before my first-year orientation, I participated in the First-Year Student Enrichment Program (FYSEP), a month-long program designed to support first-generation low-income students in their college transition. As the weather turned colder during the fall term, I was surprised to receive a letter from FYSEP in the mail. The letter contained a substantial gift card to the local L.L. Bean store, allowing me to buy more warm layers and clothing for the upcoming colder months of winter term. I am incredibly grateful for FYSEP’s generosity!"

—’25 from Illinois

ILLUSTRATION BY JAN KALLWEJT

“Over one fabulous spring break, I was able to go backpacking in Canyonlands National Park, canyoneering in Arches National Park, and hiking in Red Rock Canyon thanks to the Dartmouth Outing Club’s Wolfgang Schlitz Adventure Fund. The fund covered almost all of the travel expenses for me and four friends on our road trip around Utah and Nevada. I’d never been to any of these incredible places before and had no canyoneering experience, but the fund allowed me to see the desert southwest for the first time and make amazing outdoor memories with my friends.”

—’23 from Illinois

“While I was studying off-campus on the English and Creative Writing department’s Foreign Study Program (FSP) in London, Dartmouth financially sponsored visits to Stonehenge, Bath, and other nearby attractions for me and my peers. The visits, which allowed us to investigate destinations on our own, included walking tours of the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, a punting trip down the River Cam, a private tour of the Bodleian Library, and tickets to the Roman Baths. Thanks to Dartmouth, we had plenty of opportunities to explore the city of London and beyond.”

—’23 from Washington

COURSE

ENGS 33: Solid Mechanics

ENGS 33: Solid Mechanics reminded Bronson Starsiak ’23 of his love of tinkering and reaffirmed his passion for mechanical engineering. The course, taught

by Assistant Professor of Engineering Yan Li, encourages students to apply a hands-on approach to engineering concepts. Whether constructing wooden model bridges or testing the limits of super-stretchy dough, Bronson enjoyed how ENGS 33 breathed life into the engineering theories he was learning.

“My favorite aspect of the course was being able to put our lectures to the test,” he says. “Being able to apply the equations and theory we learned in class added meaning to the material. Intuition is best gained through getting your hands dirty and experimenting.”

Professor Li welcomes students from any discipline—STEM or not—to join ENGS 33. “I like to hear diverse voices so that we can make the engineering classroom more accessible, more inclusive, and better connected to the real world,” Professor Li says. “In my opinion, a good engineer is a team player, an open-minded problem-solver, and a good communicator using both the plain and engineering languages.” Excited to brainstorm ideas with undergraduates, Professor Li develops assignments that mold her students into collaborative creators ready to approach real-world engineering problems.

ENGS 33 sparked the curiosity of Hannah Burd ’22 for the mechanical engineering design process and inspired her to pursue sustainable product design. She remembers applying concepts from class to the lab during the scaled wood bridge design project, which sees students build an economical model bridge, subject it to extreme pressure using an Instron machine,

What are Dartmouth students studying? In every issue, we feature a class plucked somewhat randomly from a deep reservoir of fascinating courses. and compare the results with theoretical predictions. “Our class projects were the best introduction to hands-on engineering that I’ve experienced at Dartmouth,” Hannah says. “The time I spent in the machine shop and in maker spaces this summer was invaluable.”

As Professor Li collects more designs over the years, she plans to build a knowledge base where students can access previous plans and determine the pros and cons of existing work before they begin their own designs. She hopes to implement new technologies like artificial intelligence and smart sensors in future wood bridge developments.

“One of my teaching goals is to help students develop the skills necessary to perform higher-level analytical, creative, and problem-solving tasks,” Professor Li says. “Seeing them build friendships through the course projects is a bonus!”

—Sydney Wuu ’24

PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL ROBERTXU GILL ’25

ON

PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN

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TAREK EL-ARISS THE JAMES WRIGHT PROFESSOR AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE PROFESSOR OF MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES

Standing in a sun-dappled classroom in Rabat, Morocco with fifteen Dartmouth students, Tarek El-Ariss felt as much at home as he did stateside in Hanover or in his home country of Lebanon.

