Taste of Multifaceted American Cultures

Written and Edited by Rosette Leung, Hong Kong

Athens, OH – Sitting on a delayed flight from San Francisco to Ohio, what comes to the mind of the SUSI scholars? Time files. One week to leave Athens, the ‘home’ of the scholars. If every flight is an adventure, here is the journey of how the scholars experienced American cultures for their first time.

The first stop: Chillicothe

Tecumseh! The outdoor drama with real actors, horses, and gunfire effects was fascinating. Based on the scripts written by seven-time Pulitzer Prize nominee and Emmy recipient, Allan W. Eckert, the show performed in a valley of the Sugarloaf Mountain, Ohio was based on a true story about a Shawnee Chief Tecumseh who scarified his life for uniting the Indians and resisting the Americans during the 1790s.

In many countries, varieties of shows, operas and plays are very important cultural products for community revitalisation. In China, the Beijing opera, is a mixture of traditional culture and Chinese nationality. The Phantom of the Opera performs in the Her Majesty’s Theatre in London, is a European cultural representation of romance. 

Unlike the global popular operas showing in theatres, the Tecumseh drama is more realistic than many of the European plays. It informs local and international audiences about a rarely-known history of the Indian heritage in America. Although the show was  only part of the Ohio history, the resistance and integration of multi-cultural ethnicities have certainly contributed to the unification of the America.

The SUSI scholars took photos with the Tecumseh actors after the show. 

(Photo courtesy of SUSI program assistants)

The second stop: Cleveland
Drove away from the university and headed to a downtown with blocks of high buildings, Cleveland is an unfamiliar place to many scholars but most could recall the place won this year’s NBA championship, and Lebron James, a prominent NBA player, was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the team Cleveland Cavaliers. But the journey to Cleveland was nothing to do with basketball. 

Out of many scholars' expectations, Cleveland has significant contribution to political development in the US. The Quicken Loans Arena, situated in the heart of Cleveland, was the venue that hosted the Republican National Convention (RNC) this July. Coincidentally, the SUSI scholars were given a chance to visit the media centre of the Convention Center just days before Melanie Trump delivered her suspicious plagiarised speech from Michelle Obama.

       A ‘corner’ of the RNC Media Centre in Cleveland.

Not far away is where the Ohio Statehouse situated – a government building where the Democrat delegates and the Republican delegates discuss bills and legislations of Ohio. The postmodern design of the Congress building and historical painting on walls adduced the doctrine of democracy and freedom of speech that are honoured from the past to the present. Journalists and journalism scholars, what are more precious than freedom to speak for themselves and the unprivileged? Sending a Tweet or a blog post just need a click in a second, but it is still not guaranteed in many countries across the world.

Do you know who are the philosophers in the left and the right statues?

The third stop: The Amish Country
Many scholars, including myself, were impressed by the American cultures in the Hollywood movies: modern, fancy, liberal, and a little bit crazy. But in Ohio, people are more dedicated in  preserving their traditional culture instead of promoting new culture. Dissimilar to the American culture demonstrated in the Hollywood movies, the Amish Country, which locates in the Holmes County of Ohio, has a unique culture that many scholars have never seen before. Most Amish people do not own cars, mobile phones and other electronic goods. The telecommunication and internet services were very weak and often disconnected. With very limited public and private cars, carriage is the major transport in the Amish Country, and  “totally unbelievable”  as described by many scholars. 

The Amish Country is a place with greenery.

By spending four days and three nights living and interacting with the Amish people, the SUSI scholars experienced a wonderful journey in the Amish Country – a journey that bought them back to the older centuries of America. Living without disturbances, the Amish lead a happy life in their little world. Lester Beachy, also the author of a book Our Amish Values, said, “we Amish people noticed the emergence of new technologies such as mobile phone and tablet computer, yet we decided not to take a step forward because face-to-face communication is what we treasured the most.”

A huge carriage displayed in the Amish Country museum. 

“Do Amish children receive education?”, “Can an Amish marry someone not from the US?”, “How do you kill time without mobile phone?” These are the questions asked by SUSI scholars who were curious about the community of the Amish people. They were very eager to know more about the identity, marriage, education and social security etc. of the Amish. Surprisingly, the Amish felt themselves living in a wealthy and healthy village. As a Chinese proverb says: “seize the day, and enjoy what it brings you”, in the minds of the Amish people, there is nothing more precious than living and enjoying lives with their beloved ones.

The Amish are also called the Pennsylvania Dutch.

The fourth stop: The Little Cities of Black Diamonds
The Little Cities of Black Diamond in Shawnee took around 30 minutes’ drive from the Ohio University. With only around 600 people of populations, the SUSI scholars took an adventurous journey to the early coal mines in Ohio. Some SUSI scholars were disappointed when they see no mines and mining activities in Shawnee, but they later realised that heavy pollutions and fatal accidents due to early mining activities were buried and mourned in abandoned mining sites and graves of African-American who were once the forerunners in labor union movements in Ohio. Like travelled through a time tunnel, SUSI scholars visited the Robinson’s Cave and the New Straitsville Moonshine Company, some of them enjoyed samples of distillations produced by the Shawnees.

