I considered posting this in Comradeship but I figured it would fit here better.
I did say I would let everyone know how my presentation went so here I am to tell you all it did not go well, at least not to me.
I read out my slides and although my voice was still shake-y, I did project enough for people to hear me. I like to think some of my commentary was funny although I understand my tone was less so. I do wish people chuckled at least a little.
When I got to the imperialism slide I was looking forward to people maybe giggling at my dog and even asking about it, but that did not happen. When I did ask the class questions mid way through they did not engage. I asked the class if they knew what the school of the Americas was, no one put their hands up which was what I was hoping for, I then asked if anyone wanted to hazard a guess as to what it is, no one tried which was a bit embarrassing for me. It is their right not to answer but I thought it would be fun as a pivot into my next slide which was just a bunch of photos of the graduates (dictators and generals, plus the logo of a cartel).
The energy in the room was fucked. I felt like nobody was interested in what I had to say. Even the democratic socialist seemed out of it.
When I got to the activity part of the presentation, AKA the end, I put up a series of questions that the students could answer. I said they could answer whichever they wanted, but when nobody said anything I stated that I could just read the questions for them and they can raise their hands. When I read my first question: what are some skills that universities and its students can use for imperialist purposes? No one raised their hands so I was going to move on but the instructor (no PhD yet) told me to wait, so I did.
The DemSoc raised his hand and said “well, like you said, language classes.” I was surprised because he is one of the most “chatty” students in the class, and I figured that since he is a flavour of socialist he would be incredibly interested in this topic. I even talked about the School of the Americas and how all their human rights abuses were all done in the name of combating communism. Another student raised their hand and talked about the definition of imperialism I gave, highest stage of capitalism, and how that relates to the “clout” elite western universities have over those in the global south. I then engaged with them about how I read a source that was about how global south universities are at a disadvantage regarding “university rankings” and this is a form of cultural imperialism.
Another student raised his hand and said he would like to change my question, replacing “imperialist purposes” with something else I said in my “lecture” which was about how these spy classes “expand global understanding.” He stated that rather than imperialism, diverse universities create a, well, diverse environment with multiple perspectives which fosters a better understanding of others and how to get along. I didn’t necessarily have an issue with this, sort of, but stated that his version was quite optimistic while my lecture focused on how the version of “global understanding” being created was actually for securing interests in another nation for imperialist purposes like extracting resources to the detriment of the host nation. I really hope I didn’t come off as rude and I did apologize for how terrible I am at speaking.
The fourth, and last, student spoke up to answer the question: should universities accept funding from the defence industry? He said yes, because it’s money and it can help students defend the country and foster nationalism. My immediate thought was “huh?” Because throughout my presentation I was showing how the defence industry was not using universities for genuine defence purposes but for infiltrating others. I thought maybe I should’ve changed “defence industry” to “offensive industry” since that is how it acts. Mainly to western capitalists nations, not others. I didn’t say anything as a previous student said that he believed the opposite, that universities should not accept the funding.
He then talked about his experience at the university of Chicago and how he and other faculty opposed the defence department for getting involved in their research. From what I can remember the military was trying to give funding to the biology departments in multiple universities, but the funding was only to be given with restrictive purposes attached to military agendas. The university of Chicago pulled away from this agreement and so did other universities, to the point where the US government had to pivot and instead of the funding coming from the defence sector, it would instead come from the sciences.
My presentation came to an end after that and I was applauded but I sat down with a bad taste in my mouth. I thought my information was good and my topic was great too, yet I did not get the response I was looking for. I should lower my expectations…
I did end up asking my teacher about my presentation and if she would be willing to give me tips on improvements when grading it and she agreed while also praising me on how well I did. I wasn’t convinced initially because of how off everyone was and the fact that I was still cowardly, but she didn’t agree. She even brought out her notes to show that she thought I did well and was very kind in my interactions. I also asked if the photo of my dog was too much or inappropriate but she said it was fine but that I should just explain the joke outright. To me, even if they don’t know who Lenin is, it’s still funny to see a dog’s head on a man’s body. I mentioned that the lack of interest may be due to cultural differences and she agreed, she also said that the topic may have flown over their heads, next time I will have to do a lot more hand holding.
All in all I am proud of myself, my slides and script were good, but I am disappointed in the lack of interest in imperialism…
Including humour in a classroom is perfectly normal. As long as you don’t overdo it or crack any nasty jokes then you should be fine. Remember that making a boring joke is still better than making a joke that gets you into trouble. Unfortunately, there have been a few times in my life where I crossed that line and now my catchphrase is ‘I’m a gentile. You can tell because I’m the world’s worst comedian.’
