THE MASTHEAD
Editor-in-Chief: Paul Lintilhac
Executive Editor: Zack De
Managing Editor: Eli Lichtenstein
Publisher: Joseph Z. T. Mesfin
Treasurer: Kate B. Miller

Read Issue 11.1!

THE MASTHEAD
Editor-in-Chief: Paul Lintilhac
Publisher: Ted Wojcik
Executive Editor: Zack De

THE MASTHEAD
Editor-in-Chief: Paul Lintilhac
Publisher: Ted Wojcik
Executive Editor: Zach De

THE MASTHEAD
Editor-in-Chief: Paul Lintilhac
Publisher: Ted Wojcik
Executive Editor: Zach De

THE MASTHEAD
Editor-in-Chief: Paul Lintilhac
Publisher: Ted Wojcik
Executive Editor: Zach De

Our Favorite Lecturers

There would be no great classes without great teachers. The following is a listing, in no particular order, of just a few of the accomplished professors at Dartmouth College. We do not claim that this is an exhaustive list—unfortunately, no single person on our staff has studied under every professor. And we are not so arrogant to claim that these are the “best” professors. But they are damn good ones—and we’ll challenge anyone who says otherwise.

Read the full story

hoosing courses can be a bit daunting as a first-year, but luckily, upperclassmen are around to offer advice. We reached out to students across campus to find a list of great professors—this list is not exhaustive, but it is a sampling of student accounts of professors whose classes we have enjoyed over the years. For more suggestions, check out previous first-year issues in the DFP online archives at www.dartmouth.edu/~thepress

Michael Bronski

Women’s and Gender Studies

Michael Bronski brings his considerable experience as an activist and writer to the classroom. His classes, which use gender and queer theory to critique popular culture, are concerned primarily with improving the writing of his students. As a veteran freelance journalist, Bronski offers something that not many professors can—an eye for developing prose that is as didactic as it stylized. And although most professors at Dartmouth are accessible, Bronski truly sets the standard. You’ll learn as much in his office as you will in the lecture hall. Besides the unique subject matter of his classes, Bronski is a great guy and everyone at Dartmouth should get to know him.

James Dorsey

Japanese

Professor Dorsey is a really easy-going guy—while many professors put off students by appearing cold and too busy, Dorsey is easy to approach and to get along with. He cares about his students on a personal level, so once you’ve taken his class you can feel you have a friend amongst the profs. One student commented that, “I consider him to be a mentor and aside from being a complete nerd, he’s pretty interesting, too.”

Eric Edmonds

Economics

Eric Edmonds is not exactly what you expect to find in the Economics department. His enthusiastic lectures, equal parts brilliance and sarcastic wit, are captivating, accessible, and enlightening. A well-published authority on the economics of child labor, Edmonds’ Development Economics class has now become a core offering of the department’s major tracks, including an advanced seminar counterpart. Just make sure you stay on top of your work, lest you become the subject of his infamous sarcasm.

Linda Fowler

Government

Professor Fowler is that grandma you had that bakes you pie, but gives you that deathly disappointed and upset look when you’ve taken that pie and put some in your kid sister’s hair. But don’t let this turn you away: It’s a good motivator. She’s a tough grader, but fair, and she’s not just accessible—she insists on guiding you toward success in her class. Fowler’s primary focus lies in the field of American government, so if that’s your interest, find your way into her class.

Andrew Garrod

Education

Garrod’s EDUC 20: Educational Issues course demands a lot of reading and reading outside of class, but the result is a highly engaging and insightful looks at American education. Through energetic lectures, creative assignments, and a stimulating range of assigned readings and resources, his classes cultivate an inquisitive and reflective spirit and provide the sort of education to which schools aspire. Despite the large size of his classes, Garrod manages to create the atmosphere of personal education and engagement.

John Kopper

Comparative Literature and Russian

With his maddeningly extensive reservoir of references, his compelling eclecticism and his unremitting elucidation of the recondite and the obscure, Kopper restores to literature the long-eroded credibility of being a worldly discipline, one that moves beyond the rarefied and turgid word-games of literary theory. His “Literature and Music” class is a peculiar rarity in its scope, exposing students to the broad and rich history of inter-art ventures from opera and program music to MallarmÉ and Shaw. Because he is as (frighteningly) comfortable discussing Adorno and Edward Said as he is French Symbolism or the Russian modernist novel, Kopper is a superb resource inside and outside the classroom. On the whole, his classes are less demanding, more enlightening, and no doubt more memorable than most literature courses at Dartmouth.

