Former Dartmouth Outing Club President Ben Berk '00 has spread himself all over campus in his time at Dartmouth. He has been an Undergraduate Advisor, been active in the 2000 Class Council, Leadership Discovery Program and the Aegis. Now he has tossed his hat into the realm of teaching.
Berk has developed a course related to the major he designed for himself, Information Age Studies. The class, "Collegiate [Interdisciplinarianism] and Group Dynamics," (SIS 005) is listed under Student-Initiated Seminar by the College registrar.
"When I put together my major, I said I was going to make my own class. I researched the process this summer," Berk said. Then came the proposal process.
SIS's are uncommon but not a new thing. Berk, one of this term's Student Life interns, said he recalls the registrar saying that their frequency is about one per year.
The process for developing an SIS involves proposing a seminar on a special topic to the Faculty Committee on Instruction and securing sponsorship from one or more professors.
"The proposal process was excruciating," Berk said, noting that Dartmouth is not particularly receptive to student -initiated work in general.
Berk's sponsors are History professor Richard Kremer and Engineering Sciences Professor George Cybenko who both are willing participants in the classroom.
Berk, although he is in charge of the class, said that he is more like a facilitator than a professor because he doesn't lecture and takes part in class discussions.
Discussions are the centerpiece of course which meets in 244 Baker at the 3A time block. Last week, the class did not meet in person but instead held a discussion in an online chat room on the class website.
The focus of Berk's class is to, as a group, explore the methodology of interdisciplinary and college study. The class will spend approximately three weeks creating their vision for an "ideal college" and another two weeks "tearing it apart," using Dartmouth as a case study, Berk said.
The class fulfills the Interdisciplinary distributive requirement and one of the two Social Analysis courses required for graduation.
When asked about his feelings on the College's distributive requirements, Berk said, "I think [the requirements] end up being detrimental."
"I think distribs are trying to compensate for the discrepancy between [Dartmouth] being a liberal arts college and an intense, research-oriented institution," Berk said.
Berk said he has always envisioned himself teaching, though not necessarily in a classroom. On the possibility of becoming a professor eventually, Berk said, "I wouldn't rule it out."
But he said at this point in time, "I'm very frustrated with academia."
Berk, 21, who was awarded the Ranny B. Cardozo Award which is given annually to the outstanding member of the junior class for academic enthusiasm, genuine concern for his fellow classmates, and energetic participation in campus and community activities, is from Rockland County, N.Y.
