Though I like learning and talking about politics, it's not usually my first choice for presentations abroad as things can get heated fast. My coordinator is a political fanatic, however, and specifically requested this topic for our second presentation. I was doubtful that the students would be willing to give up their Friday evening to listen to Republican and Democratic rants but we agreed to give it a try.
Loni and I spent the last few weeks researching our topics (abortion, gun control, health care system, taxes and government spending, gay marriage) and defined different Republican, Democrat and Brazilian opinions on each issue. The week before the event we visited classes to encourage attendance and advertised our presentation by hanging up flyers everywhere. Loni is a staunch Democrat and thus it fell to me to be the Republican for the event (a difficult character to represent abroad, especially in the department of international relations at UESC). I was more than a little nervous to be the Republican under fire for two hours in the mock courtroom of the law department, an intimidating setting for anyone.
I was very nervous about how the presentation would go because we were counting on participation from students and other professors. I was worried about the interest in the event along with communication problems as we were presenting in English. I was also concerned about offending people or making inaccurate comparisons with my limited knowledge of Brazilian history and politics. Overall, things went fine but we didn't have nearly the amount of students come as those who came for the music and dance presentation (not a surprise). My coordinator was disappointed about this and at the conclusion asked the students what the next topic should be in order to guarantee a better turnout. One student suggested "How to Road Trip Across the U.S." Now that's something I'm looking forward to talking about!
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