I considered posting this in Comradeship but I figured it would fit here better.
I did say I would let everyone know how my presentation went so here I am to tell you all it did not go well, at least not to me.
I read out my slides and although my voice was still shake-y, I did project enough for people to hear me. I like to think some of my commentary was funny although I understand my tone was less so. I do wish people chuckled at least a little.
When I got to the imperialism slide I was looking forward to people maybe giggling at my dog and even asking about it, but that did not happen. When I did ask the class questions mid way through they did not engage. I asked the class if they knew what the school of the Americas was, no one put their hands up which was what I was hoping for, I then asked if anyone wanted to hazard a guess as to what it is, no one tried which was a bit embarrassing for me. It is their right not to answer but I thought it would be fun as a pivot into my next slide which was just a bunch of photos of the graduates (dictators and generals, plus the logo of a cartel).
The energy in the room was fucked. I felt like nobody was interested in what I had to say. Even the democratic socialist seemed out of it.
When I got to the activity part of the presentation, AKA the end, I put up a series of questions that the students could answer. I said they could answer whichever they wanted, but when nobody said anything I stated that I could just read the questions for them and they can raise their hands. When I read my first question: what are some skills that universities and its students can use for imperialist purposes? No one raised their hands so I was going to move on but the instructor (no PhD yet) told me to wait, so I did.
The DemSoc raised his hand and said “well, like you said, language classes.” I was surprised because he is one of the most “chatty” students in the class, and I figured that since he is a flavour of socialist he would be incredibly interested in this topic. I even talked about the School of the Americas and how all their human rights abuses were all done in the name of combating communism. Another student raised their hand and talked about the definition of imperialism I gave, highest stage of capitalism, and how that relates to the “clout” elite western universities have over those in the global south. I then engaged with them about how I read a source that was about how global south universities are at a disadvantage regarding “university rankings” and this is a form of cultural imperialism.
Another student raised his hand and said he would like to change my question, replacing “imperialist purposes” with something else I said in my “lecture” which was about how these spy classes “expand global understanding.” He stated that rather than imperialism, diverse universities create a, well, diverse environment with multiple perspectives which fosters a better understanding of others and how to get along. I didn’t necessarily have an issue with this, sort of, but stated that his version was quite optimistic while my lecture focused on how the version of “global understanding” being created was actually for securing interests in another nation for imperialist purposes like extracting resources to the detriment of the host nation. I really hope I didn’t come off as rude and I did apologize for how terrible I am at speaking.
The fourth, and last, student spoke up to answer the question: should universities accept funding from the defence industry? He said yes, because it’s money and it can help students defend the country and foster nationalism. My immediate thought was “huh?” Because throughout my presentation I was showing how the defence industry was not using universities for genuine defence purposes but for infiltrating others. I thought maybe I should’ve changed “defence industry” to “offensive industry” since that is how it acts. Mainly to western capitalists nations, not others. I didn’t say anything as a previous student said that he believed the opposite, that universities should not accept the funding.
He then talked about his experience at the university of Chicago and how he and other faculty opposed the defence department for getting involved in their research. From what I can remember the military was trying to give funding to the biology departments in multiple universities, but the funding was only to be given with restrictive purposes attached to military agendas. The university of Chicago pulled away from this agreement and so did other universities, to the point where the US government had to pivot and instead of the funding coming from the defence sector, it would instead come from the sciences.
My presentation came to an end after that and I was applauded but I sat down with a bad taste in my mouth. I thought my information was good and my topic was great too, yet I did not get the response I was looking for. I should lower my expectations…
I did end up asking my teacher about my presentation and if she would be willing to give me tips on improvements when grading it and she agreed while also praising me on how well I did. I wasn’t convinced initially because of how off everyone was and the fact that I was still cowardly, but she didn’t agree. She even brought out her notes to show that she thought I did well and was very kind in my interactions. I also asked if the photo of my dog was too much or inappropriate but she said it was fine but that I should just explain the joke outright. To me, even if they don’t know who Lenin is, it’s still funny to see a dog’s head on a man’s body. I mentioned that the lack of interest may be due to cultural differences and she agreed, she also said that the topic may have flown over their heads, next time I will have to do a lot more hand holding.
All in all I am proud of myself, my slides and script were good, but I am disappointed in the lack of interest in imperialism…
Sounds like it was a “thinker.” You probably presented a lot of really serious ideas that they hadn’t considered before and they were too busy contemplating the implications of what you were laying down to engage with it.
