VOL. CLXXVI NO. 118
MOSTLY SUNNY HIGH 21 LOW 4
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
Rise Together! events Dartmouth majors yield wide at College honor MLK range of salaries, per federal data B y AMBER BHUTTA The Dartmouth
OPINION
MALBREAUX: SOMEWHAT SECURE PAGE 4
ARTS
THE BOOTH’S TERMLY EXHIBIT OF STUDENT ART WILL BE OPENING FRIDAY PAGE 6
HOOD EXHIBIT SPOTLIGHTS MARGINALIZED NARRATIVES THROUGH ART PAGE 7
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A f t e r n e a rl y a ye a r of preparation, the Rise Together! celebration brought together the Dartmouth community yesterday to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. According to vice president for institutional diversity and equity Evelynn Ellis explained, this year’s theme of “Rise Together!” was chosen to inspire optimism and hope. “The energy that we’re
trying to put into it is to provide the opportunity for people to heal, to restore, to feel hopeful even though the news doesn’t give them a place to be hopeful,” Ellis said. “Given the situation that we as Americans find ourselves in right now, there is no leadership to help us rise. I think it is going to be the total responsibility of American people, ourselves, the general public — and I mean all groups — to pull
SEE MLK PAGE 2
Two-day PE camping trips no longer offered B y ANDREW SASSER The Dartmouth
The College will no longer offer two-day camping or hiking trips for physical education credit. According to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence, these trips will no longer be offered until the Outdoor Programs Office establishes administrative oversight of PE credit offerings. According to senior associate athletic director of physical education Joann Brislin, the department offers many options for those want to take PE classes. Brislin said that while some
students wait until their senior year to fulfill their PE credits, no student has been unable to graduate due to the lack of availability in PE classes. “We’ve never had a situation where we couldn’t take care of a senior,” Brislin said. “There’s always space in some classes.” In order for an activity to be eligible for PE credit, certain activities must meet a set of regulations. According to Brislin, the activities run at least twice a week for eight weeks. For a student to earn credit, they must be enrolled SEE PE CREDITS PAGE 2
MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Majors at Dartmouth that yield the highest average salaries after graduation tend to be the most popular.
B y SOLEIL GAYLORD The Dartmouth
A Dartmouth graduate’s average salary can range from $38,900 to $100,500, while student debt at the College ranges from $7,500 to $17,007 depending on a choice of major, according to data published in the Wall Street Journal. The data, released by the U.S. Department of Education last fall, is unique in that it distinguishes earnings by major. Previously, the DOE released single, school-wide statistics irrespective of degree. In total, 15 percent of colleges in the data set showed a debt average higher than their earnings average, and elite institutions like those within the
Ivy League consistently had the highest earnings-to-debt ratio. The most popular majors at Dartmouth, respectively, are economics, government, computer science and engineering. The highestearning majors, which correlate with those majors, are, in descending order: computer science, economics, engineering and government. This trend is somewhat mirrored for majors with the lowest debt –– engineering majors were shown to have the lowest debt, along with biology, computer science and neurobiology/neuroscience majors. Computer science majors top the salary rankings at Dartmouth, ear ning an average of $100,500 yearly. In
comparison, computer science graduates at Cornell University make $116,300 in their first year, while those at Brown University make $141,000. Dartmouth students graduating with an economics degree make $84,200, while economics majors at Cornell and Yale University make $67,500 and $81,400, respectively. Dartmouth gover nment graduates are the highest paid among government majors at comparable institutions: they earn $59,000, compared to $45,100 at Cornell and $49,100 at Yale. The data confirm a reality assumed by many Dartmouth students regarding which majors SEE SALARIES PAGE 3
PAGE 2
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Former NAACP president to speak at Dartmouth on Sunday FROM MLK PAGE 1
ourselves back up.” The series of events comprising the celebration began earlier this month with an exhibit in the Hood Museum and a performance by composer-violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain and spoken-word artist Marc Bathumi Joseph titled “The Just and the Blind” at the Hopkins Center. On Monday, histor y professor Matthew Delmont spoke at a breakfast for staff and faculty at the Hanover Inn and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity hosted an annual candlelight vigil at the Shabazz Center for Intellectual Inquiry at 5 p.m. After the vigil, Spanish and Portuguese professor Kianny Antigua delivered the first keynote speech of the celebration.
