Marion: I am so excited to see you’re talking about the Anthropocene. I discussed it in my short essay and found it so interesting, but I couldn’t really encompass it into my essay, so I am very happy you found a use for it. Furthermore, you have really opened my eyes about the actual concept. From my research, I believed it was only a recent phenomenon, especially since many modern scholars now consider the Anthropocene started in 1945 with the ”Great Acceleration”, but you have shown that people thought this way much before, so thank you for that clarification.
Your research questions are also so incredibly interesting, and I would really like to read your project once it has finished. Your exploration of transatlantic circulation is a topic that looks very cool, and from your many slides on historiography, it is clear you have done your research. I think this is going to become such a great project once it has finished!
Laura H R: Firstly, thank you for commenting on my presentation, it was really nice to see that I not only engaged you, but made you feel less alone in your roadblocks, such as question changes etc. I think that is what these presentations are all about: to illustrate to each other the challenges and problem-solving skills we have had to employ in this unique module.
Furthermore, I am glad someone else is discussing these Eastern European countries like Ukraine and Belarus; visions of identity and nationhood have certainly cropped up in my research, and I am excited to see what comes of your work on this topic. As for the postmodernist approach, I am really intrigued by this, but also completely support you on it. Your postmodernist approach best captures very sensitive issues of “nation” and “identity”, especially on a transnational/trans-linguistic (?) scale.