Textualities 2023: A Mini-Conference Reflection
- Ellen Hutchinson
- Apr 10, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 20, 2023
Mood for the Day:
My stomach was in knots and I spent the duration of the drive to college reciting my presentation out loud in my car. I wanted to be early to campus because, as the first chair, I had been entrusted with the job of transporting the most valuable cargo of the day aka all the presentation slides. I had 3 USB's all with the same content on them in the event that I would lose one of them somewhere between the carpark and our venue for the day: The North Council Room. Dr Anne Etienne had given us some valuable advice on how to tackle and manage the inevitable anxiety of the day but some feelings are just too big to be combated. Honestly, I was shaking like a leaf.
Initially I was regretting my decision to chair the opening panel,
however, in hindsight, I'm glad I did it. The experience helped me get settled behind the podium and get a feel for speaking up there prior to my own presentation. I enjoyed mediating the Q&A session and it was nice to see so many of the faculty in attendance and asking such interesting and thought provoking question to the first four students of the day. I'm sure it was difficult being the very first panel but they did incredible, as did every student at the mini-conference.
I was the final speaker on the second panel, "Woman Scorned: Gender Roles & Expectations". My presentation was titled "Female Representation in Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood". I'm focusing on the work of Murakami and I'm specifically criticising his representation of women so this
conference was an opportunity to show a fraction of the research I've done already. My presentation focused mainly on the criticism of Murakami, the objectification of women in his writing and the male gaze. With notable slides such as "breasts & ears" and "sad,apathetic &horney", I was able to get a few laughs from the audience which I appreciated. Honestly, my presentation went much better than I had expected. The Pecha Kucha aspect (20 slides x 20 seconds each) was initially very daunting but it worked well on the day. I surprised myself and I'm quite proud of the outcome. The questioning afterwards also went well. I was able to elaborate on my motivations for studying an author who I clearly have a dislike for and also received some valuable suggestions and recommendations from the faculty that were present. Most importantly, I got a thumbs up from my mom who was there.
I breathed a sigh of relief once I was finished and spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the other
presentations, live tweeting and asking a couple of questions in the final panel. Overall, I think the day was a huge success. It was a credit to everyone involved and I think we all did a great job individually and as a collective.
I was not at all surprised by the calibre of work each student presented. This was such a valuable experience that will certainly stand to me as I immerse myself in dissertation work.
Below are some of my tweets from the day which can be found at here - @EllenHutch24 https://twitter.com/EllenHutch24
Below is the Poster and Schedule for the Conference:
Last, but certainly not least, thank you kindly to my mom for attending the conference and for taking the pictures of me that I've included above. I couldn't have asked for a better supporter and photographer.
Here are links to some of my classmates blogs to have a look at:
Charlotte Troy - https://119357256.wixsite.com/the-unoriginal-think
Kaitlyn McNulty - https://kaitlynmcnulty2.wixsite.com/what-lies-around-the/blog
Robyn Coombes - https://robyncoombes.wixsite.com/abstract-to-illustra
Emily Dollery - https://itwasadarkandstormynight.hcommons.org/
Hanke Kelber - https://fablesandreflections.hcommons.org/
Aroa del Rio Gabaldon - https://aroagabaldon.hcommons.org/
Francisca Pico Paredes- https://franciscapicoparedes.hcommons.org/
Dominic Kjelsen - https://convergence.hcommons.org/
Ioannis Kaprosioutis- https://giannis330.wixsite.com/the-falling-tower/blank-1
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