“I felt strongly that we needed someone we know,” Ellis said of the selection process for the speaker. “I think you can rise together easier if you trust the people who are talking to you and trying to help you rise. I figured we need someone who was here.” Ellis said that although she had these descriptions in mind, she was unable to come up with a specific person until she noticed one of Antigua’s books by her office door one day. “I saw [her book], and I said, ‘It’s been sitting in your face for weeks,’” Ellis said. “But the answer comes when you need it. [Antigua’s] whole approach to the world is so compassionate and broad because of her whole background — but also so creative that I thought, ‘Here is
the person.’” Antigua’s presentation, titled “Of Silence and Words,” touched on feminism, roots, self-love and “hope for a better world.” She said the celebration’s “Rise Together!” theme prevails in much of her work, which includes novels, poems, short stories and children’s books. “It’s imperative that we teach children that we cannot move through this world alone,” Antigua said. “We live in societies. We need families or friends or someone that we can count on, that we can talk to, that we can be friends with, that we can share our passions with. We cannot continue thinking and moving as though anything and everything that we do does not affect other people.” Rev. Cornell William Brooks
— a lawyer, Harvard professor and former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — will give a second keynote speech on Jan. 26 at Rollins Chapel as part of an MLK Jr. multi-faith celebration hosted by the Tucker Center. “When people think of Dr. King, they often think of him as just Dr. King, but he was also Reverend Dr. King,” said dean and chaplain of the Tucker Center Rabbi Daveen Litwin. “We look for people who can bring in whatever the issues are today, but also be able to articulate meaningfully the importance of where faith and spirituality come into the underpinnings and lifting up of justice.” The celebration’s programming will continue until the end of
February and will include film screenings and presentations in conjunction with the Tucker Center and the Geisel School of Medicine. A full calendar of events is available online. Ellis said that through this prog ramming, she hopes the community will fulfill one of the celebration’s primary goals: remembrance. “The Civil Rights movement and the King era is not a period of time where we want people to start taking it lightly,” Ellis said. “It wasn’t just a simple part of our history then, and it’s not now. The struggle of African American people in this country — while very important to me and my people — is the struggle of people of color and poor people all over the world.”
Search committee for new OPO director to meet later this month FROM PE CREDITS PAGE 1
in the class and must participate in at least 13 activity sessions. While the two-day hiking and camping trips are no longer offered, the department offers several other outdoor programs courses. According to Lawrence, OPO currently offers credit for participation in Dartmouth Outing Club teams, a wilderness first aid course, an introduction to Nordic skiing class at Oak Hill and any other courses taught by qualified instructors outside the Dartmouth community. Some students have seen this change as a minor inconvenience. Kevin Ge ’21, who was planning on enrolling in a hiking trip this spring, said he saw the trip as an opportunity to explore the outdoors. “It’s a little disappointing, but it’s not the end of the world,” Ge said. “I am just going to do squash instead.” Ge said that he doesn’t think the change will affect seniors very much. He added that he believes seniors
often signed up for these trips to avoid the time commitment associated with regular PE classes. “If it’s your senior winter or spring and you’re missing one of these credits you will find the time for every class you choose to do,” Ge said. “To be honest, I really thought that these were kind of a cop out. It was widely known among the student body that these trips were a shortcut and now students have to actually do physical education to get a physical education credit.” Lawrence wrote that a search committee will meet later this month to begin reviewing applications for OPO director, as a part of establishing the oversight needed to offer other PE credits. This decision and the lack of permanent leadership in the OPO comes on the heels of a May incident during which a Dartmouth student, Arun Anand ’19, went missing for two nights in the area of Mount Moosilauke while on an overnight OPO trip, before being found by New Hampshire Fish
and Game officers after extensive rescue efforts. Since that incident, both OPO assistant director for leadership and experiential education Tracie Williams ’05 — who led the trip itself — and DOC director Timothy Burdick ’89 Med ’02 have left the College. Associate dean for student life Eric Ramsey has since taken over
administrative operations while Paul Teplitz and OPO assistant director Rory Gawler ’05 work as co-directors during the leadership search process. As required by the College, Dartmouth students must take three physical education credits in order to graduate. According to the physical education department website, these
credits can be fulfilled by participation in club — and varsity — level sports, dance groups, outdoor programs, swim classes and FLIP fitness classes. Other seasonal offerings include classes in activities such as snow sports, tennis and sailing, and trip leaders in the First-Year Trips program are also eligible for PE credit.
