Consent Forms
Leave a reply
Author Archives: f004n84
Dorm Parties
General Information:
Informant: KS
Place: Hanover, NH
Date: November 1, 2021
Genre/Form of folklore: Customary/Ritual
Title: “Dorm Parties”
Informant Data: KS is a 19-year-old member of Dartmouth’s class of 2025. He is a student-athlete on the football team, who is interested in studying engineering. He is from Germany, making him a unique person on the football team as almost everyone who plays American football in college is from America. He lives primarily in Hanover, NH on his college campus now.
Contextual Data: American college experiences oftentimes involve partying as a form of socializing. It is a great way for people to meet those who live around them as everyone is away from their home, often for the first time in their lives. The feeling of independence is usually new, and so students want to go and meet the others around them so that they have friends for their upcoming college years.
Social Data: Freshmen are banned from going to the fraternities on campus for the first 6-7 weeks of the fall. During this time, freshmen are forced to bond together in the dorms and spend social time there.
Item: Freshmen students are unable to go to the frats because there is a frat ban. In response, the social scene becomes dorm parties because there is not much else going on in the area. Many students rotate hosting and then they have a group of friends in their room for a weekend night.
Transcript:
Collector: “Are there any other traditions we haven’t discussed that you think are important to freshman fall at Dartmouth?”
Informant: “Dorm parties are fun because it allows me to meet new people outside of the football team. Because we cannot go to frats, it provides us with a fun way to blow off some social steam. I enjoy getting a break from schoolwork and being around my peers. I think the frat ban was good because it forced us to bond as a freshmen class.”
Collector Comment:
I remember dorm parties from my freshman year being rare and often they were broken up because of COVID. It was nice to hear this class of freshmen was able to be social this fall and make more friends.
Collected by:
Ross Parrish 20
Cincinnati, OH
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
RUSS 013
Fall 2021
Fall Camp
General Information:
Informant: AG
Place: Hanover, NH
Date: November 5, 2021
Genre/Form of folklore: Ritual/Customary
Title: “Fall Camp”
Informant Data: AG is a 19-year-old member of the class of 2025 at Dartmouth College. He is from New Jersey but spends most of the year on the college’s campus in Hanover, NH. He is a student-athlete, a part of the college’s football team as a tight end, and he is interested in studying economics.
Contextual Data: Football teams across the country, whether it is high school, college, or professional teams, spend at least a few weeks before the first game to get prepared with a series of intense practicing. This is referred to as “camp” by almost everyone involved in the sport. At Dartmouth, it is a time when the team is on before most of the campus has arrived and they are all housed in the same building as a group and forced to do everything together.
Social Data: Football players across the country show up to campuses early to prepare for their upcoming season with a few weeks of intense practicing referred to as “camp”.
Item: Each fall, the football team at Dartmouth spends about 25 days before the rest of the student body arrives on campus doing a fall camp. During this camp, players spend roughly 14 hours per day in meetings, lifts, practices, and team meals. It is a major bonding opportunity for the team, as well as a chance to get prepared for a competitive football season.
Transcript:
Collector: “Why did you (or didn’t) participate in the DOC Freshman year trips?”
Informant: “I play on the football team and we had to be at camp, so we missed out on the DOC freshman trips that the rest of our class participated in. We were slightly bummed, but we came here for football and it was important for us to be here and bond with the team, as well as learn our plays and practice to get us ready for the upcoming season. Every player misses the trips, and at the end of the day, we prefer it that way because football is the reason we are here. Camp gives us the chance to meet our teammates and get used to campus before everyone else arrives.”
Collector Comment:
As a member of the football team, our class also experienced its first camp this fall. It was a good preparation period and I enjoyed the bond the team built from being on campus early.
Collected by:
Ross Parrish 20
Cincinnati, OH
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
RUSS 013
Fall 2021
Class Picture
General Information:
Informant: DL
Place: Front of Baker-Berry Library
Date: October 15th, 2021
Genre/Form of folklore: Customary/Ritual
Title: “Class Picture”
Informant Data: DL is a 20-year-old Dartmouth college student graduating in 2024. He is from Charleston, SC, and grew up with a twin brother, a mom, and a dad. He plans to study economics and has an interest in improv comedy. He is involved in DIPP and the Greek-Life system. Currently, he lives primarily in Hanover, NH as he attends school, but his home is still Charleston when he is not at school.
Contextual Data: Every class at Dartmouth has a class picture taken of them to capture their first moments on campus as a collective group. It is meant to give them a reference point of the beginning of their Dartmouth journey, as there will be many terms when the class is not all on-campus together in the future.
Social Data: At the time the folklore was occurring, students in Dartmouth’s class of 2024 were gathered in front of Baker-Berry library in front of a large ladder with a photographer on top. I collected this folklore in person in a dorm room in Lord Hall, as DL is my roommate.
Item: Every class at Dartmouth takes a picture in front of Baker-Berry during their freshman fall term to show unity and encourage students to meet each other.
Transcript:
Collector: “What does the tradition of the class picture symbolize to you?”