David Lagomarsino

History

David Lagomarsino knows his history, he grades fairly, and at the end of the term you will find yourself knowing more about Early Modern Europe than you ever thought possible. Few other professors are able to convey his level of eager interest for the backroom dealings and skullduggery that fill the accounts of his specialty, Europe in the period from 1300-1650 and especially Spain during its Golden Age. Although the Early Modern period is perhaps less studied by undergraduates than others, he combines the analytical skill of a serious historian with the wit of a storyteller as he moves through ranks of Machiavellian politicians, ruthless generals and philandering popes. Even in lecture classes, he manages to involve the entire class in freewheeling discussions—something of a rarity for classes held in a lecture hall.

Adrian Randolph

Art History and Women’s and Gender Studies

During “Visual Cultures of Gender,” Professor Randolph engaged the class by evaluating the way gender was represented in a variety of visual representations that ranged from neoclassic paintings to modern-day advertisements, magazines etc. While he specializes in the well-known Italian Renaissance, he was able to provide refreshing views on the concept of gender in classic art pieces. Randolph is also extremely available outside of class and continues to be very supportive of his students throughout their time at Dartmouth.

Ivy Schweitzer

English and Women’s and Gender Studies

Ivy Schweitzer’s WGST classes can be intense for someone who lacks previous knowledge of the subject, but she’s an incredibly enthusiastic and fascinating professor. Her lectures tend to go a-mile-a-minute, and she covers a broad range of topics, really expecting her students to engage with the material. A tough, but fair grader, Schweitzer is also an English professor, so you will find your writing skills improving throughout your time in her Women’s and Gender Studies classes.

Lucas Swaine

Government

Wait to take GOVT 6: Political Ideas, with him—the readings can be dense, but his lectures have just the right mix of humor and clarity. Take the class with a different prof and, as upperclassmen who made that mistake, warn: you’ll probably hate the course. One of Swaine’s entertaining quirks: he gives out the essay topics in very creative ways—you’ll just have to take the class to see what we mean. Also, despite being a medium-sized class, he still manages to facilitate engaging discussions, so you can get to know your classmates. If you take his class, make sure you stop in on his office hours too—he usually has something interesting to share, from an intriguing article to slang flash cards.

or any freshmen student, choosing classes can be a little daunting. Luckily, upperclassmen are around, ready to pass down some much-needed advice. This list of recommended professors below was compiled by the humanities-heavy DFP after sifting through submissions from students across campus.

Mary Coffey

Art History

Young, enthusiastic, and bespectacled in super hip mod glasses, Professor Coffey is probably one of the cooler teachers you’ll have in your Dartmouth career. Whether lecturing an auditorium-packed introductory art survey or leading a discussion seminar-style, she commands attention with her eloquence, organization, and sophistication. Coffey cares about her students, ready to blitz them in-depth responses to their last minute exam worries and available during office hours to chat with her devoted fan base.

Paul Christesen

Classics

Many hold Professor Christesen in high regard for having turned them into Classics minors, largely due to his CLST 1 course. A Dartmouth ’88, he is often held to be one of the best professors at Dartmouth by students who have taken a course with him—majors and non-majors alike. Christesen has a simple but powerful style of teaching that combines perfectly with his depth of knowledge and incredible sense of humor. More than any other professor at Dartmouth, Christesen focuses on teaching the entire person, not just the material.

Jeremy Rutter

Classics

Professor Rutter is not a teacher for the faint of heart. But if you have even the slightest interest in archaeology or classical Greece, or if you’re just interested in a professor who will keep you challenged, Professor Rutter is your man. He awes his students by consistently being able to cite page numbers of articles he read years ago—but this man is no head-in-his-books academic. He is a talented lecturer capable of keeping his students awake and laughing even during long slideshows in the dark. Plus, he covers his office door with Far Side comics.

Prasad Jayanti

Computer Science

Professor Jayanti is best described as a space cadet; few professors are more animated. His lectures draw from an elaborate fantasy world wherein red and black stickers are to be placed on one’s forehead, a coffee cup is a black-box of supercomputing, and abstract theories are worth getting really, really excited about. He fools his students into believing all of it, too. That’s because once you hear an idea colorfully explained by Jayanti, it’s hard to imagine it any other way.