CORRECTIONS We welcome corrections. If you believe there is a factual error in a story, please email editor@thedartmouth.com.
LONA GIRARDIN/THE DARTMOUTH
The Outdoor Programs Office will not be offering two-day camping and hiking trips for PE credit this spring.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
DARTMOUTHEVENTS
PAGE 3
THE DARTMOUTH EVENTS
LOST: PLEASE HELP
WINSTON CHEN ’22
TODAY
8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Exhibit: “The Ties that Bind: Slavery and Dartmouth.” Sponsored by the Dartmouth Library, Rauner Special Collections Library.
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Film: “Mortality of Dreams,” screening and Q&A with director Angela Snow. Sponsored by the Geisel Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, Chilcott Auditorium.
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Show: “Hop to Broadway!” with special guest Rachel Chavkin. Sponsored by the Hopkins Center, Loew Auditorium.
TOMORROW 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Gallery Talk: “Embodiment of Language.” Sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum.
4:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Talk: “Policing Life and Death in Puerto Rico: Race, Violence, and Resistance.” Sponsored by the History Department, Carson L02.
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Talk: “Polls, Pundits and Predictions: Sizing Up the NH Presidential Primary Race.” Sponsored by the Rockefeller Center, Rocky 003.
ADVERTISING For advertising infor mation, please call (603) 646-2600 or email info@ thedartmouth.com. The advertising deadline is noon, two days before publication. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Opinions expressed in advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of The Dartmouth, Inc. or its officers, employees and agents. The Dartmouth, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire. USPS 148-540 ISSN 0199-9931
PAGE 4
THE DARTMOUTH OPINION
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
SENIOR STAFF COLUMNIST TYLER MALBREAUX ’20
Somewhat Secure
Apple’s privacy policies are just PR posturing.
DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief
AIDAN SHEINBERG, Publisher
ALEX FREDMAN, Executive Editor PETER CHARALAMBOUS, Managing Editor
PRODUCTION EDITORS TEDDY HILL-WELD & MATTHEW MAGANN, Opinion Editors KYLEE SIBILIA & NOVI ZHUKOVSKY, Mirror Editors ADDISON DICK & JUSTIN KRAMER & LILI STERN, Sports Editors LEX KANG & LUCY TURNIPSEED, Arts Editors NAINA BHALLA & LORRAINE LIU, Photo Editors SAMANTHA BURACK & BELLA JACOBY, Design Editors GRANT PINKSTON, Templating Editor JESS CAMPANILE, Multimedia Editor
ANTHONY ROBLES, Managing Editor
BUSINESS DIRECTORS JONNY FRIED & JASMINE FU Advertising & Finance Directors HIMADRI NARASIMHAMURTHY & KAI SHERWIN Business Development Directors ALBERT CHEN & ELEANOR NIEDERMAYER Strategy Directors VINAY REDDY & ERIC ZHANG Marketing, Analytics and Technology Directors
ELIZA JANE SCHAEFFER, Social Media Editor WILLIAM CHEN & AARON LEE, Data Visualization Editors
ISSUE LAYOUT AMBER BHUTTA SUBMISSIONS: We welcome letters and guest columns. All submissions must include the author’s name and affiliation with Dartmouth College and
should not exceed 250 words for letters or 700 words for columns. The Dartmouth reserves the right to edit all material before publication. All material submitted becomes property of The Dartmouth. Please email submissions to editor@thedartmouth.com.