Informant: “The tradition of the Dartmouth class photo is a traditional, unifying experience in which the entire class comes together under one symbolic grouping in front of a camera. It captures the moment for generations of Dartmouth students and provides everyone a chance to be a part of their class history. This one event was vital to my connection with my class and the Dartmouth community. As I stood there amongst my peers, I could feel the camaraderie and, to be frank, the love within the group.”
Collector Comments:
The one-year late class picture (posted above) felt a bit weird this year. Many students arrived at the last second, but it turned out great and it was nice to replace the virtual “picture” they had done.
Collected by:
Ross Parrish 20
Cincinnati, OH
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
RUSS 013
Fall 2021
DOC Trip
General Information:
Informant: MA
Place: Hanover, NH
Date: August 2019
Genre/Form of folklore: Customary/Ritual
Title: “DOC Trips”
Informant Data: MA is a 20-year-old Dartmouth student from the class of 2023. She is from Florida and wants to study geography. She is a student-athlete on the softball team, which meant she already knew some people on campus.
Contextual Data: In the week prior to Freshman Orientation week, the Dartmouth Outing Club organizes and oversees “Freshman Year Trips”, where students go on a 3 day trip with six to eight other freshman and two upperclassmen trip leaders. There is a wide range of activities- from hiking to canoeing, to arts and crafts. Upon arrival, the freshmen go to Robinson Hall (Robo) where they are greeted by upperclassmen dressed in random, flamboyant outfits (flair) to check in. They spend the first night preparing for the trip and they are sent into the wilderness of New Hampshire. Throughout this whole period, the freshmen do not have access to their phones and have all their belongings in one bag. This is often an intimidating experience for freshmen entering a totally new environment but is intended to make them feel welcomed and comfortable.
Social Data: Freshmen are arriving on campus from different corners of the country, and many of them are arriving without any friends. The trips force them into groups where they can meet new people and also learn something about the area surrounding their campus.
Item: Every fall, freshmen go on trips that are led by upperclassmen and get to see the area surrounding their new college campus.
Transcript:
Collector: “What do you remember most about DOC trips?”
Informant: “I remember it being super awkward at first, but then when people started talking we got to know each other very well. It opened my eyes to how different people here are, but expanding my friend group was a good thing. I appreciated the opportunity to observe and enjoy the diversity of everyone on campus. Being from different parts of the country and sometimes the world, it was nice to see we have Dartmouth in common.”
Collector Comment:
I was never able to go on the DOC trips, so it is always kind of bitter-sweet to hear how great of an experience it is for many of the freshmen as they arrive on a new campus. It is a great tradition that Dartmouth does a great job employing.
Collected by:
Ross Parrish 20
Cincinnati, OH
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
RUSS 013
Fall 2021
Homecoming Bonfire
General Information:
Informant: SH
Place: Hanover, NH
Date: October 9, 2021
Genre/Form of folklore: Customary/Ritual
Title: “Bonfire”
Informant Data: SH is an 18-year-old Dartmouth student who is a part of the class of 2025. He is from Washington State, but he lives on campus at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH for most of the year. He is a student-athlete participating on the football team and has an interest in studying economics.
Contextual Data: Every term at Dartmouth has one big weekend of celebration, and in the fall this is “Homecoming” weekend for the incoming freshman and alumni. There are parades, speeches, and a large bonfire that the freshman class walks around. While the freshmen walk around the fire, the upperclassmen yell at them and tell them to “touch the fire”. This is one of the most well-known traditions at Dartmouth that all students and alumni look forward to.
Social Data: The bonfire is a massive fire set on the green and designed to be run (or walked) around by the freshman class. Since it is during homecoming weekend, most of the campus plus many alumni surround the fire while the freshmen go around. The fire has the numbers of the graduating year of the freshmen class (24 and 25 this year because of COVID).
Item: The massive fire annually set on Dartmouth’s campus on The Green.
Transcript:
Collector: “What is your attitude towards Homecoming Weekend and the Bonfire tradition?”
Informant: “Homecoming was pretty cool. The fire was massive and I enjoyed feeling the heat from across the green. I did not expect it to be as large as it was. I appreciated that our class was able to make a lot of fun memories together.”
Collector Comment:
Homecoming weekend in general is a great tradition at Dartmouth. It is super cool to see all of the alumni come back and celebrate at the football game, bonfire, around campus, in their former frats/sororities, etc. Dartmouth alumni seem especially drawn to the campus after they graduate, and it is clear that homecoming weekend is a wonderful example of this.
Collected by:
Ross Parrish 20
Cincinnati, OH
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
RUSS 013
Fall 2021
Website Introduction
This group consisted of Maria Angelino ’23, Ross Parrish ’24, Nick Hepburn ’24, Carson Reich ’22, Ben Keeter ’22, Leonard St. Gourdin ’24, and Una Westvold ’22.
We interviewed five people each (35 total) about different freshman fall traditions, but the focus was on the DOC trips and Homecoming Weekend. The range of our interviewees was people from the class of 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, and alumni of Dartmouth College.
We found that most of the folklore we collected fit the category of ritual or customary practices. The folklore is designed to make the freshman class feel connected and force students to meet friends. It also creates commonality between older classes and the freshmen class because they have similar experiences. Dartmouth’s traditions are unique because of the isolated environment and the age of the institution. These freshman fall traditions, which are similar to initiation rites, are unlike any others found in other American colleges.