Donna sends round a story by AARON NICODEMUS of the New Bedford (MA) Standard-Times, "Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior" about Homeland Security monitoring interlibrary loans.
teaching: December 2005 Archives
My first ever public speaking class wrapped up yesterday with a paean to friendship, a 'devil's advocate' argument about the many ways in life people gamble, and eight extraordinary 'farewell' speeches. I wish I could put them all in here, indeed, speeches over the last couple of weeks improved vastly in quality, especially since Teresa's critique of my teaching and Elaine's declaration of faith in all of her peers. I hope Matt's exposition on friendship describes at least a few transcendent moments for members of our class. Not at the same level of consistency as with his best friends of course, but such peak moments are how one knows the public sphere has connected the individuals involved in the shared experience of living, of being alive.
Serendipitously, a good friend sent this mid-year commencement address to me this morning (thanks John!). It addresses many of the issues and concerns raised by soon-to-be-graduating seniors, and encourages you to grab and not let go of "YOUR ONE WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE."
Student-generated awards for each other follow. Disclaimer: many refer to topics students spoke about, others refer to aspects of each other's lives of which I have no knowledge!
We're on! The University opens by 10 am, so we'll still have the Public Speaking final as scheduled at 10:30.
"I can't love and live if I don't fight and die." (Ryan)
"You need to remember what used to be good to predict what will be bad." (Chris)
"You need to remember what used to be good and forget what has become bad." (Matt)
a few others are oh so close... :-)
This piece by Guy Debord (1967) is wicked dense stuff, but it lays out its logic regarding "Society of the Spectacle" in a compelling and articulate way.
I find Baudrillard depressing, but his thought is useful, nonetheless. Here's a peek, "Spectacle, Currency, Bits -- Baudrillard, Postmodernism, and Power.
I received excellent critical & constructive feedback from my students on my last speech. :-) There are some areas of feedback in which they disagree – some felt my intended aim was clear (to motivate more expressiveness and risk-taking, are students “up to the task of pushing the envelope”) - however several were still confused as to what exactly I sought from them. It has me thinking about the role of ambiguity in teaching as well as in the exercise of authority. I’ve invited them to challenge me and each other more, but some still want me to tell them exactly “how” to make these challenges. This is where I become ambiguous, because I think everyone has their own style for accomplishing self-assertion and other-critique. As an authority, I feel the most I can do is try to create conditions in which experimentation can occur.
Burda(mania) asked me to post my speech here. It's the only one for which I've actually written a full text prior to the performance. gasp! I've altered it to respect the forms of consent given to me about posting in the blog: many of you chose anonymity.
If you're curious, I'm also posting draft two, which I whittled down to an outline and used to develop memory. Actually, I went back and forth between the full text and the outline as I worked on memorization.
You'll notice that I missed a few things from what I had planned. Most notably (bummer!) I forgot to mention the fiesta we're on route toward.... I was worried, when I wrote the speech originally (the day before thanksgiving) that we'd lost our momentum and there would be no party. :-( I'm optimistic that we're now back on track... even after our heavy talk today (those of you who missed class really missed out).
Laurie suggests I use this text, It Ain't Necessarily So : How Media Make and Unmake the Scientific Picture of Reality for Intro to Mass Comm next semester. I'm not sure which googled "David Murray" is the author - there's a musician, a real estate agent, and an oncologist, among others! Looks more like a popular book than an academic text...?
in fact, check out this review by Salon.com. They critique this book as a front by industry - who says books are more trustworthy than traditional news media?
What I think I do well (in no particular order):
- project presence (volume, tone, animation, confidence, ease, enthusiasm)
- invoke emotion in the audience (although not necessarily that which I intend?)
- clarity of goal and claims related to that goal (not necessarily clear in the thesis?)
- presentation of evidence in support of claims
- language use - proper diction, antithesis, and repetition used to advantage
What I perceive as weaknesses that could be improved (also in no order):
- establishing relationship and matching assumptions with the audience (it seems I lean toward competing rather than collaborating? An assumption of automatic resistance rather than open reception?)
- clarity of thesis in relation to desired action (do I inspire/evoke what I wish in the majority of the audience or do I miss the target?)
- language use and opposing arguments ... do I anticipate accurately or invent (!) false positions (by misreading the audience, for instance). I worry that I come across as blaming/frustrated rather than encouraging/excited...