In Round 2 of a fight that started four industry-leading, most iPhones track their years ago, the Justice Department and the respective users’ data continuously, often FBI are pressuring tech giant Apple to create without the user’s knowledge. To be sure, “backdoor” access to its iPhone encryption many of Apple’s own apps, like iMessage, software. The request comes as the FBI have added privacy features like end-to-end investigation into a shooting at a Pensacola, encryption. Users also have the ability to toggle FL, naval base looks for information on the location tracking services for individual apps shooter’s iPhone. that, unless turned off, would send geo-tags The government requested Apple provide intermittently to Apple’s servers. similar assistance after the 2015 San But that says nothing about third-party apps Bernardino shooting. Apple refused, insisting bought on Apple’s app store. As a Washington that a backdoor doesn’t exist and claiming Post investigation confirmed last year, Apple that the creation of such would compromise has little control over how app developers all iPhones, making user design their products to data susceptible to hackers. collect and divulge user “But Apple’s proAnd so far, Apple has held data. Developers may have privacy position its position four years later. privacy policies that adhere Some insist that a does not adequately to Apple’s transparency consequential legal guidelines, which require precedent may emerge protect user data in all developers to make known from this fi ght between instances; their strong the third party with whom two Goliaths, especially share data. However, stance has not always they if the government wins. according to the Post, translated into perfect users can’t be sure that Moreover, Apple could lose face as one of the largest those guidelines are even business practices.” pro-privacy companies in followed, as many apps Silicon Valley. Or, perhaps, were revealed to be in this recurring fight has violation of their own received outsized attention and overshadows privacy policies. some other areas in which Apple’s pro-privacy But all of these are benign examples of stance is more of a talking point than it is data exploitation when compared to Apple’s substantive. operations in China. In early 2018, Apple To the former point, Apple has already moved all of its users’ iCloud account data aided the FBI with “all of the data in our registered in China to mainland Chinese possession,” although exactly what data Apple servers. Guizhou-Cloud Big Data, a state-run has shared remains unclear. Besides, as seen data management company, now operates in the San Bernardino case, the government Apple’s iCloud servers. Whereas in the United does not necessarily need Apple’s help with States and elsewhere, users can decide in a backdoor. Instead of going through a which countries their data is digitally stored, court appeals process, the FBI paid a private Chinese citizens are confined to having all company $1.3 million to hack into the shooter’s their data on in-country servers, to which the iPhone 5c, and the FBI has since used that government has on-demand access. And while software to break into similar phone models. Apple claims its government compliance is for The Pensacola shooter owned an iPhone 5 and the consumer’s benefit — iCloud would have iPhone 7, two models which a security expert otherwise shut down in China — it also has, at recently told Bloomberg would be incredibly the very least, acquiesced to an authoritarian easy to break into. regime and sacrificed one of their core values It seems as if the government’s objective is in doing so. to garner favorable public opinion, implying Apple may be one of the more responsible that Apple is abetting criminal acts by tech companies in Silicon Valley. Facebook not cooperating with erroneous demands. remorselessly ignores its own policies, and But Apple’s pro-privacy position does not Google’s Android Play Store is replete with adequately protect user data in all instances; malware-infested apps. But it’s important that their strong stance has not always translated buyers not romanticize Apple’s pro-privacy into perfect business practices. position and confuse PR statements with profit While Apple touts its privacy policy as motives and bottom lines.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
PAGE 5
THE DARTMOUTH NEWS
Salary statistics play a mixed role for students choosing majors FROM SALARIES PAGE 1
are most likely to yield higher incomes and debt — a factor often considered by students not only in their choice of college but also in major selection. Robin Martinez ’23 said that these factors played into his college decision as a first-generation college student. “Ideally, I would need a full ride in order to go to college because I couldn’t get any funding from my family, and I needed to make sure I didn’t come out with a lot of loans,” Martinez said. Martinez said that his prospective post-graduation earnings were also an important aspect of choosing Dartmouth and his major as well. Martinez said he initially felt stressed in his decision to choose a traditionally well-paying major. “When I got here, I got a lot of pressure from my parents to do engineering, and that’s not something I like at all,” Martinez said. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves because we are the first to have this shot, and we want to make it count.” Despite the initial pressure, Martinez
said he hopes to pursue a major more suited to his interests. “Dartmouth has done a really good job of showing me what is possible in any major, which is something I didn’t understand before coming here,” Martinez said. First Year Student Enrichment Program director Jay Davis ’90 echoed Martinez’s sentiments. Davis said salary is often an important factor in major choice for many of the first-generation students he works with — students who are often expected to support their families. “Not thinking about salary is a luxury that often comes with students that are from better-resourced backgrounds,” Davis said. According to Davis, while salary is an important component of many first-generation students’ choice of major, it isn’t something he typically discusses in his advising work. Instead, Davis focuses more on the interests of each individual student. “I try to work with students much more about finding their genuine passion,” Davis said.