Eric Edmonds

Economics

Eric Edmonds is not exactly what you expect to find in the Economics department. His enthusiastic lectures, equal parts brilliance and sarcastic wit, are captivating, accessible, and enlightening. A well-published authority on the economics of child labor, Edmonds’ Development Economics class has now become a core offering of the department’s major tracks, including an advanced seminar counterpart. Just make sure you stay on top of your work, lest you become the subject of his infamous sarcasm.

Andrew Garrod

Education

Garrod’s EDUC 20: Educational Issues course demands a lot of reading and reading outside of class, but the result is a highly engaging and insightful looks at American education. Through energetic lectures, creative assignments, and a stimulating range of assigned readings and resources, his classes cultivate an inquisitive and reflective spirit and provide the sort of education to which schools aspire. Despite the large size of his classes, Professor Garrod manages to create the atmosphere of personal education and engagement.

Michael Chaney

English

“I’m trying to minor in Chaney,” one student of the English department’s newly acquired star once said. Chaney teaches classes on topics ranging from early African-American literature to graphic novels. He leads class discussion with an enthusiasm and intellectualism both engaging and challenging, and his impressive oratory skills will make you wish Dartmouth still offered a public speaking program. Always available during office hours to chat with students about everything from their academic interests to Dartmouth’s social scene, Chaney embodies what a Dartmouth professor should be: brilliant, interesting, and interested.

Donald Pease

English

A phenomenal lecturer, veteran Donald Pease has a masterful understanding of’th Century American literature and 20th Century American drama. Pease conducts his classes in a traditional lecture style, speaking for the entirety of the 65 minutes on his interpretation of the various novels and plays assigned for readings. Classes move quickly, and the readings for each class can be long and dense. But Pease is tremendously successful at unifying all the works of literature assigned and portraying the works within the historiographic framework of the time they were written.

Amy Lawrence

Film and Television Studies

Lawrence is the kind of professor that makes you leap out of bed when your alarm goes off. One could discuss, in great length, her merits in blunt list format—her overwhelming command of the course material, her attention to organization and structure in planning her courses, her excellent lectures, her ability to carefully stimulate and guide class discussions, her creativity in assignments and materials—but this wouldn’t matter quite so much if she weren’t such a bright, cheerful presence in the classroom. It’s a rare teacher whose abundance of enthusiasm and endlessly sunny disposition can alone make a class worth taking; it’s another story altogether when that personality also possesses the intellect of a top-notch academic.

Ellis Shookman

German

Taking a language class, or any other course, with Professor Shookman is inevitably an immensely rewarding experience. Professor Shookman is meticulous but patient, incredibly smart but genial, and has a deceptively hilarious sense of humor. Professor Shookman also teaches many excellent literature courses, including one on the Faust tradition.

Lucas Swaine

Government

Wait to take GOVT 6: Political Ideas, with him—the readings can be dense, but his lectures have just the right mix of humor and clarity. Take the class with a different prof and, as upperclassmen who made that mistake, warn: you’ll probably hate the course. One of Swaine’s entertaining quirks: he gives out the essay topics in very creative ways—you’ll just have to take the class to see what we mean. Also, despite being a medium-sized class, he still manages to facilitate engaging discussions, so you can get to know your classmates. If you take his class, make sure you stop in on his office hours too—he usually has something interesting to share, from an intriguing article to slang flash cards.

Benjamin Valentino

Government

A young up-and-comer in the Government department, Valentino offers IR-track classes that explore intricate theories and issues with rare clarity. Valentino’s brilliance is his ability to make difficult subject matters graspable, while still presenting a full and intellectually challenging course load. He’s also extraordinarily knowledgeable and approachable outside of class, so take advantage of his ability and willingness to explain when you a take a course with him.

Colin Calloway

Native American Studies

and History

Colin Calloway’s courses on American Indian history are incredibly enlightening. So much of this history has been tucked under the rug, and Calloway is very good at letting you understand the “new” history within the context of all the American history you’ve been taught. A clever and quick-witted fellow, Calloway makes lectures fun, and he doesn’t kill you with huge research papers either. At the end of the class, you’ll actually feel educated—something distinctly lacking in many other Dartmouth co
urses.

Samuel J. Velez

roBiology ology

One of the most loved professors in the Biology department, Professor Velez is as energetic as he is knowledgeable. And he is very knowledgeable. It is true that his exams are among the most challenging in the department. However, Professor Velez’s clear and detailed lectures make difficult material more than manageable. Most importantly, the information one learns from his class will fascinate even the most cynical humanities major.

