In an hour, I have to lecture a classroom filled with roughly 200 undergraduate students about how the human body has adaptated to changing nutritional patterns throughout history. This will be, by far, the biggest group of people I’ve ever had to stand in front of and string together coherent sentences. In attempting to model the subject matter I am teaching, I am hoping very much not to vomit.
Update, 1:00 PM: I did not vomit. And now I am eating candy. All is well with the world.
10 Comments
November 13, 2007 at 8:34 pm
yay! congrats! that is quite a feat.
feat. n.
1. A notable act or deed, especially an act of courage
2. An act of skill, endurance, imagination, or strength; an achievement
November 13, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Aww, it’s a compliment AND a lesson. You’ve been busy grading your own students, I see? You’re the sweetest.
November 13, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Great lecture! You rocked!
November 13, 2007 at 9:10 pm
You’re an enthusiastic liar! But I love you for it! And remember, our metabolic function cannot keep up with our modern lifestyle. And by modern lifestyle, I have no idea what I’m talking about. But just read the goddamn slide, will you? Thank you most kindly.
November 13, 2007 at 9:31 pm
But what about the cassava? There was something about cassava, could you explain that in layman’s terms… how exactly does fufu protect us from malaria?
November 13, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Good God, I’d rather not. I love that it was MY student who said, “can you explain that in layman’s terms?” No, I will not. You will just sit there and be confused!
November 14, 2007 at 5:19 am
what’s with layman anyway. Isn’t that a bit sexist? Haven’t they learned anything. Well, nevermind…don’t answer that.
November 15, 2007 at 6:24 am
So are you going to blog about the experience of delivering your first lecture-hall style talk? Or will you leave us wondering about it? Maybe you can post your powerpoint presentation.
Your student has balls to ask you to re-phrase something in ‘layman’s’ terms (a layman has balls, right?) during this very important 200-person lecture. Um, don’t you grade that layman’s work? Merriam-Webster is the layman I’d refer him to. If you don’t know what cassava is, you don’t belong in an anthropology class, kid. (Just kidding…kinda.)
November 15, 2007 at 6:45 am
Oh, yeah. I forgot to explain my focus on food after yoga class last night. All I could think about during sun salutations: burrito. During sivasana: burrito. During Om meditation: burrito. When you and Allison walked up to me: Burrito. Your arm: Burrito. So if you saw me eyeballing your arm, that’s why. I was afraid to say anything because I was concerned you might misinterpret my hallucinations: I suppose nobody wants to be told that a part of their body resembles a food item. Even a luscious spicy wonderful food item like a burrito.
November 16, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Hilarious. I’ll never look at my arm the same way again.
Oh, and trust me, there isn’t much more to be said about the lecture. I read information off slides. I said a few intervening things, like “And next, we’re going to look at…”
It wasn’t really my lecture. Or my data or information. I couldn’t honestly make it much more interesting. I’ll just leave it at that.