Davis added that at a high-level institution like Dartmouth, the subtle differences in pay among majors is less important to first-generation students than the overarching need to find a reliable career and support their families. “Most of the careers that students are looking at are well-enough paid to make a huge difference already for their families,” Davis said. According to Davis, the data will be helpful for informing students, but the salary statistic should not stand alone, as there are many nuances to finding a secure and enjoyable career. “If you can have that data, fantastic,” Davis said. “But to not rely on that is what’s important.” Other students at the College spoke to the extent that eventual salary has played into their academic choices. A fifth-year computer engineering major, Trevor Colby ’19, said that his choice of major was influenced by the eventual salary he would earn. “During my freshman year at Dartmouth, I recognized that I would be accumulating a sizable amount of
student debt despite generous financial aid,” Colby said. “In my mind, this greatly limited my options for a major. I felt like I had to major in something that would make me easily employable, as well as something that would allow me to dig myself out of the hole of debt that I was diving into.” Economics professor Bruce Sacerdote said the DOE’s ultimate goal in releasing the data, known as “College Scorecard,” is to guide students in choosing a college that will allow them to graduate without debt. Sacerdote said the government gathers tax and administrative data from the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to come up with the data. He said he believes it is valuable information for prospective and current college students. “If college students and families take advantage of this information, it could help steer students toward some of highest value-added institutions with excellent graduation rates,” Sacerdote said. Sacerdote added that while the data can provide helpful guidance, what a
student chooses to major in is often not a career-defining decision. “Dartmouth’s focus on a liberal arts education continues to pay large dividends,” Sacerdote said. “Some of our most famous graduates have majored in one field and made their mark professionally in a completely different field.” Government professor Dean Lacy concurred with Sacerdote, saying that while the data are helpful, the information should not be used as the sole guide for choosing a major. Variables outside the government statistics also hold important weight. “There is a great deal of unmeasured, individual-level variation in salaries,” Lacy said. “Salaries also don’t capture job satisfaction, job security, workplace climate and other things that make a job rewarding.” Lacy added that the value of a wellrounded education exceeds that of any particular choice of major. “A broad, liberal-arts background is a better foundation for a career than a narrow, specialized background,” Lacy said.
BELLA JACOBY/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Computer science and economics majors at Dartmouth have the highest average salaries after graduation, according to data from the Department of Education.
PAGE 6
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
The Booth’s termly exhibit of student art will be opening Friday B y HELEN LIU
The Dartmouth
Directly across from the Hinman Mail Center in the Hopkins Center is The Booth, a small but carefully curated display of student art. With its eye-catching neon pink sign, welded by student curator Jamie Park ’20, The Booth is hard to miss. This mini art gallery gives students an opportunity to showcase their work for an entire term at a central location on campus. Formerly an unused phone booth, The Booth has become a unique artistic experience in the two years since its founding. “Dartmouth’s art program is quite small, so there’s not a ton of opportunities for student artists to showcase their work,” Park said. “Even though we have small exhibitions in the Black Family Visual Arts Center, there’s not a ton that happens outside of that.” According to Park, The Booth aims to change that — by displaying student artwork in a heavily trafficked area, it effectively increases campus exposure to student artwork. This term, The Booth is displaying the artwork of Cate Heisler ’20 and Tanya Shah ’20 — an eclectic combination of photography, collage and sculpture. According to Park, artists can apply to be featured by sending her a portfolio through email, but she also relies on word of mouth to help her find artists who seem like a good fit for exhibition. Park said she takes into careful consideration the balance and synergy between featured artists’ works, and aims to always simultaneously exhibit artists whose works complement each other well. The artists also entrust Park with the responsibility of framing and installing the art in the space. “It’s really like a mini gallery sort of thing,” Shah said. “We’re the artists, she’s the curator.”