A SUSI scholar tried the distillations produced at the New Straitsville Moonshine Company.

To battle with the fading population and the missing pieces of history, some warm-hearted Shawnees have made use of the social media sites, such as Facebook and blog to inform the ‘outsiders’ about their life histories and efforts in conserving the natural scenes in Shawnee. Though setting up an archive for preserving Shawnee’s history takes time, the social media do help a lot for connecting the Little Cities of Black Diamonds to the outside world, including the Ohio University and the SUSI scholars.

The Robinson’s Cave in New Straitsville, Ohio.

"New" Linda Theater established in 1930s. Movies were displayed with motion and sound. 

The fifth stop: San Francisco
San Francisco has long been named and regarded by the Chinese as the ‘Longstanding Gold Mountain’ for remembering the history that many Chinese migrated to San Francisco to join the gold rush in California. According to Wikipedia, a division of Wikimedia Foundation, the Voice of America and the State of Federal Government are still using the name ‘Longstanding Gold Mountain’, but this name has not been mentioned on the Wikipedia page about San Francisco in English. Clever SUSI scholars noticed about the lost in translation on Wikipedia, yet the speakers from Wikipedia denied the differences in translation have bought much inconsistency in content, and they emphasised that zero censorship has been imposed on the open and collaborative site.

The SUSI scholars listened attentively to the speeches of Wikimedia representatives.

If Wikipedia is a giant online encyclopaedia, the San Francisco Giants is a giant of the Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. SUSI scholars were so excited to be toured in the AT&T Park. The Park is famous as it is the ‘home’ of the MLB Giants. Although there was no match in the park during the day of visit, the scholars were able to see the live report centre, hotel rooms, and press conference room etc. in the park – all of them represent the growth of sports marketing contributed to the globalization of sports. But sports journalism, a profession that rely on truth and accuracy, continues to serve as a major information provider about the news of the Giants.

AT&T Park – outside view

AT&T Park – part of the inside view

Similar to Hong Kong, San Francisco is a cosmopolitan city that welcome people from a multicultural background, and is one of the largest and most famous LGBT communities in the world. The SUSI journey in San Francisco ended with a mouse and the sea (Pier 39). The Walt Disney Family Museum displayed the works of Walt Disney, and explained how different Disney characters were created. From Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, to Pinocchio, Three Little Pigs and Cinderella, almost every Disney character in the museum has ‘grown up’ with the Americans, as well as the children in the rest of the world (including me again).

Every scholar must have read a number of publications that accused the conglomeration of Disney was an expansion of U.S. soft power. There were long criticisms in academia regarding Americanisation, cultural industry and hegemony. In the U.S., Disney is a giant company producing forms of entertainment. But in the eyes of millions of people around the world, Disney is the representative of America popular culture.

A Liberty Magazine cover with Mickey Mouse in 1942, a year during the WWII.

From traditional to modern, from rural to cosmopolitan, the SUSI Program has opened a door for the journalism scholars from 18 countries to travel and to explore the multifaceted American cultures.

Next station: Atlanta. Ready to leave in 3 hours. Sleepy but feel excited.

The Native American Culture.. a look into the past

Yousef Kazim, 2014 SUSI Scholar

In our first cultural trips as SUSI 2014 Scholars was to the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ohio, which was a great opportunity to have a closer look to mounds and earthworks that were built by Native American hands almost 2,000 years ago.

The most interesting thing about those Hopewell Indians earthworks that they were in the form of circles, squares, and other geometric shapes and in different sites, which might force you to ask yourself: how come that those Hopewell Indians knew that much about geometry and architecture?

During that visit, I tried – for the first time in my life – to practice a new thing which was Video Editing, and to be honest, it was a good start, and I wish you share the result of that experience through having a look to my "Native American Culture" short documentary.

I Took a "Selfie" With The President!

Yousef Kazim

A few weeks ago, I thought that taking a "Selfie" will be something that people in United States are used to! Because usually through social media platforms such as "Instagram" you'll find thousands of "Selfie" pictures posted mostly by Americans especially celebrities, or maybe they still remember Allen DeGeneres's 2014 Oscar's Selfie which was one of the most famous examples when you say the word "Selfie"!, but I was surprised that they were looking at me in a strange weird way when I was holding my "Selfie Stick" and waving to my phone's camera! And I was like: What? Am just taking a Selfie!

"Selfie" was one of the most trended terms through social networks and platforms that was used in the beginning by Australian's, and now it’s a well-known term. which is a "Self-Portrait" photograph that typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or a smart phone's front camera and usually used in some social networking services.

