On-Campus Activity Blog

For my on-campus activity, I chose to attend the lecture over magic that was given by Dr. Larry Hass last Monday, November 15. I was joined in attendance by two of our cohort members, Dr. G and Steven. When I read the description of the event, I thought it definitely sounded like something that would be interesting to write a blog post about. When I left the event, I did so with many ideas about which to write, though none of them fit my original expectations.

The best way to describe the magic show portion of his show is how Steven characterized it as we walked through the Bishop's Lounge after leaving the event. He said, "When someone starts out with card tricks, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the performance." That statement accurately describes the rest of the magic performance. At one point, he put his hand and a deck of cards under a handkerchief that he had draped over his hand. I find that if a magician has to hide (outright) the trick, then I can no longer extend my disbelief enough to think that he has performed something that I cannot explain. Not to berate the man, but I'm just trying to give an idea of my view of the magic show.

Though he was far from the best magician I've seen, his ideas about what we stand to learn from the study of magic were intriguing. The "everyday magic" that we perform are the things we do that seem to have an effect that we cannot explain, such as shushing a baby soothingly to soften their cries. I didn't interpret this as magic, but I would like to see it as more than just a sound that soothes them. One connection he touched on, but didn't develop as fully as I would have liked was the function that magic serves in teaching us that some things cannot be explained on the surface, but in experiencing them, we learn to look at the world in different ways. Or, at least, that's what I gleaned from the lecture.

I also saw that the Communication Studies department was co-sponsoring the event, in addition to other departments. I enjoy the co-departmental events because I feel they bring a wider perspective to an event. However, this event was rather boring and I am having a hard time finding connections to any of the communication classes I have taken thus far in my time here at Southwestern.

I really found no meaningful connection to the event and though I didn't think it was awful, it definitely missed the mark and failed to live up to my fairly low expectations. That said, I think the kind of academic questions events like this one bring up are helpful and assist us in broadening our academic horizons, being open to new ideas and ways of thinking. That's what a lecture should be about, and in its goals, this event accomplished that.

Brady