According to Heisler, the works she will have displayed are the pages of a zine she made last term through collaging different images. Heisler’s journey in art began with a drawing hobby, but after taking some photography classes at the College, she began to realize the extent to which she could use real images and collage to express complex emotions. “I didn’t really know what kind of feelings I could evoke in a picture, since these days everyone can just take a photo,” Heisler said. However, in “Photography II,” she said that a collage assignment led her to recognize how recombining images from different sources allowed her to convey new, insightful meanings. “I was forced to think a little harder about why things were important,” she said. According to Shah, her side of the display will be composed of photographs of a sculpture installation that she had previously set up in the “Sculpture I” classroom. “That was one of my favorite sculptures I’ve ever created,” Shah said. “It was a 6-foot by 6-foot by 6-foot cube that I built out of wood, and it was like a little mini room that you could go inside and spend time in.” Since the original installation had to be taken down within two days, Shah said she is enthusiastic to showcase her sculpture again in a different light: through photography. “I’m excited to see it in a space,” she said. “I’m excited to see what Jamie does with [the photographs].” AlthoughShahbeganherDartmouth career with the intention of becoming a software engineer, she decided to pursue a double major in computer science and studio art after taking “Photography I” in her sophomore year. Both Heisler and Shah also said they were heavily influenced by studio art professor Christina Seely, who
challenged them in “Photography III” to really think about their artwork and pushed them to create on a deeper emotional level. “She’d ask you to tap into the emotions she was feeling,” Heisler said. “She knew everyone’s vibe in the class. She could read you better than you could express yourself.” Coincidentally, Heisler and Shah had actually been friends long before they were chosen for the Booth’s art display; they met each other through “Painting I” during their sophomore summer and developed their friendship through mutual appreciation of each other’s artwork. “We got to know each other through looking at each other’s work,” Shah said. The similar themes in their artwork and their personal chemistry both contribute to the cohesiveness of the
art exhibit as a whole. “I’m really happy we’re being shown together,” Shah said. “[My work]’s about dreaming and it’s very out of this world, and Cate’s is about reality, but in a very dreamy way.” By juxtaposing thematically similar but stylistically distinct works of art in the same space, The Booth creates an immersive yet accessible visual art experience. Despite being fairly new, The Booth has already displayed works from both art majors and non-art majors, seniors and sophomores. Furthermore, most other student art installations and exhibitions are only permitted to be displayed for a few days before takedown, but The Booth’s commitment to showcasing only two artists a term allows more people to appreciate the artwork.
“It’s a sick opportunity, because the only real chance to showcase your work is the senior major showcase at the end of the spring,” Heisler said. “So for someone like me who didn’t follow through with the major, it’s really exciting.” According to Park, she also takes seniority into account when selecting artists, so that those who want to seize a last chance at being featured in a gallery before graduation can achieve that goal. “This space exists to offer people who don’t necessarily always have the means to pursue showcases and exhibitions,” Park said. “It’s a way to give opportunities to underprivileged students who may not have the chance to share what they create.” The exhibit officially opens on Friday at 1 p.m.
