KGP topics and Culture Days!

Hi guys!

So we had those culture days in university. Every person had to write 800 words on a specific topic concerning American or Irish culture. I wrote about illegal immigrants in the united states because I am an immigrant myself (although not illegal ;P). So it REALLY interested me and I learned a lot from the research I've done, although I haven't even scratched the surface on this topic. After writing the essay we had to prepare a presentation of maximum 8 minutes.Those presentations were held on monday and tuestay. We didn't only have to prepare our stuff, we also had to listen to at least 10 presentations of other people. Of those 10, we have to choose 5 topics for our huge oral exam, the KGP, and the teachers told us to write a blog about the presentations we went to, as well as the topics we choose for the KGP.

So I went to exactly 10 presentations because I simply didn't have the time to listen to more. I didn't really choose the topics which interested me the most, but I choose the ones I had time to attend to. But still I was happy with the choice of topics.

The first presentation I went to was on monday and the topic was same-sex marriage in the USA. Yes, I will TOTALLY choose this topic for my KGP! The presentation was great but the most important fact is that I am fighting for same-sex marriage and gay rights. I am not gay myself but I fight for love and respect so the facts the presenter, Miriam Egger, told us were really something I wanted to know for myself and it interested me a lot.

The second topic was Arab-americans after 9/11. I enjoyed the whole presentation. It was done really well and was also very interesting for me to listen to because it was quite similar to my topic. Illegal immigrants are discriminated against as much as Arab-americans and they face similar struggles in the United States. I learned some shocking facts in this presentation! Like, a guy wasn't allowed to travel by plane just because he had something printed on his shirt which was in Arab?! THAT'S CRAZY, PEOPLE!! And yes, I will also choose this topic for the KGP because I loved it.

The third presentation was about American Indian boarding schools. It really shocked me how the schools were really almost concentration camps where children suffered and weren't really educated. Nowadays it's different, of course, but it made me kind of angry...I want to take this topic for the KGP as well because I was a little obsessed with Indians when I was a kid.

The fourth presentation was about the KKK and the movie Missisipi Burning. I don't want to be mean but I couldn't concentrate during this presentation. The background was red and the pictures the presenter chose were mostly black and white, so it was quite distracting as well. Although it was hard for me to stay awake during this presentation, I love this topic so I choose to talk about it at the KGP as well. 

 

I get goosebumps from looking at this picture. Ugh. They are like ghosts or devils or both.

The following 2 topics didn't catch my interest as the one's before. The topics were the Boston Tea Party and Ernest Hemingway. Both topics were more of a biography or a summary of historical facts, something I can't study at all, so I didn't choose them for the KGP, although both were done very well. I hope they won't take it personally...

Finally, the BEST presentation I ever attended to was Native American Languages. The presenter was my friend and I never would have guessed her talent in presenting for a group of people. Even our teacher loved it and laughed at her jokes and puns she made occasionally. Her way of presenting the topic was incredible and although it was as long as the other presentations, I really didn't feel the time pass. Also, it's the presentation I still remember the most information from. So this goes straight to the KGP!

The Irish presentations were great as well. We had to listen to 3 Irish presentations and 7 American ones. I attended to “The Conspiracies about the murder on Jean McConville”, “The popularised Leprechaun” and “Irish as an official EU language”. I loved all three of them because I learned a lot while listening to them. I had no idea who Jean McConville was before the presentation and also enjoyed the one on Leprechauns. I loved Leprechauns when I was a kid. Also, I think Irish is a very beautiful language and it makes me sad to know how few people still actually speak it...

So I'm going to sum up the topics I choose for KGP:

Native American Languages

American Indian Boarding Schoools

The KKK and Missisipi Burning

Arab-Americans after 9/11

Same-sex marriage

So yeah, this was a pretty long entry I had to write for university. I hope it's enough information..

Thank you for reading, if you did, and I'll post something new veery soon!

Bye~