Representing Other - Class presentation recap...
Today in class, I gave a twenty minute presentation on Representations of Physical Disability in Society. I formatted the presentation to get as much cursory information which was still meaningful, and easy for people to connect with (hopefully), gave some legal history, presented some disability artists who engage or have engaged society’s gaze on individuals with disabilities, and finally touched on disability studies, highlighting the rampant ableism and just making people more conscious of it. Because of all the information which I found, both in some academic readings as well as on the world wide web, I had information spouting out of every orifice (yes even THAT orifice).
It was around two am Central Standard, I felt I was prepared, really prepared and even over prepared. During the entire presentation, even though I had made sure everything was working fabulously on the technical level, I was still sweating profusely. I’m always more self-conscious around my classmates than I am around my students. I hold myself to a painfully neurotic standard of spectacular perfection which is really unfair to me. The presentation was a success though. I was presenting first, which probably contributed to my nerves. The entire time, my lower back was a puddle of sweat.
After the presentation, each of my classmates writes their thoughts, praises and criticisms on an index card which I can review at my leisure.
Here is what they wrote:
-You’re so confident! Great voice, images, really great going from popular culture-art, really well planned presentation
-Great artists, you are very sensitive to the subject, you got the audience involved at various points. This could have been more risky (you were diplomatic - not a bad thing) but people might be more likely to respond to questions if they see more overt insensitivity.
-You could have slowed some of the image transitions for Jason Lazarus’s work
-you speak well, clear voice, no fillers
-Nice variety, you’re touching on a lot of information in a short amount of time
-Good resources, good legal history, very nice presentation, very informative, concise and clear
-You did a good job guiding students to learn about disabilities with your questions, you were able to lead the lesson, and have us think critically about the subject matter
I am happy with how everything went… Now I need to spend some time to settle my brain down. It’s still buzzing.
It was around two am Central Standard, I felt I was prepared, really prepared and even over prepared. During the entire presentation, even though I had made sure everything was working fabulously on the technical level, I was still sweating profusely. I’m always more self-conscious around my classmates than I am around my students. I hold myself to a painfully neurotic standard of spectacular perfection which is really unfair to me. The presentation was a success though. I was presenting first, which probably contributed to my nerves. The entire time, my lower back was a puddle of sweat.
After the presentation, each of my classmates writes their thoughts, praises and criticisms on an index card which I can review at my leisure.
Here is what they wrote:
-You’re so confident! Great voice, images, really great going from popular culture-art, really well planned presentation
-Great artists, you are very sensitive to the subject, you got the audience involved at various points. This could have been more risky (you were diplomatic - not a bad thing) but people might be more likely to respond to questions if they see more overt insensitivity.
-You could have slowed some of the image transitions for Jason Lazarus’s work
-you speak well, clear voice, no fillers
-Nice variety, you’re touching on a lot of information in a short amount of time
-Good resources, good legal history, very nice presentation, very informative, concise and clear
-You did a good job guiding students to learn about disabilities with your questions, you were able to lead the lesson, and have us think critically about the subject matter
I am happy with how everything went… Now I need to spend some time to settle my brain down. It’s still buzzing.