Listening and Responding to a Scholarly Presentation

Moves to make while listening to an academic presentation

Moves to make while listening to an academic presentation

Model

• (Yes AND) Listen for questions that presenters themselves pose but do not pursue. Scholarship poses questions, explicitly or implicitly. Which ones interest you?
• (Yes BUT)Listen for keywords. Scholarship often works by asking us to think through new definitions for familiar concepts. Are you finding these new definitions useful? Are there dark areas they leave unlit? Are there other ways YOU might redefine these keywords?

• Starting with “You assert X.” Then, you can move on to Yes BUT “Asserting X is problematic for the following reason(s),” or Yes AND “Claim X can be made even stronger by considering such and such.” In some cases, you may have to begin with, "Are you asserting X?”
• “You bring up the [raised question]. Could you speak more about the implications of [the question]?" (Yes AND)
• “You define [keyword] as [blank], but many critics define it as [other blank]. Can you talk about the difference between those definitions?” (Yes BUT)
• How does your approach fit in with [a political or academic issue] in terms of [specific element of talk]?” (Yes AND)

• "You assert that the irony works by having a lot of comedy so people can connect to it. Asserting comedy is the main force is problematic for the following reason: Rosen argues that comedy can be the part that people ignore or do not take seriously. How does your satire approach that issue?” (yes BUT analysis)
• “Your focus on language can be made even stronger by considering the way in which Darren Wilson's testimony in Ferguson depended on images of "monsters" and "supernatural beings." (Yes AND, context)
• In some cases, you may have to begin with, "Are you asserting the irony requires multiple steps of interpretation, as does Booth?” (Yes AND, analysis)
• “You bring up the issue of social media's influence on race relations. Could you speak more about the implications of this influence?" (Yes AND, context)
• “You define satire's target as its readers or viewers, but many critics define it as the idea or group being ridiculed. Can you talk about the difference between those definitions?” (Yes BUT, analysis)
• How does your approach fit in with the idea of police brutality in terms of the way you portray the protestors?” (Yes AND, context)

Moves to make while listening to an academic presentation

• (Yes AND, Yes BUT)Listen for the intellectual problem or larger public issue the presentation addresses. Do you accept their challenge to the scholarly consensus or the conventional wisdom? Do you want to hear more about the intellectual stakes or the practical implications of their challenge?
• (Yes AND)Draw connections among presentations/classes/disciplines. One purpose of public presentation is to create opportunities for a dynamic cross-pollination of ideas. Point to ways that the presentations complement one another/other classes/disciplines, and ask presenters/professors to comment. Are you seeing unexpected convergences, or equally unexpected divergences? Does the discussion you’ve heard in other presentations/classes/disciplines have anything to contribute to this one?

Listening and Responding to a Scholarly Presentation

Like, say, a professor's lecture?