Div II

Division II is the heart of a Hampshire education. In these middle two years, students articulate the questions they want to answer and develop goals for their own learning. They work with a faculty committee to develop their own educational plan. Students and faculty work together to create a contract that guides them: helping to select or create the experiences that propel the student forward.

Div II Committee Request Process and Contract

Students begin to design their individual concentrations in the spring of their first year when they participate in the Div II committee request process. As part of that process, they talk with faculty in their area(s) of interest, working toward the goal of both 1) having a faculty committee who will oversee their Div II, and 2) formulating a concise statement of what their concentration will be, including questions they plan to pursue, skills they plan to learn, and goals they hope to accomplish. During Div II, students must also complete 1) a multiple cultural perspectives requirement, and 2) a community-engaged learning requirement. The Div II contract also briefly describes the student's plans for these requirements.

‘The Representation & Communication of Science Through Media’

Hampshire College Members:

Patricia Montoya - Current Committee Chair

Laela Sayigh - Current Committee Member

Div II Contract Filed Fall 2020:

Division 2 for me is about furthering my knowledge and experience communicating through film, in preparation for the work I hope to create as a Div. 3 in my final year. While still technically stuck between Division 1 and 2 the last few semesters, the classes I enrolled in were chosen to propel me through my Div 2 plan. The first semester of my second year was packed full of film and photo courses. Outside of filmmaking I also have a passion for biology. At Hampshire, I have been actively working to merge the two disciplines along my overall education path, in each course, and in the work I make. My first year was purposefully less film concentrated. This has given me a lot of valuable experience pursuing my other interests, at the cost of less familiarity in the department I plan to focus on. With a department that is so small already and changing so rapidly, it was vital to me to secure a chair member that can guide and advise me with the right perspective. Before Hampshire, I had only ever worked in digital video. My interests truly lie in the communication aspect of documentary filmmaking. Whether pre-planned and manipulated or caught in the moment out in the field; telling stories.

In my second year, I made an effort to concentrate my learning path by filling my schedule with courses in the photo building. ‘Analog Photography’ with Claudio got me in the darkroom for the first time! A less forgiving medium to show me where my skills were lacking, and a new type of critique structure to challenge me in new ways. I got to explore all the facilities that I hadn't yet made it into with all the workshops in ‘Studio Production: Interviews’ with Patricia and a comfortable 5 person digital video making crew tackling the assignments together. ‘Creating Videos for Science’ with Jason Tor, my first-year advisor, co-taught by Salamam, probably the closest thing to my concentration available, gave me a taste of what working on film projects with scientists (instead of other filmmakers) would be like. Off-campus I enrolled in ‘Aerial Imagery & Cinematography’, a half-semester drone Class at Smith. With the rest of the semester, I helped to outline what a drone policy would look like here at Hampshire with campus security.

During the Spring semester, the pandemic sent me home, challenging me with virtual learning. Finishing my projects on my own, showed me exactly how important the facilities accessible on campus really are. But, I was given a unique opportunity to tidy up my online presence. With my time during quarantine, I familiarised myself with new editing software, working with Abelton, and explored code (html5) for the first time. My portfolio website is looking good, and the work I filled it with sounds a lot better. Glad to be back on campus, I look forward to utilizing my new skills in the rest of my Div 2 and beyond.

For the second year of my Div 2, my focus will be on learning more about how to teach science through film. Continuing to create video content, while also engaging with scientific research practices to be able to gain experience in both fields. I hope to start an internship working virtually with children at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment. To contribute to the Hampshire community I plan to become a Yurt Radio Signer and work with John Bruner on nessicary updates to it's website. My modsmates also created a student group (HECC) to organise campus trash clean-ups.

Div 1 (passed)

Photo Book

Retrospective