A general restatement of thoughts: A more thorough introduction tying all the subjects together and briefly explaining them at the beginning would be good. With the short presentations, I agree that the ones we’ve had so far have been scattered. Maybe it would be good to link them broadly to the current topic (as we’re doing from now on). So, one presentation for topics in biology, one for linguistics, and one for culture.
I can’t say I’ve really liked the blog posts. I always forget about them until right before they’re due, and stare blankly at the screen for a while before coming up with something I feel no one reads. Some guiding question might be good (though maybe they should be more suggestions than requirements). It might also be good to group every week’s posts into one thread, I’m thinking that might facilitate discussion more.
Also agreeing with preparing questions to asks presenters before they come in – and maybe having a bit more of an introduction as to who they are and why they’re coming in before they do. I dunno, I feel like this Thurday went really well, and I’m trying to figure what contributed to that. 🙂