Seven students took to the stage to perform an array of speeches at Panorama Monday night. Topics ranged from the importance of LGBTQ+ artists to the history of the plant kudzu. The event was held at the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts.
Panorama has been hosted annually every spring semester since 2014. The event was hosted by the Department of Communication this year. The event provides a way for students to give TED Talk-style speeches on topics of their choosing. Whether students have a history in public speaking or not does not matter, as long as they have a passion.
The first speech of the night was “Rooted in Resilience,” written and performed by Anna Harrison, a junior anthropology and sustainable development double major. Her speech outlined how kudzu can act as a community builder within the South.
Kudzu is native to Japan and China and was introduced to the United States in the 1870s to reduce soil erosion in areas that had been deforested, according to the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. However, it quickly took over the climate, taking the title of “the vine that ate the south.” Harrison said during her talk that within 20 years of its introduction to the area, it was labeled as invasive and shunned by the South.
“Communities are changing their perspective and really starting to work with kudzu,” Harrison said. “In Southeast Asia it’s not really an issue because people have a relationship with the plant.”
Jackson Magdanz, a senior communication studies major, brought LGBTQ+ media to the stage in their speech “Your Favorite Artist’s Favorite Artist is Probably Queer, and That’s Important.” Their speech’s journey began with an important question: “Are the robots from Daft Punk queer?”
Short answer: yes, as well as many other musicians. From Elton John to the birth of house music, Magdanz said LGBTQ+ communities have always played a significant role in crafting U.S. culture and media. In March 2022, Florida passed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” prohibiting discussion of sexual orientation and LGBTQ+ history in the classroom. Magdanz said despite legislative efforts, the community will continue to persevere.
“Queerness is natural, queerness is inevitable and you can never get rid of us,” Magdanz said.
Freshman political science major Kinsleigh Lane found Magdanz’s speech particularly inspiring.
“There’s so many things that are done by the queer community that nobody really notices,” Lane said. “There are so many people who are so anti-queer and don’t really see that what they are consuming is made by queer individuals.”
Dylan Jackson, a senior public relations major, gave a speech entitled “Healthcare in Rural America,” a talk discussing the critical need for value-based healthcare systems in the U.S. Jackson has been working as a medical assistant at a value-based care system for several years, which they said makes them well-versed in the intricacies of the system.
“I have been at App since 2020, I came during the pandemic and I dropped out after my first semester,” Jackson said. “I came back in the fall of 2022, and ever since I came back I felt very disconnected as a student because I work full time. I wanted to do Panorama because I didn’t want to graduate without putting my name on something related to App.”
Blending improvisation and memorization, senior Ryan Stukes gave a talk which included both speech and music entitled “Finding My Voice: A Journey Through Music and Self-Expression.”
Stukes is a Chancellor’s Scholar and an interdisciplinary studies major. Through the program, she created her own major: Multicultural Marketing and Communications. Stukes said after her grandmother passed the first week of her freshman year, depression overwhelmed her, causing her to fall behind in her classes. She has always been a musician and wanted to use this talent during her college career as a way for her to unabashedly explore her emotions.
“I felt released. I felt all the stress, all the anger, all the frustration, all of that emptiness I felt in my life had just run away,” Stukes said.
Music improvisation became a guiding light through her struggles. On stage, she played her viola and performed from her heart, closing her eyes and crafting the melodies in real time.
Stephen Williams, a junior communication studies major, discussed the scary realities of our digital footprints in his speech “The Importance of Good Hygiene: Cyber Hygiene That Is.” His speech was interactive, encouraging audience members to take a look at the gaps in their education on cybersecurity.
Freshman Sean Sica made connections between Jamaican athletes and U.S. scientific communities in his speech “What Jamaican Sprinters Teach Us About Shifting American STEM Culture.” Sica is a member of the honors college and a social studies education major. His speech emphasized how U.S. culture fails to promote scientifically-curious children, instead raising kids whose dream jobs include influencers and professional gamers.
“Change the training plan and you can change the culture,” Sica said.
Rose Benton is a senior who is a part of the accelerated masters program and is majoring in environmental politics and sustainable development. On stage, she brought her dual majors together in their speech “Environmental (In)Justice and Community Organizing: Building Resilience and Fostering Independence.” Taking a look at the effects of Hurricane Helene on Western North Carolina, Benton urged the audience to connect with their community like they did post Helene.
“A connected community is a responsible community, and a responsible community is a prepared community,” Benton said.