This description is derived from notes taken during class and my memories of the session.

After this week’s Talking Circle presentations, L3 praises one of the students for creating slides which were visually strong. That was very good for visual learners, he says. Consequently, a student asks for a visual representation of the UN bodies so that the connections between them become clearer. L3 tries to draw a diagram on the board but immediately admits that this will probably not be very helpful as the UN’s structure is simply too complex.

Some more questions about NGOs and the UN are asked. As L3 refers to a certain reference in his answer, he also talks about the author’s background. Afterwards he picks up the reflection questions from the lecture and asks us to discuss them in groups. Although discussions are lively across the room, no one wants to share his or her opinion with the whole class afterwards. Thus, L3 who has been walking around during the group discussions mentions some aspects he heard earlier and, hence, makes people talk eventually.

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This description is derived from notes taken during class and my memories of the session.

As today’s lecture treats Indigenous experiences defending Human Rights, L3 begins with a revision of the definition of Human Rights. When stating that everyone is entitled to them, he tells us that his father used to say that even the blackbird outside the window had Human Rights. Throughout the lecture he often asks the students whether they remember a certain detail and sometimes gets help from one of them. After approximately one third of the lecture, L3 asks a reflection question to think about while he goes on.

When he talks about a certain UN body he tells the class that he has been to one of its meetings. He describes the atmosphere as very friendly and open-minded but also points out that it is very competitive and difficult to get one’s voice heard. He has also attended a different meeting on UN level which he repeatedly calls “very interesting”. He explains the seating order of the different countries’ governments and indigenous representatives to show their different attitudes.

When the topic of NGOs comes up, L3 tells the class about a friend who created an NGO to underline how much work and luck it includes and how difficult it can be to gain status with the UN. He finally finishes the lecture with another reflection question.

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This description is derived from notes taken during class and my memories of the session.

As usual we start the tutorial with student presentations, or Talking Circles as they are called in the course outline. There is a different question for every presentation and up to three presentations take place per session. The students are asked to work as interactively with the class and be as creative as possible in their presentation techniques. Thus, the presentations today include group discussions, subsequent sharing of ideas and fake High School certificates being handed out to illustrate numbers.

After the first presentation L3 comments on some statements made by the presenter and recommends some further reading. At the end of the class we return to the discussion question on the lecture slides. Many students share their opinion and we lose the direct connection to the topic at some point. After a while L3 stops the discussion and sums up the results.

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This description is derived from a participant observation conducted in class on 29th November 2015.

As there are no presentations today, L3 does not really know what to do. He asks us whether there are any issues we would like to discuss but does not get an answer. He also remarks that there has not been any reading for this week. He starts to talk about the only source on the lecture slides’ reference list, admits that he should have uploaded it as a reading and finally leaves the room to copy it for us. When he comes back, we all flip through it and L3 points out aspects we discussed throughout the semester. Again he asks whether there are any more questions. When no one says anything, he talks about a few more aspects related to the document, today’s topic or the class in general. Then L3 informs us that there is probably only going to be one last presentation of someone who was ill in the next week and that he can absolutely understand if we do not want to come, especially if we have an assignment to finish or an exam to study for. He finishes the tutorial early by telling us that “if we go out into the world”, we have his email address and can contact him at any time if we need his help.

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This description is derived from notes taken during class and my memories of the session.

At the start of this week’s lecture, L3 briefly repeats the definition of Social Justice we learned the week before. He then gives some information about the Stolen Generations and apologises for having forgotten a name. Afterwards he briefly shows a satirical comic and asks us a reflection question. However, he does not expect an answer to this question right away and tells us to think about it for a while. As he goes on, he notices a number of typing errors on the slides and points them out to us.

For some reason it is impossible to open the classroom doors from the outside today. As a number of students are late today, they keep knocking. Every time L3 opens the door and welcomes them with a nice word.

The next part of the lecture treats a specific case in which the Commonwealth was challenged for removing a child from its parents. L3 begins this topic by giving extensive background knowledge about the removed person. While talking about claims and evidence, he catches himself frequently saying “but” and explains that he does not want to judge anything as right or wrong but that the word “but” will come up very often. He also says that he loves lawyers but that it can be very frustrating if they are on the opposition’s side. He then mentions a few films about the Stolen Generations we can watch to find out more and talks about a friend who helps people to reconnect with their families.

At the end of the lecture, L3 apologises for painting such a dark picture of history but adds that it is very important to understand what happened so that we can move on from there. He also repeats that he is always trying to avoid any judgement. {Click here for analysis} After he notices that it is still very early, he apologises for having raced through the lecture and starts a relaxed chat with the class. He tries to learn names and remember what subject the students are studying. Then he goes back to the topic of the lecture, telling the class that he can still remember how he was sitting in front of the TV when an important case about the Stolen Generations was decided. There were also many people in the University’s bar watching the decision, he says.

Then he picks up the topic of evidence again and finishes by underlining that no one should feel good or bad about what happened. But it is a part of Australia’s history and everyone should hope that we can move on now.

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This description is derived from a participant observation conducted in class on 29th November 2015.

I arrive early and sit down in my usual place. One after the other, more students walk in but it stays a very small group today. The lecturer and tutor of this class (L3) arrives and hands out feedback sheets to everyone who has held his or her presentation recently. He then asks about the assignment which is due this evening. Afterwards he begins today’s lecture on lobbying in defence of Human Rights by stating that it is a very interesting one. Maybe not content-wise, he adds, but the topic is very interesting. He explains that the term ‘lobbying’ comes from the US practice to corner politicians in the lobby of a venue. Lobbying is a huge practice is in the US, he says and asks an US-American student whether this is correct. To highlight how much influence a lobby can have, L3 talks about an article he once found which discussed why smoking is good for you.

When explaining the procedure of speaking in front of the UN, L3 uses the example of an expert meeting in Geneva he attended. He says that he would normally prefer to outline his speech very briefly in the beginning and then talk freely about the topic. However, this is not possible when speaking in front of the UN because the speaker has to stick very closely to the paper submitted beforehand. That makes is very boring and passion is rare, L3 says. But he admits: “As I keep saying: The UN is a monster of an organisation”. When speaking at the meeting, he adds, he has been nervous for the first time after 10 to 15 years of public teaching. Luckily, some other Australians were able to help him. Some students ask a few questions about details of the procedure and L3 answers them.

Going on, L3 often adds “in my experience” or “my opinion” to the statements he makes. When he explains how important it is to know one’s allies and to lobby in a group, he uses the example of a friend who was trying to gain status with the UN for a group of care practitioners. They were not heard until one day they were able to help the daughter of someone with power who was ill. Later, when he mentions the former special rapporteur for Indigenous issues, L3 tells us that he once sat down with him to discuss what to do. He also wants to use an example when talking about extensive negotiations on UN level but cannot remember exactly what it was about. When he outlines the development of the Universal Periodic Review, L3 tells the class that he used to watch the daily update available on YouTube.

L3 finally finishes the lecture by apologising for the poor referencing on the lecture slides because he asked a friend for advice. It is not his favourite topic, he admits. After checking the time, he is happy that he managed to “stretch” the lecture to a reasonable length.

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