The fucked energy in the room is because you were directly challenging the status quo. These ideas are heterodox and students often don’t want to be seen as anti-conformists among their peers.
The people trying to reframe the questions or speaking in support of funding from the MIC are just parotting the imperialist line. Talking about fostering nationalism and “defending” the country is so tone deaf when you have just laid out what those ideas mean for people in the global south. Those ignorant comments make that guy look like a useful idiot at best and a violent psychopath at worst.
If your teacher is saying you did well that is a good sign. Be open to the potential for people to ask to speak to you one on one.
It was a “thinker” but I did my best to explain everything as simply as possible, its one of the reasons why when defining imperialism I used Lenin but also Parenti as he has a way of writing that might resonate more with my classmates. Maybe they were hinting about it or maybe they were just bored, which is what it felt like. When making this presentation I tried really hard to challenge our capitalist system but also make it soft enough so I wouldn’t get attacked lol.
The reframing of my question was quite annoying. The questions itself was this: “What skills can universities and its students use for imperialist purposes?“ the. DemSoc just repeated what I said in my lecture, while that other student switched out “imperialist purposes” for “global understanding” which is something that these spy programs said they were doing but I very explicitly stated that it was anything but. I understand that I needed to do a LOT more hand-holding, my teacher even said this too, but I thought my script laid out well why these programs were imperialist and using marginalized student bodies for espionage. The student who supported the defence industry really shocked me and I wasn’t able to respond to him.
So far no one has spoken to me about the presentation, whether thats a good or bad thing I can’t say, but I appreciate the insight. I am glad you and everyone else think I did well even without my script lol
Imperialism really is the primary contradiction, isn’t it?
It seems to me these days many westerners admit that capitalism is the problem, yet they are completely fine with imperialism and hold chauvinistic views towards the Global South - even self-professed leftists. They’ve dissociated the two based on how they affect their material conditions: capitalism at home is a problem because their job sucks, they can’t afford housing, healthcare, brunch, etc., but capitalism abroad is fine because they’re in the imperial core and receive shiny treats for bargain prices.
As long as the West benefits from imperialism, the most a left movement can do here is force a more even distribution of the imperial spoils, which isn’t achieving much. Maybe I’m too jaded because of the circles I’m in, but I find it hard to convince enough people to go against their material interests so much that they’ll advocate for dismantling imperialism, unless they realize the subtler ways capitalism affects them negatively.
This was a long tangent to say that you did well and it’s just the nature of the topic (and I’m assuming the time of the year close to summer break) that caused your audience to act the way they did. Maybe you did plant a seed of doubt in some of your audience regarding the imperial narrative, but they didn’t engage for various reasons; the same way debunking right-wingers’ crap on social media might seem like a futile effort, but you’re probably making lurkers change their minds and move further left, and in time they may become comrades. Unfortunately these worldview changes take a long time.
Anyways, well done to you! You definitely picked a hard topic.
It has been so interesting and also frustrating to see with this class as capitalism is always mentioned as it is at the centre of the theme, how it is a big problem and the cause of everything going wrong. The students will make comments about it as well, expanding on what my teacher says, but when I make a presentation about the dangers of imperialism (the HIGHEST STAGE OF CAPITALISM) and the imperialist university, it’s crickets.
Maybe they don’t want to think about it, or they do not like that I am pushing beyond the regular critiques that are typically made in university: that capitalism is bad and we should change it, but we will never say what that change should be, at best we mean “reform” but never revolution.
I hope I did make some of them think about it and they’ll continue on learning about imperialism, but I probably will never know as most of these people are PoliSci students and thus I will never see them again. Thank you for the support! I tried my best to make imperialism an “easy” and digestible topic for them, even if they misunderstood everything I said lol.
Just one small point about your dog photo joke: including jokes or funny pictures in presentations like this, some people will tell you that it comes across as unserious but actually i think it can be a good idea depending on your audience. As was to be expected, your audience was not particularly well versed or interested in the topic, and in this case including a bit of levity (not too much, one or two per presentation is enough, else it turns into a circus) can help keep or draw back their attention if they have “checked out”. From what you described i think you structured your presentation very well, you are perhaps a little too overly critical of yourself.