Amy Allen

Philosophy and

Women’s and Gender Studies

Dartmouth philosophy professors as often as not seem to have written the book they teach, and yet Amy Allen still stands out as especially knowledgeable. She is a sharp, fast lecturer with a broad knowledge base: she is fluent in Nietzsche and everything else in continental philosophy, but has written a book in feminist theory and is working now on another on social criticism. Most impressive is her high priority for students; she is invested and professional in her classes and expects the same from her students, so expect fair grades and demanding material.

Clarence Hardy

Religion

Clarence Hardy is certainly not one to be missed. His class on religion and American society is one of the most interesting and thought-provoking classes at Dartmouth. He is truly a gentleman and a scholar who knows how to keep the interest of a class while still entertaining all questions, and he often gives a creative option in addition to the standard paper form, enabling students to put texts and authors in conversation with each other.

Mikhail Gronas

Russian

Ask any Russian major or minor about Gronas, and they are far more likely to refer to him simply as Mischa, as if he were a friend instead of a figure of authority. The best thing about having a class with Mischa is his casual, impromptu and highly amusing way of conducting the classroom while bringing fountains of information to the conversation. He’s an imposing, bearded, heavily-accented Russian poet who chain smokes and chucks balls at your head to get you to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. What more do you want?

Karolina Kawiaka

Studio Art

Kawiaka is an absolute sweetheart, always wearing a smile and an optimistic attitude. She’s very understanding and tries to teach in ways that are fresh and adaptable to individuals, so you aren’t just rehashing trite lessons but rather learning through your own discovery and style. She pushes students to achieve to their highest and capability and is a hard prof to disappoint.

Jamie

Horton

Theater

A challenging yet insightful prof, Horton teaches in the Theater department, advises student theater productions, judges for the Frost and Dodd Playwriting Festival, all whilst taking up the director’s chair himself in a number of the department’s main stage productions. Much of theater is about vision—how one incorporates different beliefs and opinions into a single image. Jamie Horton has such an undeniable vision, and the best part is, at the end of the day, you’ll take away a part of that artistic insight.

James Rice

Theater

James Rice represents some of the best Dartmouth has to offer. If you’re looking to make a long-lasting connection with a professor, James Rice is your bloke. Even if you’ve never acted a day in your life before and feel a little nervous about trying something so new, Rice puts all doubts to rest. Once you finish one of his courses, you may find yourself signing up for performance-based undertakings you never thought you would. That’s what Rice is, above all: an eye-opener.

Michael Bronski

Women’s and Gender Studies

Michael Bronski brings his considerable experience as an activist and writer to the classroom. His classes, which use gender and queer theory to critique popular culture, are concerned primarily with improving the writing of his students. As a veteran freelance journalist, Bronski offers something that not many professors can—an eye for developing prose that is as didactic as it stylized. And although most professors at Dartmouth are accessible, Bronski truly sets the standard. You’ll learn as much in his office as you will in the lecture hall. Besides the unique subject matter of his classes, Bronski is a great guy and everyone at Dartmouth should get to know him.

endy Kopp,

Founder of Teach for America

At the University of

North Carolina at Chapel Hill

May 14, 2006

[The next few years] are a time when I believe you have something invaluable—the perspective that comes from inexperience. The world needs your inexperience. It needs you before you accept the status quo, before you are plagued by the knowledge of what is impossible.

Thinking back to my own senior year in college, I wasn’t intending to start something like Teach For America—or to start anything at all for that matter. As a college senior I was applying to two-year corporate training programs, seeking out political internships, and generally struggling in my search for something that I really wanted to do. My generation was dubbed the “Me Generation.” People thought all we wanted to do was focus on ourselves and make a lot of money. But that didn’t strike me as right. I felt as if thousands of us talented, driven graduating seniors were searching for a way to make a social impact but simply couldn’t find the opportunity to do so.

Well, during my senior fall, I helped organize a conference about education reform, where one of the topics was the shortage of qualified teachers in urban and rural communities. It was at that conference that I thought of an idea: Why doesn’t our country have a national teacher corps that recruits us to teach in low-income communities the same way we’re being recruited to work on Wall Street?

President George W. Bush

At Oklahoma State University

May 6, 2006

For all of you, I bring a message of great hope: There’s life after English Comp.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

At The New School in New York City

May’, 2006

War is an awful business. The lives of the nation’s finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer. Commerce is disrupted, economies damaged. Strategic interests shielded by years of statecraft are endangered as the demands of war and diplomacy conflict. Whether the cause was necessary or not, whether it was just or not, we should all shed a tear for all that is lost when war claims its wages from us. However just or false the cause, how ever proud and noble the service, it is loss—the loss of friends, the loss of innocent life, the loss of innocence—that the veteran feels most keenly forever more. Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes war.

