Introduction

Our group will collect and examine social initiation rituals. The consequences and social aspects of the rituals will be the emphasis of our topic. We will focus on rites of passage and initiation rituals from Slavic, Jewish, Russian, and Latin American cultures. In addition, we will look at cultures around us here at Dartmouth (sports teams, Greek life, and acapella groups). By examining these spaces, we hope to compare and contrast how initiation rituals have evolved over time. In addition, we hope to see if there are relationships between intra Dartmouth traditions and global cultural traditions.

Overarching Comparisons

Within Dartmouth groups, we saw that initiation tasks often involved things that were central to the groups, and were largely focused on freshmen. In addition, it appears that Dartmouth groups had an emphasis on teambuilding. For example, sports teams would have physical activity revolving around something related to their team for a teambuilding exercise, and acapella would ask their members to sing and get breakfast for teambuilding purposes. This makes sense as Dartmouth, as a social space, has an emphasis on community and close relations (seen through First Year Trips, the Bonfire, Candlelight ceremony, etc.). While they differ in activity, the essence and principle behind these activities are generally the same: to create a stronger sense of community.

When we examined our ethnic and national groups, we saw that there was a strong trend of transition with regards to age. For American traditions, the quinceanera or sweet sixteen was a tradition for women as a way to become an adult. In addition, within the Jewish culture and religion, the Bar/Bat Mitzvah was also a symbol and vehicle for transition. These two cultures seemed to have an emphasis on the individual’s transition.

In South Slavic cultures, religion and society seemed to play a bigger role in initiation rituals. In things like the weddings, integration into the community was the focus. These events were often influenced by religious organization, such as the Serbian Orthodox Church. While these traditions may have been focused on the individual, a common sense of community is apparent (introduction to the community and departure from the community). This was unique about South Slavic culture and was a similarity to Dartmouth’s initiation rituals. The tight knit and small national identities of South Slavic nations, which many of our informants discussed, may be a potential reason for explaining this.

Presentation

In-class presentation

Items:

• South Slavic
  1. House wrapping for a newborn baby, Croatian
  2. Guarding the deceased, Croatian
  3. The Bride’s Farewell, Croatian
  4. Wedding Celebration, Serbian
  5. Baptism, Serbian
  6. Ultras Initiation, Anonymous (Croatian)
  7. Throwing Wheat, Serbian
  8. Buying the Bride, Serbian
  9. The White Napkin, Serbian
• Jewish
  1. Bat Mitzvah  – Sarah Alpert
  2. Bar Mitzvah  – Justin Kramer
  3. Bar Mitzvah  – Alex
  4. Bar Mitzvah  – Michael Nachman
  5. Bat Mitzvah  – Deborah Feifer
• American Adulthood
  1. Sweet Sixteen Birthday Candles – Morgan Gelber
  2. Sweet Sixteen Planning – Vanessa Pinney
  3. Quinceañera a Catholic Coming of Age Rite– Serena De La Cruz
  4. Gifts and Dresses at the Quinceañera a Symbol of Marriageability – Serena De La Cruz
  5. The Importance of Family at a Quinceañera – Athina Schmidt
  6. Sweet Sixteen Speeches (1) – Chetana Kalidindi
  7. Sweet Sixteen Candle – Jennie Rhodes
  8. Sweet Sixteen Father Daughter Dance – Lindsey Beaudoin
  9. Sweet Sixteen Cake Feeding Ceremony – Sarina Kothari
  10. Sweet Sixteen Speeches (2) – Sarina Kothari
• Dartmouth: Sports Teams
  1. Men’s Swim Team – Connor LaMastra
  2. Men’s Swim Team – Paul Cane
  3. Women’s Swim Team – Alie Hunter
  4. Water Polo – Matt Riley
  5. Water Polo – Kenneth Moussavian
  6. Men’s Lightweight Rowing – Chris Duan
  7. Men’s Rugby – Tyler Bowen
  8. Men’s Rugby – Gordon Robinson
  9. Men’s Lightweight Rowing – Kyle Ziemer
• Dartmouth: Clubs and Student Groups
  1. Dog Day Players – Walker Schneider
  2. Lodge Croo – Walker Scheider
  3. Hill Winds Society – Sumner Erbe
  4. Dartmouth Cords – Matthew Hayes
  5. Dartmouth Fencing Club –
  6. Dartmouth Ski Patrol –
  7. Dartmouth Outing Club – Nick Blasey
  8. Dartmouth Chess Club –
  9. (Dance Group)
• Dartmouth: Social Spaces
  1. Homecoming Bonfire (post 2017) – Wilson Hafner
  2. Homecoming Bonfire (original tradition) – Matthew Hayes
  3. Touching the fire – anonymous
  4. Dartmouth Housing System – Trevor Ballantyne
  5. Candle Light Ceremony – Arvin Kumaran
  6. First Year Trips – Fisher Katlin
  7. Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority – Sarah Roberts
  8. Dimensions – Ian Harris
  9. Matriculation – Connor Richmond
• Dartmouth: Music Groups
  1. Glee Club 1
  2. Glee Club 2
  3. Glee Club 3
  4. Rockapellas 1
  5. Rockapellas 2 (link is buggy)
  6. Dartmouth Sings
  7. Wind Ensemble
  8. Dodecaphonics

Collectors:

Andrew Yang (Group leader), Bee Hollier, Caroline Elliott, Darien Jones, Edward Lu, Elliot Adams, Evan Muscatel, Gyorgy Brevnov, Henry Patrick, JP (John Pierpont) Morgan Mortenson, Katarina Nesic, Matt Tanenblatt, Mihovil Mandic, Reg Anderson, Vanessa Choa

We all collaborated on collecting and the presentation.