My initial reactions to some presentations

Here are my initial reactions to some of the presentations! I have only included four here, but I have watched them all and will gather my thoughts for what I am sure will be a great discussion in our final ( 🙁 ) class next Tuesday.

Hannah on the Refugee

I will try to answer the question you ask us in your presentation: what do you picture when I think of the word refugee? For me, you hit the nail on the head with the image of alone, worn out women, often with children; the picture of poverty. Also, I really liked how you brought in the negative media depiction of the refugee, as that is also something I definitely think about when I hear the word. I definitely don’t think I have seen any positive headings about refugees, though maybe that is because those don’t jump out as much as the negative ones with their punchy, natural disaster-like titles. This is indeed a very interesting analysis you present. I also really enjoyed your presentation of Ahmed’s cartoons, pointing out the lack of the neutral definition of the refugee. The transnational nature of your topic and its link to the movement of people is sure to provide some really interesting insights, and I am excited to read your final project! 

Tanushree on Feminism 

I found your presentation really enthralling, as coming from the British education system we studied exclusively British suffragettes/suffragists. As soon as you mentioned that the movement was not originating in the west and migrating outwards, but rhizomatic and globally erupting, it seemed like an obvious thought, but definitely one that I was unaware of. It will be great to read more into the intricacies of the relationship between the two movements in your final project. I also liked how you link to work on the fight against colonialism and how these processes/movements interacted, as general dissolution was increasing in the inter-war period. Again, the inter-connections pointed out between suffragettes and upper-caste women were really interesting, and provides another avenue for connections and comparisons, making this a true transnational study of the development and movements of Indian suffragettes!

Roger on Migrational Masala 

I loved how you outlined the research gap straight from the beginning, adding a clear question to this already very well-thought out and well explained presentation! Transnational food history has definitely been something I haven’t thought about before this module, but your blog posts and presentations have been really insightful. One aspect of your presentation which I found super interesting was the link between the culture of convenience and spice blends, and how, perhaps, in Britain these families pay more care to preserving the spice mixes of their family, given the physical space between them. Your use of interviews will also be great, and really help to provide a study which hasn’t really been touched on before, so I look forward to reading your final project and discovering the real experiences behind spice blend consumption today, and how they are interconnected and differ.  

Rory on Black Metal

Firstly, Rory, thank you for your comment’s on my presentation! I thought I would say that here as when I was watching your presentation I definitely found the similarities in our presentations and their focus on art really interesting. I must say, black metal is not something I have much (any!) experience with, but your presentation was clear and drew interesting parallels between music and politics which I never would have considered. I liked that you spoke about how music is not a self-contained human experience, but that it relates to everything- the political, social, cultural backdrop upon which it is produced and also consumed. This makes the music not a self-contained entity in itself, but, as you mentioned, there is a ‘micro-reflexity’ between the individual fan and their conception of the subculture. This is something which makes me think of how the people who watch the performances I study in my project are all experiencing something different, too, and so I am interested to read your final project!