new insights - culture days!

source: http://maxxii.edublogs.org/2011/02/11/super-shadow/

This week was special. You could also call it stressful, exhausting and study-intensive, but special definitely sounds more positive so let's stick to that! On Monday and Tuesday we finally had our Culture Days and everyone from our English classes gave a short presentation on his or her culture topic. We were supposed to listen to at least ten presentations, seven from the culture we chose for our big exam at the end of the semester (in my case American culture) and three from the other one (Irish). 

As I had a really hard time making my decision on which presentations I wanted to see, I finally decided to watch more of them and pick the ten afterwards and this was a really good dicision. By doing it that way I was able to listen to some really interesting presentations. Presentations which privided valuable insights and made me look at certain topics from a new perspecitive. Here is my choice :)

1) Same-sex Marriage in the United States

source: debatos.com

Miriam Egger gave this great presentation and started by comparing the current situation in the United States with the one here in Austria. Listening to this presentation was really interesting because it once again reminded me of the fact that there's still a long way to go in our country as well as in the United States. In Austria domestic partnership is allowed but not the actual marriage. In America the situation is different: Massachusetts was the first state in which same-sex marriage was declared legal and even though many other states did the same, there are still some conservative states opposing same-sex marriage. I really enjoyed listening to this presentation first because I'm interested in the topic and second because Miriam spoke with a clear and loud voice and was able to offer new insights.
 

2) Arab-Americans after 9/11

This was the title of another presentation I watched by Andreas Moser. I really liked his Prezi and  the information he gave. By reading the title I could already guess what the presentation would be about but then there was much more information! Andreas talked about racial profiling, islamophobia as well as workplace discrimination and the case of Raed Jarrar. This man wore a shirt with an Arab text saying "We won't be silent" and because of this shirt he was barred from flying by an Airline called JetBlue. This presentation successfully showed how 9/11 changed an entire country.

3) American Indian boarding schools

I must admit that I didn't intend to watch this presentation but then I was sitting in this room and thought "why not" and stayed there. Aaaaand, it was definitely worth it. Judith Schwandner gave a great presentation and showed how American Indian boarding schools tried to change and actually really changed Native American children. Seeing pictures of a boy before and after attending the school you wouldn't believe this was the same person. Watching this presentation made me want to know more about this topic :)

4) The KKK and Mississippi Burning

As this had also been the topic I had chosen for my oral matura, I was more than interested in this presentation by Rita Kovacs. I really liked the fact that she told the story of the Ku Klux Klan, about the three "different" Klans that existed throughout history and how some strange forms of the Klan still exist today. As I have already watched the movie several times I would have liked to see a short part of the film but even without the video the presentation was more than interesting. 

5) The Never-Ending War on Terror

Helene Kortschak gave this presentation and I have to say that it was a really great one. Not only was the topic extremely interesting, but Helene was also able to captivate her audience's (or at least my) attention! She started by summing up the events of 9/11 and went on by talking about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the US tries to win its War on Terror. Well done! 

6) Rosie the Riveter

source: dartbeat.com

Again you could say that I watched this presentation by accident because  I wanted to watch the one after Stefanie Gigler but stayed in the room. Lucky me :) Rosie the Riveter - why hadn't I heard that name before? It was a well-structured, great presentation about a governmental campaign in the Second World War. Rosie the Riveter was designed by Norman Rockwell in order to recruit women for the workforce. Even though I had not heard the name before, I did of course know the pictures of Rosie and I guess nearly everyone does... 

7) Guantánamo 
When I was in Cuba we also went to Guantanamo (the municipality in Cuba, not the prison) and our guide told us a little bit about the history. Now I was really interested in this presentation of Anna Müller which turned out to be very informative. Anna told us about the history of the prison and about the situation today and the discussion to close the prison which has been led for years now. I was really impressed by Anna's Prezi which had a cool design and by the information she provided. 

8) Irish Intelligence at its peak

This was the first Irish presentation that I watched. Julia Kölbl did a really great job as she was able to liven up her presentation by asking the audience some questions and by having a sense of humour. Even though all of us must have known at least the most important facts of Irish history Julia repeated some events and explained the background so that everyone was able to follow. For me it was particularly interesting to hear about the two sides in the Irish War of Independence and about Michael Collins, Director of Intelligence. By listening to this presentation I gained some new insight into Irish history.

9) Belfast - a city still split by the Troubles
Everybody knows about Belfast and the role it played in Irish history but for me it was deeply interesting to hear what the situation is like today. Stefanie Schauer started by giving some historical information and explaining the background and went on by explaining what has changed so far and what the future plans for the city look like. She told us that the city aims to create more interface areas and that the walls should be teared down by the year 2023. 

10) Irish women: From Household to Gender Equality

Margarita Misihaev's presentation on that topic was the last presentation I watched. It was really informative but sometimes I had little difficulties to follow. Margarita talked about the constitution of 1937 and read out article 41 of it. She then explained the Women's Movement towards Gender Equality, which was really interesting, and the situation today. I had already heard of Mary McAleese, the second female president of Ireland, before but for me it was new that Mary Robinson was the first female Irish President.

So that's it for now. Ten presentations and all of them definitely worth watching. I'm glad that we did these presentations because it's a good practice for our future lives. 

For my KGP I chose the following topics: 

• The KKK and Mississippi Burning
• American Indian Boarding Schools 
• Rosie the Riveter
• Same-sex marriage
• Arab-Americans after 9/11