Culture Presentation Days

As we all know, last week on Wednesday and Thursday our „Culture Presentation Days“, which were organized by the English course SUK2, took place. I really liked the whole concept of these culture days. As everybody was allowed to choose any topic they are interested in, the presentations were really diverse and I found each one I saw very interesting. Also I think all the presenters did a great job.

Here’s a list of the presentations I saw:

US:

1. “Things you might not know about San Francisco and the Bay area” by Marina Margeta

2. "Two More For Mount Rushmore” by  Katharina Pelich

3. “Danger of Society Threat Groups in American Prisons” by Livia Perschy

4. “Southern Hospitality – the Southern Way of Life” by Julia Rauch

5. “Monty Roberts: an extraordinary communicator“ by Melanie Wimmer

6.     “America as a Nation of Narcissism“ by Maria Dorner

7.     “Ellen DeGeneres - a modern woman and her influence on America” by Johanna Schreilechner

8.     “Sacagawea: Her claim to fame” by Bianca Stadler

9.     “The Navajo Code Talkers: Using Language as a Weapon“ by Laura Rossberg

The three Irish presentations I saw were: 

1. “The impact of global warming on Ireland's agriculture” by Christian Waldmann

2. “Appreciating Life - Donal Walsh's Fight Against Suicide in Ireland“ Bianca Brandtner

3. “Transition Year - working towards maturity” Carmen Loderer

Concerning the Irish presentations, although I am interested in global warming, I liked the second and third presentation a little better. They really caught my attention because I have heard of neither of these topics before and both were really interesting. Bianca’s presentation about a young boy who suffered from cancer three times in his life before he died was really touching, particularly because he encouraged others to appreciate life and not to commit suicide despite his own illness. Carmen’s presentation about transition year was very interesting and actually made me think that we could need a concept like this in Austria as well.

Since I am a so-called “Quereinsteiger” and have only started studying TKK in this semester, I will take the KGP after the next semester, namely WS 2013. If I had to choose five presentations I’d like to be tested on in the KGP, I would choose

1. “Danger of Society Threat Groups in American Prisons” by Livia Perschy

I think this topic is not very much talked about and rather seems as if it was taken from the plot of a thriller or action movie than happening in everyday life. It is very interesting and therefore I’d like to deal with it when preparing for the KGP.

2. “Southern Hospitality – the Southern Way of Life” by Julia Rauch

What I really enjoyed about Julia’s presentation was the mixture of interesting facts and her personal experiences. She really raised my interest for the Southern way of life and since I also saw “another side” of the South when dealing with the topic of racism for my own culture paper, I think the hospitality, way of life and special characteristics Julia described are really interesting as well.

3. “Ellen DeGeneres - a modern woman and her influence on America” by Johanna Schreilechner

This presentation had some new information in store for me. I have watched some clips of Ellen’s show before, but I have never really dealt with her biography or private life. I think Joey did a good job in summarizing the most important points of Ellen’s biography and she made me realize what a big issue Ellen's coming out actually was. Joey even raised my curiosity for Ellen’s book. I hope I’ll have time to read it in summer.

4. “Sacagawea: Her claim to fame” by Bianca Stadler

Ever since I’ve watched the Disney movie “Pocahontas” when I was a child, I’ve been interested in Native Americans. When I heard that Bianca’s presentation is about Sacagawea, the name somehow rang a bell, but I didn’t really remember the story connected to it. That’s why I’d be really interested in dealing with it in more detail.

5. “The Navajo Code Talkers: Using Language as a Weapon“ by Laura Rossberg

I found Laura’s presentation on how the Navajo language was used as a secret code by America in WWII very interesting. I don’t think I’ll be able to pronounce Navajo words the way Laura did, though.