Americans should argue about this war. It has cost the lives of nearly 2500 of the best of us. It has taken innocent life. It has imposed an enormous financial burden on our economy. At a minimum, it has complicated our ability to respond to other looming threats. Should we lose this war, our defeat will further destabilize an already volatile and dangerous region, strengthen the threat of terrorism, and unleash furies that will assail us for a very long time. I believe the benefits of success will justify the costs and risks we have incurred. But if an American feels the decision was unwise, then they should state their opposition, and argue for another course. It is your right and your obligation. I respect you for it. I would not respect you if you chose to ignore such an important responsibility. But I ask that you consider the possibility that I, too, am trying to meet my responsibilities, to follow my conscience, to do my duty as best as I can, as God has given me light to see that duty.

Jean Rohe

Senior Speaker before John McCain

At The New School in New York City

May’, 2006

Based on the speech he gave at the other institutions, Senator Mc Cain will tell us today that dissent and disagreement are our “civic and moral obligation” in times of crisis. I consider this a time of crisis and I feel obligated to speak. Senator Mc Cain will also tell us about his cocky self-assuredness in his youth, which prevented him from hearing the ideas of others. In so doing, he will imply that those of us who are young are too naïve to have valid opinions and open ears. I am young, and although I don’t profess to possess the wisdom that time affords us, I do know that preemptive war is dangerous and wrong, that George Bush’s agenda in Iraq is not worth the many lives lost. And I know that despite all the havoc that my country has wrought overseas in my name, Osama bin Laden still has not been found, nor have those weapons of mass destruction.

Finally, Senator McCain will tell us that we, those of us who are Americans, “have nothing to fear from each other.” I agree strongly with this, but I take it one step further. We have nothing to fear from anyone on this living planet. Fear is the greatest impediment to the achievement of peace. We have nothing to fear from people who are different from us, from people who live in other countries, even from the people who run our government—and this we should have learned from our educations here. We can speak truth to power, we can allow our humanity always to come before our nationality, we can refuse to let fear invade our lives and to goad us on to destroy the lives of others. These words I speak do not reflect the arrogance of a young strong-headed woman, but belong to a line of great progressive thought, a history in which the founders of this institution play an important part. I speak today, even through my nervousness, out of a need to honor those voices that came before me, and I hope that we graduates can all strive to do the same.

Christiane Amanpour

CNN Correspondent

At the University of Michigan

April 29, 2006

And I dream of a new kind of Peace Corps for the 21st century…an army of American citizens going around the world, brandishing good will, good business models, good ideas and great ideals…and army of people like you, and I urge you, therefore, please to travel. You can do it on a shoestring and it will blow your mind, or, at least, it will change your life. Your eyes will be so opened, your hearts will be so full, and your minds will burst with possibility. I know you can all make your mark because I’ve been there and I’ve seen it. The world is waiting for you and it needs you now.

Does anybody remember Live Aid this time last year? Global concerts organized by Bob Geldorf and Bono, not to raise money, but to raise awareness of the world’s needs. It turned out to be the biggest civil movement in history…31 million people got actively involved. It reached an audience of nearly four billion people, and, in the end, important changes and important progress were made.

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2006, self-absorbed is so “yesterday.” It’s out. “Cool” is now to be a citizen of our world, not just an inhabitant.

Filmmaker Ken Burns

At Georgetown University

May 20, 2006

As you pursue your goals in life, that is to say your future, pursue your past. Let it be your guide. Insist on having a past and then you will have a future.

Do not descend too deeply into specialism in your work. Educate all your parts. You will be healthier. Replace cynicism with its old-fashioned antidote, skepticism.

Don’t confuse success with excellence. The poet Robert Penn Warren once told me that “careerism is death.” Insist on heroes. And be one.

Read. The book is still the greatest manmade machine of all—not the car, not the TV, not the computer.

Write: write letters. Keep journals. Besides your children, there is no surer way of achieving immortality.

Serve your country. Insist that we fight the right wars. Convince your government that the real threat comes from within this favored land as Lincoln knew. Governments always forget that. Do not let your government outsource honesty, transparency, or candor. Do not let your government outsource democracy. Steel yourselves. Your generation will have to repair this damage. And it will not be easy.

Insist that we support science and the arts, especially the arts. They have nothi
ng to do with the actual defense of our country—they just make our country worth defending.