Even so, it’s hard to get people interested in a topic that their material interest depends on ignoring. In the case of university students studying in the imperial core, the chance is very high that they are from relatively more affluent backgrounds which benefit from unequal global exchange, and even if they are on scholarships they are more than likely aspiring to advance their socio-economic status to at least labor aristocracy or petty bourgeois. Therefore the topic of imperialism is not something that most will have an incentive to engage with, and many will even defend it.
I’m not saying this to discourage you, i think it’s great that you are trying to expand awareness on this topic. But you have to understand that sometimes the problem is not the quality of your presentation, it’s the class composition of the audience that has more to do with why you get a certain reaction or lack thereof.
I am glad that my dog photo isn’t inappropriate and I do promise that any other jokes I made were verbal and used as a way to transition from slides, although I think I only had around two transitional “jokes.” So I had a good amount that didn’t make my presentation seem like a stand up routine. I did work pretty hard on my structure, to make sure that things went smoothly going from point to point, so yeah I am too critical of myself, I have been that way since I was a little guy so its something I have to work on.
I think you are right in that my classmates are just not interested in imperialism due to the fact that it does not directly affect them negatively, if anything they benefit from it. I was more surprised by the fact that the self proclaimed Democratic socialist was so uninterested, he even had a deck of uno cards ready to go when our break came around. Do not worry, though, I do not feel discouraged at all and it’s more so just something I have to remember: sometimes it’s not a me-problem. I just hope that when I do start teaching that my students will take the topic of imperialism seriously. At least my teacher liked it!
Including humour in a classroom is perfectly normal. As long as you don’t overdo it or crack any nasty jokes then you should be fine. Remember that making a boring joke is still better than making a joke that gets you into trouble. Unfortunately, there have been a few times in my life where I crossed that line and now my catchphrase is ‘I’m a gentile. You can tell because I’m the world’s worst comedian.’
I asked the class if they knew what the school of the Americas was, no one put their hands up which was what I was hoping for,
I used to have the impression that everybody knew more than I did about history, but when I would ask other educated adults if they knew about subjects like Symon Petliura and the reinvasion of Ethiopia, I was stunned by their unknowingness. Still, I enjoy educating others, so long as I know that they are willing to listen. So on the one hand, I understand your disappointment in others’ unknowingness on these subjects. On the other hand, you have an excellent opportunity to educate others and maybe impress them with your knowledge. Do not feel discouraged.
I then asked if anyone wanted to hazard a guess as to what it is, no one tried which was a bit embarrassing for me.
You know what I think? I would be unsurprised if they were embarrassed for being clueless about it, especially if you went in depth about its overwhelming or diuturnal influence. Think for a moment about how something so important is most likely only known to a small percentage of otherwise well educated North Americans. It isn’t your fault that so many adults are unaware of this subject.
I was showing how the defence industry was not using universities for genuine defence purposes but for infiltrating others. I thought maybe I should’ve changed “defence industry” to “offensive industry” since that is how it acts.
It does defend something. It defends capital. Nobody says that part out loud, though.
I am disappointed in the lack of interest in imperialism…
There is nothing inherently uninteresting about imperialism, and going by what you have shared with us, I suspect that your presentation was adequate. Nevertheless, it may enhance your presentations to imitate how Michael Parenti spoke to audiences: notice his brief pauses, his body language, and the way that he adjusted his volume depending on the subject matter. You may have to rehearse (preferably in front of a mirror) for a few days before you get the hang of things. You don’t want to rush into the gory matters, and you want to keep your energy modest (especially at the start) so that you don’t come across as bombastic.
It may also help to make the subject matter relevant to the students somehow. You can invite them to picture theirselves as politicians who want the locals to have, let’s say, more and cheaper bananas. A banana company can pay these politicians if they, in turn, find a good way to grow and harvest more bananas. They can try something here, but there is a cheaper option available: they learn of a country down south—Guatemala—that has plenty of these fruits, but the businessmen could be doing better.
How can they make these fruits cheaper and the businessmen richer…? Lower the workers’ wages and anything else that cuts into profits, like safety regulations and vacation time. Those workers would not like that, but maybe they don’t have to. Maybe somebody can keep them in line, and they’ll put up with the loss of concessions. You can hire a bully to do enforcement, but you need more. If only you had a facility that could train more of these bullies… a school for them, maybe… and you know where this is going.
I am deliberately oversimplifying matters, but that is just an example of how you could maybe get people’s attention: make this more relevant to them and make them think about what they could be doing in that situation. What do you think?