Perhaps that’s because wherever he is, including traveling with his students on one of Dartmouth’s signature Language Study Abroad (LSA) programs, he focuses on creating a common experience.

A professor of Middle Eastern studies, Professor El-Ariss has devoted nearly his entire career to understanding culture—and answering the question: What is a text? “Growing up speaking Arabic and French and then English, I’m interested in the idea of a multilingual, multi-textual world,” he says. His research has covered subjects like time, memory, and the way that social media and the digital landscape have created new ways of communicating.

Though technically a member of both the Middle Eastern Studies and Comparative Literature Programs, Professor El-Ariss collaborates with artists, scientists, and scholars in too many disciplines to count. He works closely with computer science students, for example, on projects relating to coding as a form of language and believes his classroom is better for it. That’s what’s special about teaching these subjects here at Dartmouth, he says. “I would like my students to see connections between the sciences and the humanities and literature and physics.”

A recipient of the renowned Guggenheim Fellowship, Professor El-Ariss is working on a book project tentatively titled Water on Fire. “The book will allow me to reflect on what it means to be a literary scholar. How do we make meaning of the texts that we read but also of the worlds in which we live?”

Growing up in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war, he sees the city as trapped between the escape of the Mediterranean Sea and the “fire” of warfare. “The experience really shaped me,” he says.

“It’s produced forms of displacement that were painful, but also productive, and opened new ways for me to think about culture and literature.”

So when Professor El-Ariss brings students to Rabat, he teaches them how to turn something disorienting into something productive that forges unbreakable bonds. “I put our students at the center of contemporary debate about culture and politics in Morocco,” he says. “We met with a sociologist writing about women’s sexuality in Morocco, authors who have spent parts of their lives in prison, filmmakers and musicians, and heard their stories.”

Being right at the heart of all the action is where Professor El-Ariss likes to be. That, he says, is how we access memories like the ones integral to his work. “They say we are 95% water, but the other 5% is fiction,” he says. “We are made of stories, and our ability to make sense of stories is special.”

—Caroline Cook ’21

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Textual

PHOTOGRAPH BY WEBB CHAPPELL

Evidence Pictured: In Boston, MA

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THREADS :

A PAGE FROM THE DARTMOUTH STORY

Homecoming Bonfire First held on September 17th, 1895, Dartmouth Night was originally introduced by President William Jewett Tucker as a celebration for alumni. More than 125 years later, Dartmouth Night during Homecoming Weekend—headlined by a colossal bonfire—has evolved into an iconic tradition that sees thousands of alumni return to campus to celebrate their alma mater.

The first Homecoming bonfire was built by students in the nineteenth century to celebrate a sports victory but has since morphed into a symbol of welcome for students new to the Dartmouth family. In preparation for its lighting, first-year students help build a towering bonfire structure in the center of the Green, inscribing their names and initials into the wood. As a finishing touch, they crown their creation with giant wooden numerals of their class year.

When the bonfire is lit just after dusk on Dartmouth Night, alumni and older students cheer while first-years take a celebratory lap around the blazing structure—embracing the warm glow of both the bonfire and the community surrounding them.

As the reflection of the flames slowly fades in the windows of Dartmouth Hall and Baker-Berry Library, Dartmouth’s newest students know they’ve found home.

—Chukwuka Odigbo ’25

PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL XU ’25

Produced by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions of Dartmouth College Writing/Editing: Thurston-Lighty, Ltd. Design: Hecht/Horton Partners Note: The officers of the College believe that the information contained herein is accurate as of the date of publication, and they know of no significant changes to be made at the College in the near future. However, Dartmouth reserves the right to make, from time to time, such changes in its operations, programs, and activities as the Trustees, faculty, and officers consider appropriate and in the best interests of the Dartmouth community.

Equal Opportunity: Dartmouth is committed to the principle of equal opportunity for all its students, faculty, staff, and applicants for admission and employment. For that reason, Dartmouth prohibits any form of discrimination against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, national origin, citizenship, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other legally protected status in the administration of and access to the College’s programs and activities, and in conditions of admission and employment. Dartmouth adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations.

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