Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Thesis (Master's)
Department or Program
Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
First Advisor
Barbara Kreiger, PhD
Second Advisor
Anna Minardi, LMMV
Third Advisor
Judith Hertog, MFA
Abstract
The Backside of the Pond is a collection of personal essays that braid lived experiences with academic inquiry, exploring a variety of themes and the transformative power of reflective writing. Anchored in the geography of Occom Pond, on the northside of the Dartmouth College campus, the collection uses this familiar landscape as both refuge and metaphor.
The thesis also examines the ethics and craft of writing creative nonfiction, considering the tensions between emotional truth and the fallibility of memory. The essays trace moments of clarity, frustration, humor, grief, and renewal. Together, they offer an inquiry into how humans create meaning: how the seen and unseen, the conscious and the buried, the natural world and the inner world intersect.
Recommended Citation
Murphy, Wendy, "The Backside of the Pond" (2026). Dartmouth College Master’s Theses. 271.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/masters_theses/271
