One of the first things I did when I arrived in Hanover following my DOC trip was attend an hour long woodshop orientation session in the basement of the Hopkins Center. Along with a dozen or so other freshmen, I anxiously listened and watched as assistant shop director Dudley Whitney introduced the different tools and built a small bookcase. At the end of the session, I received the official woodshop "gray card" and was ready to start woodworking at Dartmouth.
Two days later, I returned to the shop with no particular project in mind. Not having done any woodworking since seventh grade shop class, I asked Dudley if there was something I could build that would introduce me to the basics of furniture making. We flipped through a few books, talked some about what I wanted to build, and eventually arrived at a small table pictured in an old book of Shaker furniture.
Dudley suggested that I make a few drawings, decide on the wood I wanted to use, and then come back when I was ready to move on. And this is how it proceeded throughout the term -- I'd get a little instruction, do a few things on my own, go back for some more help and so on.
Many other students at Dartmouth have had similar experiences in the other two student workshops -- the jewelry shop also in the Hop and the pottery studio just across the river in Vermont. But why are these experiences important? In what way are they a major part of the Dartmouth liberal arts education?
Three reasons come to mind. First, it is immensely satisfying and fun to create something yourself. For many students, the workshops provide an outlet from studying and course work. In this sense, they serve the same function as a sports team or a musical group.
But the workshops also allow students to experiment creatively and enjoy the pleasures of working with their hands. They are an opportunity to fully engage oneself in a medium such as wood, clay or metal. They restore a closeness with the raw materials of the earth.
Another reason why this kind of work is so satisfying is that it allows us to see something through to completion. In an academic environment where most work is ongoing and often intangible to the student, the workshops are one place where we can know that our work is complete. How often can we say that we are fully satisfied with our work? How often do we have the sense that what we have done simply looks right?
The second reason why the student workshops are important is that they provide a small degree of self sufficiency and independence for students. Learning a few skills gives us the confidence to do many other simple things for ourselves. Not only is it empowering to know how to hang a picture or bang a nail, it is also a lot less expensive. I dare say that many of us will actually have so much money in the future that we will be able to pay others for all these services. And even if we do, we still may find it worthwhile to understand the work of other people.
This suggests another reason why many find the workshops so rewarding: we gain a sense of humility in becoming familiar with a trade. One doctor wrote a few years ago of his experience in the now closed metal shop: "Having welded steel, I momentarily was a peer with many workers of the world -- not bad for a constructive, liberating experience." How rich our education becomes when we develop a respect and understanding for the precariousness of handwork on an age of technology and mass production.
Finally, the workshops are one of the few places on campus where students can engage in hands on learning. Taking part in a process gives us a sense for the limitations of theoretical knowledge by itself. As I fumbled along on my first project in the woodshop, it became clear that I could not learn woodcraft from a book -- I had to be in there doing it myself.
In its efforts to increase intellectualism at Dartmouth, the Administration must not confine itself to a purely academic view of liberal arts. In addition to supporting more research and scholarship opportunities, we need to recognize the ways in which applied skills broaden our education and compliment academic learning.
The potential for Dartmouth to provide both academic and applied experiences is what sets us apart from other schools. Few other colleges have facilities for woodworking, jewelry making and pottery (and hopefully organic gardening!). Given the college's broader educational goals and the already high level of student participation, Dartmouth should be looking for ways to expand these opportunities by keeping the shops open longer.
Students need to take greater advantage of these opportunities as well. Get into one of the shops and make something. You'll get all the help you need from some great master craftspeople and will experience the excitement of working with your very own hands.
