I went and saw bell hooks give a talk at my future university today, and I have to say that while I loved her when she was being conversational and sharing personal anecdotes, I wasn't particularly impressed by the more "academic" portion of her talk. While she is undoubtedly brilliant and I love reading her work, I am not too fond of the way that she speaks or relates to an audience when she is reading her lectures. It's somewhat jarring to hear her moving from an "academic voice" to a funny and personally engaging one; I'm not sure if it's because I want to (perhaps problematically) essentialize her as either one or the other (academic vs. empowered, engaging woman), or if I find something unsettling or inauthentic about the abrupt transitions between the voices (and whatever is driving her to speak differently based on what material is being related).
In any case, it made me feel better to know that even someone as legit and amazing as bell hooks can be not the most inspiring lecturer ever (which gives me hope for future me!)
Afterwards, I went and got Ethiopian food (my first time!) at a little restaurant near the campus with AK, Tatiana, Erika, and Susannah. It's definitely very good, and best of all, I think very close to where I'll possibly be living next year...
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