I used to have the impression that everybody knew more than I did about history, but when I would ask other educated adults if they knew about subjects like Symon Petliura and the reinvasion of Ethiopia, I was stunned by their unknowingness. Still, I enjoy educating others, so long as I know that they are willing to listen. So on the one hand, I understand your disappointment in others’ unknowingness on these subjects. On the other hand, you have an excellent opportunity to educate others and maybe impress them with your knowledge. Do not feel discouraged.
You know what I think? I would be unsurprised if they were embarrassed for being clueless about it, especially if you went in depth about its overwhelming or diuturnal influence. Think for a moment about how something so important is most likely only known to a small percentage of otherwise well educated North Americans. It isn’t your fault that so many adults are unaware of this subject.
It does defend something. It defends capital. Nobody says that part out loud, though.
There is nothing inherently uninteresting about imperialism, and going by what you have shared with us, I suspect that your presentation was adequate. Nevertheless, it may enhance your presentations to imitate how Michael Parenti spoke to audiences: notice his brief pauses, his body language, and the way that he adjusted his volume depending on the subject matter. You may have to rehearse (preferably in front of a mirror) for a few days before you get the hang of things. You don’t want to rush into the gory matters, and you want to keep your energy modest (especially at the start) so that you don’t come across as bombastic.
It may also help to make the subject matter relevant to the students somehow. You can invite them to picture theirselves as politicians who want the locals to have, let’s say, more and cheaper bananas. A banana company can pay these politicians if they, in turn, find a good way to grow and harvest more bananas. They can try something here, but there is a cheaper option available: they learn of a country down south—Guatemala—that has plenty of these fruits, but the businessmen could be doing better.
How can they make these fruits cheaper and the businessmen richer…? Lower the workers’ wages and anything else that cuts into profits, like safety regulations and vacation time. Those workers would not like that, but maybe they don’t have to. Maybe somebody can keep them in line, and they’ll put up with the loss of concessions. You can hire a bully to do enforcement, but you need more. If only you had a facility that could train more of these bullies… a school for them, maybe… and you know where this is going.
I am deliberately oversimplifying matters, but that is just an example of how you could maybe get people’s attention: make this more relevant to them and make them think about what they could be doing in that situation. What do you think?
This is fantastic and very helpful, so thank you for putting in the effort for me.
I do like educating people about things when I know they are willing to learn. I was very excited to tell my classmates about the school of Americas, when they all indicated that they had no idea what it was I even stated “perfect, because I want to be the one to tell you what it is. I was bummed out that they didn’t play ball when I asked them to guess because it would’ve been a great segue into my slide that was just pictures of evil people. But I saved it by just saying “well, let’s find out by looking at some of the SOA’s most famous alumni.”
I know I was unaware of the SOA until it was mentioned in a Nyx Fears video, after she talked about it I went down the rabbit hole and now I will never not talk about it. I am still enthusiastic about teaching, especially this topic, so I do not feel discouraged, just annoyance and disappointment in the energy of the room and response.
I was too scared to say anything out loud because this university has freaked me out one too many times, but I thought my presentation was descriptive enough to say that. I even explicitly said that the military is used to secure a nation’s interests in another, subjugated, country. But I guess that didn’t stick. Maybe that student took the “defence” part super literally and figured it would be defending the homeland rather than foreign resources. It was very annoying to hear and it felt like they weren’t listening to me at all.
Michael Parenti’s lecture style is what I have in my head and somewhat during my very short rehearsal but not enough for it to override my default energy during the presentation, which is staring at my notes the whole time (unless addressing the room with a question), having a shaky (but loud enough) voice, and a “hunched” over posture as I lean on the podium. When I was lecturing to my mom about my topic I was fairly animated (comes with being Portuguese) and expressive with my tone but standing at the front changes that. Practicing more and in advance should help with this.
I also appreciate you linking Parenti’s lecture as an example. I do enjoy him a lot and focusing on the way he speaks and presents just showed me why he is so captivating. I am going to watch his lectures more and practice my own (redo this presentation at home) just to prepare for any future presentations I will have to do now that this one is over.
Your example here of getting the class more involved is actually gat and does help a lot in what I can do for the future (soon as my semester is almost done and fall starts in September) to engage with the class and help them situate more in the topic. My teacher did say that I probably will have to do a lot more handholding so oversimplifying isn’t necessarily bad and will most likely be the only way to get through to these people.
I think this is all great and I truly am so appreciative of your response (and all responses) to my dilemma and journey through undergrad.