COURTESY OF TANYA SHAH ’20
Art by Cate Heisler ’20 and Tanya Shah ’20 will be displayed starting Friday until the end of the term.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
THE DARTMOUTH ARTS
PAGE 7
Hood exhibit spotlights marginalized narratives through art continents,” Hong said. “Each of them are anglicized European women, The Dartmouth Senior Staff and they’re not all represented with The “Reconstitution” exhibit, equity. This is kind of a point of which opened in the Hood Museum reference of how history has been on Jan. 2 and will stay up until May told by a particular kind of Anglo31, aims to make viewers consider how European, American and Western the dominant art historical narratives vantage point.” exclude many experiences and artists. Hong added that contemporary Curator of global contemporary art artists have been dealing with these Jessica Hong curated “Reconstitution,” very entrenched narratives, either her second show at the Hood. disputing or evolving them, for a very “As a contemporary curator, I long time. wanted to show how complicated the Hong said she hopes that visitors, meaning of contemporary is,” Hong using the Dutch prints as a comparison, said. “Because oftentimes people will look at the contemporary works assume that contemporary means now with a critical eye. and future, but the past and all of our “No one can make work in a history comes with us, it doesn’t just vacuum, right?” said curator of disappear. We have to understand the academic programming Amelia Kahl. historical past to not make the same “You’re always responding to yourself mistakes over and over again.” in your experience. And if you’re an Walking up the back staircase of the artist, you’re also thinking about other Hood will bring visitors to the central art that is happening at the same time gallery space housing the exhibition or older art.” that has works by seven artists. None Besides the prints, the other works of the pieces are new acquisitions for were made between the late 1980s and the show, but works by Terrence Koh 2016. and Gina Adams were part of a recent “Jessica chose rich and interesting anonymous gift and have never been and deep and informative work,” Kahl on display in the museum before. said. “She brought such an intellectual “We’re situated in a museum rigor to the show and put things context and an academic institution together I wouldn’t have thought to.” whose origins K a h l ’s are rooted in favorite piece c o l o n i a l i s m , “Because oftentimes for teaching is but now we’re people assume that “Baby Back,” starting to expand a 2001 printed that story within contemporary means photograph by the museological now and future, but and of Renee space,” Hong from the the past and all of our Cox said. “American Family To get viewers history comes with Series.” The selfthinking, Hong us, it doesn’t just portrait takes hung four prints the European by 16th-century disappear.” tradition of a Dutch engraver painted reclining Crispijn de Passe female nude and -JESSICA HONG, near the exhibit’s riffs off it. i n t r o d u c t o r y CURATOR OF GLOBAL “It’s a b l u r b . We l l CONTEMPORARY ART direct reference known during his to a lot of the kind time, de Passe of paintings that created a set of you would see in “Allegories of the Four Continents” the neoclassical period,” Hong said. that show Africa, America, Asia and “And in this piece, she’s looking out at Europe personified as women. the viewer a little bit subjectively, but “I was really struck by the coyly, and there’s this submissiveness representations of each of the to her almost and she’s like fully nude
B y Lucy turnipseed
but it’s her choice. Boldly, she’s just looking straight ahead.” Kahl said she would use the photograph to prompt student discussion about the reappropriation of a European tradition and how the black female body is represented. Kahl’s favorite piece in terms of aesthetics, however, is a Lin Tianmiao portrait that utilizes undyed cotton. “It has this beautiful softness and this wonderful sense of touch and hand craft that I think is just so beautiful,” Kahl said. “And it’s really evocative; it feels very poetic to me.” Much of Tianmiao’s work is about the body and its relation to power relationships, especially from the female perspective, according to Hong. “This series consists of blown up images of heads that are kind of floating in space, and then on top of it she would then include these craftlike materials,” Hong said. Hong also noted the significance of the portrait
as a medium, given its history of censorship in China. Works from multiple collections, including Native American art, American art and European art, are present in the exhibit. “I want to integrate the collections a bit more,” Hong said. “Although we do have geographical borders, there’s a lot of movement between them and there’s a lot of temporal blurring as well as geographical blurring, because these works are not neatly divided. There are interactions and encounters that happen whether intentionally or forced or otherwise, but they’re still interactions.” Several Dartmouth classes, including a freshman seminar and AAAS 10, “Introduction to AfricanAmerican Studies,” will visit the Hood to discuss the exhibit within the context of their courses. According to associate curator of education Neely McNulty, local schools will also engage with
“Reconstitution” will be on display at the Hood Museum until May 31.
the exhibit. McNulty said that she is looking forward to having conversations with regional students and community members about how these artists challenge dominant historical narratives. “Within a small exhibition, the myriad perspectives and ways artists approach representation adds nuance and complexity to those conversations,” McNulty said. “Many of the works inspire more questions than they answer, and that’s a good thing.” Hong said she hopes to encourage conversations about the Western narratives that are usually privileged in museums. “My curatorial practice has always been wanting to lean into this idea of nuance, as opposed to me giving you answers of how you should interpret the work,” Hong said. “It may be uncomfortable, but that discomfort allows for us to engage in difficult dialogues.”
ALISON PALIZZOLO/COURTESY OF THE HOOD MUSEUM
PAGE 8
THE DARTMOUTH ADVERTISEMENT
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020