Global & Cultural

Cross-cultural learning is a core element of the Dartmouth experience, with students and scholars actively engaged in global study, research, and collaboration. DCAL funded several experiential learning opportunities designed to intentionally build students' cross-cultural competency through domestic, global, and research-based experiences. 

ANTH 32: Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalaya, with Field Experience in NYC

This week-long field excursion to Himalayan New York extends an existing course, ANTH 32: "Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalaya." After the finals period, students from the course will have the opportunity to go to New York City and experience various first-hand aspects of Himalayan and Tibetan cultural life and the socioeconomic realities of migrants from the region in NYC.

Term: Winter 2017

Project Leader: Kenneth Bauer (Lecturer, Department of Anthropology)

ANTH 70: Experiencing Human Origins and Evolution

Students in ANTH 70 examined current evidence for human origins and evolution, with a particular emphasis on South Africa. Students learned and experienced firsthand how fossils, archaeological sites, and living model systems are used to reconstruct and interpret the path and circumstances by which humans evolved. A 20-day course extension in South Africa followed the course, and provided students with direct experience with and opportunities to reflect on the sites, scientists, organisms, and challenges discussed in class.

Term: Fall 2016

Project Leaders: Jeremy DeSilva (Associate Professor of Anthropology), Nathaniel Dominy (Professor of Anthropology)

ECON 70: Immersion Experience in Applied Economics and Policy in Poland

Students in this section of ECON 70 studied the history of the centrally-planned economic system and how it influenced economic development in Poland. The course will culminate in a Winterim experience in Poland, where students will learn first-hand how Poland has transitioned to a market-oriented economy.

Term: Fall 2016

Project Leader: Elisabeth Curtis (Senior Lecturer in Economics)

ECON 70: Inclusive Growth in China

Students studied inclusive growth in China from sociological, business and economics, and individual perspectives. The course culminated in an off-campus experience in China during the winter intersession with the goal of interacting with the Chinese population discussed during the term. This immersion and application shed light on many important questions posed during the course.

Term: Fall 2016

Project Leader: Diego Comin (Professor of Economics)

Fieldwork in Tonga

This experience, which will engage up to five linguistics students on the 2017 New Zealand FSP, will involve undergraduate students in the process of designing and executing a field trip to Tonga in order to collect data on the Tongan language. The trip, which will last between 5-7 days, will occur immediately after the students’ completion of the FSP, during the interim between winter and spring terms. A faculty advisor from the Linguistics program will accompany the students to Tonga, where the students will determine the nature of the data to be collected, organize the necessary research activities, and implement their plans.

Term: Winter 2017

Project Leader: Lindsay Whaley (Professor of Classics and Linguistics)

Global Health Lab: Kosovo Women's Health Policy Research Project

The Global Health Lab Kosovo Health Policy Research project demonstrated a new model for global health engagement linking formal coursework with field research on real world global health challenges. The inaugural project engaged three Dartmouth undergraduates and one student from the Geisel School of Medicine in a team-based health policy research project in Kosovo. The project culminated in a presesntation of the students' research to Kosovo's former president, Atifete Jahjaga.

Term: Summer 2016

Project Leader: Anne Sosin (Global Health Initiative Program Manager in the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding)

Great Issues Scenarios and Tabletop (GIST) Exercises

The Great Issues Scenarios and Tabletop Exercises (GIST) program at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding is a focused series of interactive simulation and scenario exercises designed to develop decision-making, crisis management, international engagement, cultural awareness, and peace-building skills in the Dartmouth community. The program will develop engagement opportunities for more senior students (including graduate students) in hands-on learning exercises led by Dartmouth faculty, external experts, and the staff of the Dickey Center. Students will have opportunities to share their results and observations, discuss and reflect upon the process, and connect the learning experience in GIST to their broader academic journey.

Term: Ongoing

Project Leader: Casey Aldrich (Student Programs Manager, John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding)

Launching a Hub for Collaborative Research in History

A physical “hub” in the History Department will come alive via a year-long design and development process in four clusters: publicity intended to broadcast the array of faculty-student collaborative activity; acquisition of additional tools for hands-on history work; extensive student leadership opportunities to enhance the awareness of experiential learning across the major; and incentives for faculty to partner with students in innovative ways. This project will align four existing programs in undergraduate research to the pedagogical objectives of experiential learning. By year’s end, we envision a critical recasting of the History Department’s commitments to the Presidential Scholars program, the London-based archival work done by students in the History FSP, the thesis-writing Honors’ Program, and various emerging initiatives in oral history.

Project Term: 2018-19

Project Lead: Bob Bonner (Chair of the History Department)

Pathways to Medicine Scholars

Pre-health undergraduates from populations underrepresented in medicine experienced medicine in action, worked with mentors, regularly reflected in community, and engaged in an immersive healthcare experience over spring break. The project builds on the existing Pathways to Medicine initiative, which supports students of color, from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine, in achieving their pre-health aspirations. Watch the video.

Term: 2017-18 

Project Lead: Sarah Berger

 

The Making of 21st Century Exhibits: Curating The National Black Theater Museum

This project provides students with a course-based opportunity to help curate exhibits for the new National Black Theater Museum that is currently under review in Memphis, TN. Preparation for this course will begin with the international Black Theater Summit to be hosted at Dartmouth in fall 2018, when members of the museum scholar team will meet with the project team to align the focus of the course with museum goals in real time. Students will have an opportunity to simultaneously witness and contribute to the only American theater museum in the country while working with professional directors and actors to produce materials for the exhibit.

Project Term: 2018-19

Project Lead: Monica White Ndounou (Associate Professor of Theater, 2017-18 Sony Music Fellow)

Transnational Race and Sexuality Studies

Through this embedded domestic study component of the existing Advanced Research in Gender Studies course, students engaged in dialogues and encounters with artists, curators, thinkers, and activists in large cultural institutions and grassroots organizations that were formed by queer of color communities in New York City.

Term: Spring 2018

Project Team: Eng-Beng Lim (Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies), Scott Millspaugh (Instructional Design)