Student Spotlight: Maxwell Dassow '27

In this spotlight, the department speaks with Maxwell Dassow about what drew him to anthropology—both in the classroom and through his role as a DUG leader.

"Coming into Brown, I’d had minimal exposure to the field of anthropology through the works of Paul Farmer. I had always known I wanted to be a doctor, but I was also critically aware of the shortcomings and injustices perpetrated by the US medical system. Knowing that I wanted to do better for my future patients, and also possibly affect change in the medical field more broadly, I felt that my undergraduate time at Brown would be best spent studying medical anthropology in conjunction with biology–my initial concentration. Despite my interest, my engagement with anthropology at Brown was at first somewhat limited due to stringent course and extracurricular requirements for applying to medical school. Thus, becoming a DUG leader seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to get more involved in the department.

I’ve truly enjoyed my time with the DUG so far. I feel like I’ve learned so much about the other subdisciplines from my fellow DUG leaders alone, not to mention all the wonderful faculty and guest lecturers we’ve hosted events and panels with. Our overarching goal as DUG leaders is to foster community amongst concentrators and the department through these didactic activities and friendly gatherings. We also help advise our concentrators and prospective concentrators on course selection and planning, research opportunities, and navigating the declaration process just to name a few! In taking on this role I feel not only more closely connected to anthropology at Brown and beyond myself, but also privileged in that I’ve been able to connect my peers to anthro at Brown as well. Whether it’s helping a new student find their first anthropology course, to picking out graduation gifts for senior concentrators, being an anthro DUG leader has been a very fun and rewarding part of my Brown experience."