Culture Days

This week we had our Culture Days, which means I went to see many, many presentations covering a variety of topics related to Irish and American culture, history and society. These are all the topics I heard about when I spent 80% of my waking time at university:

American Topics
Since I am not going to take Frank as my teacher for the KGP, I cannot choose American topics. However, I had a presentation on an American topic myself, so I simply watched the ones that were before and after my presentation. They were:

• The Kennedys: Jack and his brothers
  by Alissa Zwatz
• Livability in America
  by Beatrice Hofer
• Vietnam: Soldiers as Victims and Villains
  by Eva Egger
• Accusations of the Innocent: Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism
  by Tanja Erlacher
• The never-ending War on Terror
  by Helene Kortschak

Irish Topics
Whenever I didn't have another class or exam at university, I watched presentations on Irish topics so that I would have a wide range of presentations to choose from for the KGP ('Kommissionelle Gesamtprüfung', our oral final exam this year). 

• Irish influences on C.S. Lewis' work
  
  by Marlene Fischer
• Comparison of the Irish and Austrian educational system
  by Simone Wohlkinger
• Irish as an official EU language
  by Dolores Miskovic
• The Conspiracies about the Murder of Jean McConville
  by Alexandra Pasca
• Irish women: From Household to Gender Equality
  by Margarita Misihaev
• What did the Fenian Brotherhood achieve with their raids on Canada?
  by Theresa Steinwender
• Belfast - a city still split by the Troubles
  by Stefanie Schauer
• Gerry Adams and the IRA
  by Josepha Biebl
• Health problems of the Irish Travellers
  by Nina Nöst
• The Race around Ireland
  by Roman Sommersacher
• Is Irish a dying language?
  by Nina Mikusch
• David Norris & LGBT rights in the Republic of Ireland
  by Katharina Luttenberger
• The Vikings in Ireland
  by Verena Roßmann
• Oliver Cromwell in GB and Ireland
  by Verena Eisenköck
• Irish Intelligence at its peak
  by Julia Kölbl
• The popularised Leprechaun
  by Linda Zaufel

As you can see, I saw a large number of presentations, so I do not have the time or nerve to comment on each one separately. Some of them were excellent, some of them were not...
The three major criticisms I wrote on my feedback sheets - all of them criteria that make the difference between an okay and an overwhelming presentation -  were:

• that the presenter did not speak loudly enough - believe me, I am scared to death as well when I have to speak in front of others, but by speaking loudly you at least give people the impression of being confident. "Fake it 'til you make it" :-)
• that I had a hard time following your presentation AND filling out the handout, because there were a lot of open questions or because the questions were not in order
• that the presenter seemed rather bored - we all have been working on our topics for weeks and I see how you could be fed up with it by now, but this was your time to shine...

Now I am waiting for my feedback sheets to see how I can improve my presentation skills!

In the meantime, I have to decide which five topics I choose to be tested on at the KGP. I am someone who can be interested in almost anything if it is presented with enough enthusiasm, which made the choice tough. Here are the five topics I chose and why I chose them:

• The Vikings in IrelandI am generally interested in the Scandiavian culture. Also, I study Norwegian and the Vikings came from Norway - how could I not choose this topic, then? :-)
• Is Irish a dying language?I chose this topic because I think it is important to know about this minority language if you choose Irish culture for the final exam. The gradual dying out of Irish Gaelic can also be linked to many historical events, which makes studying easier for me.
• David Norris' contribution to LGBT rights in the Republic of IrelandA very unusual topic, but same-sex marriage and questions on its legislation always seem to be on the agenda nowadays. I had not heard about David Norris before, but after the presentation I was inspired to read more about him and to also investigate what the situation for same-sex couples is in Northern Ireland.
• The Role of Oliver Cromwell in Great Britian and Ireland
  This is another topic I chose because it can easily be linked to to other events in Irish history. I also liked this presentation because we can see two very different perspectives on the life and work of one man here.
• Irish Intelligence at its peak
  It was one of the most impressive presentations I saw, and even though there will be a large number of facts to learn I had the impression that this presentation is extraordinarily well-structured and well-researched. Since I had to watch the last part of a movie on Irish culture last sememster, The War of Independence was in my part and I had already heard about most of the people and organisations before.