All Dartmouth students can speak knowingly about the "Dartmouth Experience." But there are some students who define it.
Seniors Owen Gottlieb, Danielle Moore and Hosea Harvey have all left their own unique marks on campus in the four years they have spent at Dartmouth.
Owen Gottlieb
Despite Gottlieb's jam-packed schedule as a filmmaker, honors student and nature lover, he still feels that he could have done more in his four years at the College.
Gottlieb said his one regret is that "you can't possibly do everything you want to do at Dartmouth."
"I'm going to miss Dartmouth a lot," he said. "It's kind of scary when you get nostalgic before you move on to things."
But to the untrained eye, Gottlieb's accomplishments seem quite numerous.
Filmmaking
Gottlieb described being the director of the Dartmouth Film Society as "nearly a full time job for somebody."
A film studies major, most of his time this year has been spent concentrating on his senior honors thesis, a 16-minute color and sound film that relates to Argentine film history.
Gottlieb first began studying Argentine film with Spanish and Comparative Literature Professor Diana Taylor his sophomore year. and continued this study as a Presidential Scholar.
Together, he and Taylor, "analyzed Argentine film during the Dirty War," he said.
Taylor explained that the Dirty War was the period from 1976 to 1985 during which the military tortured and killed approximately 30,000 civilians.
Gottlieb said he observed the "mechanization of body and voice in Argentine cinema," in the films he researched.
Taylor said she learned more about film from Gottlieb than he did from her.
"I think he's an outstanding student and [an] outstanding human being," she said. He is "an incredibly talented, creative and hard-working person."
According to an article in the May issue of Dartmouth Life, Gottlieb's honors thesis is a futuristic film "about a street artist and a photojournalist who are kidnapped by a para-fascist military regime."
The title of the film is "Anatomist of Pain."
Gottlieb said he wants "to make both fiction and documentary films" in the future.
One of his personal aspirations is to be able to show social justice in films, as movies such as "Hoop Dreams" and "The Thin Blue Line" depict.
Gottlieb said he will miss the DFS after graduation.
Film Studies Professor Bill Pence, the director of film at the Hop, said he feels Gottlieb has "done a magnificent job" as the director of DFS.
Pence, who was also Gottlieb's supervisor when he interned at the Telluride Film Festival, said "I just think the world of him."
He said he believes Gottlieb will have a successful career in film.
Gottlieb plans to begin the master of fine arts program at the University of Southern California's graduate film school in the fall.
Other interests
A native of New Jersey, Gottlieb said he "fell in love with [Dartmouth] when I first saw it."
He said in terms of nature "it's kind of like a little paradise up here for four years," and he will the fresh air, the mountains and the river.
One of his main reasons for choosing to come to Dartmouth was to be out of the city. He said he realized his future career in film would lead him to live in a city later in life, so he decided to spend his time as an undergraduate away from the city.
Gottlieb said the first time he went out on the Connecticut River during his sophomore summer was "a big deal."
He said he is looking forward to kayaking this summer, when he spends time as an intern for the Telluride Film Festival.
Gottlieb is a member of Hillel and Casque and Gauntlet senior society.
Gottlieb is also a member of Phi Tau coeducational fraternity, and enjoys science fiction and golden age radio.
Academic achievements
A Phi Beta Kappa and Rufus Choate Scholar, Gottlieb was also recognized by USA Today's All-USA College Academic Team three years in a row.
This year he won honorable mention for his work as the director of the Dartmouth Film Society and as an intern last summer for the Telluride Film Festival Filmmakers of Tomorrow program.
Last year he earned a position on the second team for co-writing, directing and producing a documentary about alcohol at Dartmouth.
In 1993 his efforts to found Asgard, the College's alcohol and substance-free student organization, in the winter of 1992, gave him a spot on USA Today's third team.
Gottlieb also received a $1,000 scholarship from U. Magazine in the field of communications last fall, sponsored by Warner Brothers. U. Magazine is a monthly publication delivered free to colleges and universities across the country.
