Amanda Spoto – Prince’s Bay, New York

“I graduated from Dartmouth recently so I had heard about the MALS program as an undergrad. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do next and Dr. Pease, who is the chair of the MALS program and an incredible professor, suggested I go right into the master’s program to help me focus on my future goals while also giving me an expanded, and advanced, academic experience.

I’ve been gravitating towards law, literature, cultural studies, and public policy so my interests are diverse, and the MALS program is helping me define my direction. Besides the robust structure of the program itself, the professors work really closely with students to hone their passions and bring them to reality. And because we have such a wide range of students in each class – often from different disciplines and from around the world – I have been able to use these experiences and relationships to refine my perspective even further; the collaborative and supportive environment here forces new ways of thinking and I have made new creative and innovate connections to my interests, which I would not have been able to glean elsewhere.”