Entry 9 - (More) On Culture - with the big C this time

[Barbara Mayumi de Faria Fujita]

While preparing my last cultural presentation for SDLC105, I “fell in the hole” that research assignments usually become for me…

The PowerPoint slides are a piece of cake – I love making them, and I do it fast. Now, deciding what to cover when you have spent hours and hours reading and learning about a subject, that is a challenge!

 

I learned so much about Spain’s and Catalunya’s history, politics and economy– all aspects of culture that helped me make sense of what was happening there currently. I also found many interesting points from scholars regarding nationalist feelings and the separatism issue.

 

Ultimately, I stumbled during my presentation in class. Partly because I got nervous¹, but mostly, because I relied too much on the words of experts… I had many quotes and insights from linguists and social scientists that I felt/thought brought out the point much better than I could state it.

 

… That was my personal pitfall studying culture with a big C. I can tell because I was much more comfortable addressing the little C aspects – i.e.: my interviews with the exchange students.

 

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¹honestly, I think was better prepared to give it the week before…