This is fantastic and very helpful, so thank you for putting in the effort for me.
I do like educating people about things when I know they are willing to learn. I was very excited to tell my classmates about the school of Americas, when they all indicated that they had no idea what it was I even stated “perfect, because I want to be the one to tell you what it is. I was bummed out that they didn’t play ball when I asked them to guess because it would’ve been a great segue into my slide that was just pictures of evil people. But I saved it by just saying “well, let’s find out by looking at some of the SOA’s most famous alumni.”
I know I was unaware of the SOA until it was mentioned in a Nyx Fears video, after she talked about it I went down the rabbit hole and now I will never not talk about it. I am still enthusiastic about teaching, especially this topic, so I do not feel discouraged, just annoyance and disappointment in the energy of the room and response.
It does defend something. It defends capital. Nobody says that part out loud, though.
I was too scared to say anything out loud because this university has freaked me out one too many times, but I thought my presentation was descriptive enough to say that. I even explicitly said that the military is used to secure a nation’s interests in another, subjugated, country. But I guess that didn’t stick. Maybe that student took the “defence” part super literally and figured it would be defending the homeland rather than foreign resources. It was very annoying to hear and it felt like they weren’t listening to me at all.
Michael Parenti’s lecture style is what I have in my head and somewhat during my very short rehearsal but not enough for it to override my default energy during the presentation, which is staring at my notes the whole time (unless addressing the room with a question), having a shaky (but loud enough) voice, and a “hunched” over posture as I lean on the podium. When I was lecturing to my mom about my topic I was fairly animated (comes with being Portuguese) and expressive with my tone but standing at the front changes that. Practicing more and in advance should help with this.
I also appreciate you linking Parenti’s lecture as an example. I do enjoy him a lot and focusing on the way he speaks and presents just showed me why he is so captivating. I am going to watch his lectures more and practice my own (redo this presentation at home) just to prepare for any future presentations I will have to do now that this one is over.
Your example here of getting the class more involved is actually gat and does help a lot in what I can do for the future (soon as my semester is almost done and fall starts in September) to engage with the class and help them situate more in the topic. My teacher did say that I probably will have to do a lot more handholding so oversimplifying isn’t necessarily bad and will most likely be the only way to get through to these people.
I think this is all great and I truly am so appreciative of your response (and all responses) to my dilemma and journey through undergrad.
As other comments have said, it sounds like you did a good job. The issues seem more from an audience that doesn’t have interest in engaging with a challenging topic. And also uni classes tend to be pretty checked out no matter what topic is presented tbh.
I really did try my best to make the content as digestible as possible, like for my definition of imperialism I used Lenin’s outright but also had a Parenti quote to help let it sink in more. I did my best to explicitly state what was happening and the nefarious nature of these spy programs and imperialism in higher education, yet it didn’t stick for most of the students who answered questions. Only one engaged deeply, which I was happy about!
The Democratic Socialist (self proclaimed) really disappointed me as he talks a lot during lectures and seemed super interested in the topic of the class (the neoliberal university) but was super checked out during my presentation, only giving a basic answer.
While I do know that some of the students are only taking this class for the credit, many of them are interested in the neoliberalism issue, but not with what I had to say. My teacher said I didn’t do anything wrong but that I probably need to hand-hold due to the topic going over their heads. The cultural issue with Canadians not caring about imperialism is also a thing too.
I do find it interesting that students could be check-out during classes because thats not really the case for me, I try to stay engaged as much as possible especially because this is a 3rd year class meaning only people with a major or minor in PoliSci are going to take it.
Anyway I am just glad that it isn’t necessarily a problem wth me, although I know my presenting style needs a lot of improvement (tone, confidence, not hiding behind the podium, making “eye contact”).
The quote
In the United States, for over a hundred years, the ruling interests tirelessly propagated anticommunism among the populace, until it became more like a religious orthodoxy than a political analysis. During the Cold War, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime’s atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn’t go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them. If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.
– Michael Parenti, Blackshirts And Reds
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That probably wasn’t the quote that @[email protected] shared with the class but thanks anyway.
Here is the exact quote I used to help drive the point home: “the process whereby the dominant politico-economic interests of one nation expropriate for their own enrichment the land, labour, raw materials, and markets of another people.”
This was said after giving Lenin’s definition.