In fact, I was addicted to "Selfie's" since I had my first camera integrated phone "Nokia" back in college when i studied at Kuwait University during 2001 and at that time my friends were making fun of me when I face my phone's camera to take a photo of my face.. and posing. But now it became a common thing almost among all smart phones users, especially if they are so into social media platforms and using Instagram to be more specific, and that could be a way for some of them to gain and get more likes, comments and followers in that social network platform.

Using My Selfie Stick with my fellow Prof.Arona 

"Instagram images with a face in them will get 38% more likes and they’re also get 32% more comments, reveals latest research at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs. The research analyzed at 1.1 million photos on Instagram and found that pictures with  faces in them are 38 percent more likely to receive likes than photos with no faces. Images with faces in them are also 32 percent more likely to attract comments." (Gilbert, 2014).

"Selfie" with The President Dr.McDavis

During the welcome ceremony which held in Ohio University in Athens for the SUSi scholars - who are participating in this academic program which is founded by the USA Government and organized by the International Institute of Journalism at Ohio University, I was walking around using my "Selfie Stick" – as I like to call it – to take some photographs and treasuring those great moments when suddenly and unlike what I expected! The President of Ohio University, Dr. Roderick McDavis, was very open and accept that I take a picture with him on my "Selfie" way and that was the moment when I had a "Selfie with the President"!

Face It: Instagram Pictures With Faces are More Popular. (n.d.). . Retrieved July 24, 2014, from http://www.news.gatech.edu/2014/03/20/face-it-instagram-pictures-faces-are-more-popular

Searching for the “real American food”

By Lorna Chacón, Costa Rica (SUSI scholar 2014)

What’s the "real American food"? I asked this question as soon as I arrived to Athens, Ohio, for a six week program on journalism and media, at the Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI). The SUSI was funded through a grant given by the Study of the U.S. Branch, which belongs to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State.

“Hamburguers”, somebody told me. “Fries”, another person said. “Pizza”, assured one young man. “Hot Dogs”, one kid said to me. However, I was sure that the “real American food” was much more than we, as foreigners, usually watch on TV or movies, where it usually is fast food.

So, I started to look for the “real American food” here in Athens, since I'm a person who lives in Ohio University’s bedrooms, and doesn't have a kitchen to cook every day.

During my first week, I realized that Athens, and also Ohio, are like the “United Nations of Food”. Here you can find different plates from many different countries.

I started in “Casa Nueva, Restaurant and Cantina” a Mexican-tex and Mex-vegetarian place. Then, I went to “Habibis” to enjoy Lebanese food, and later I was in “Salaam”, where I found Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Moroccan flavors.

In “Chipotle”, I tried Mexican food, while in “ChinaKing” I ordered a big buffet with different Chinese plates. On the other hand, I tried a mix  of American, Japanese and Italian flavors in “Fusion Noodle Company” and in “Ginger”.

I also found in Athens all the fast food brands like Subway, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hutt, and at the Court Street “Diner” (a traditional restaurant) I found  soups, salads, sandwiches and, of course, burgers.

After my second week in Athens I asked myself again the same question: What’s the “real American food”?

Our Ohio University’s professor, Mary Rogus, invited us to her house for the 4th of July celebrations, and we had a traditional barbecue with meat, chicken, salads and corn.

We also went to professor Bill Reader’s farm, and he cooked for us “Cajun Cuisine” from Louisiana. This style of cooking is named after the french-speaking "Cajun" immigrants.

Cajun food has rice, sausages, seafood, vegetables, and very spicey rice and beans, which by the way taste delicious.

Another day, I went to the “Athens Farmers' Market”, in State Street, and I saw a lot of Americans buying fresh organic vegetables and fruits to cook their food at home.

While in the market, I remembered that Americans use to eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day, and also different pies (like apple pie) for special occasions.

But again, what’s the “real American food”? I think there is no answer for my question because America is a country built by immigrants from many different places. In my opinion, the food is like a mirror of its complex demographic phenomenon, because it is impossible to find the “real American food”, and we can only find “fusion food” that mixes all the different cultures.

Nearly 41 million immigrants lived in the United States in 2012. That is 13 percent of the total U.S. population of 313.9 million according to the Migration Policy Institute.

“In 2012, Mexican-born immigrants accounted for approximately 28 percent of the nearly 40.8 million foreigners born in the United States, making them by far the largest immigrant group in the country. India was the second largest, closely followed by the China (including Hong Kong but not Taiwan), and the Philippines (each accounting for about 5 percent)”, said the Institute.

El Salvador, Vietnam, Cuba, and Korea (each 3 percent), as well as the Dominican Republic and Guatemala (2 percent each), were among the top ten countries of origin. Together, immigrants from these ten countries made up close to 60 percent of the U.S. immigrant population in 2012.

In view of this evidence, the real American food has a lot of colors, a lot of flavors, and a lot of heritages. It is a food cooked with a lot of hands, and also with a lot of hearts, that share one land and one hope.

Striving for traditions in Athens.

When I learned that I am going to a place called “Athens” in Ohio, I laughed. I laughed about the fact that the USA has so little of its own that it even had to borrow town names, but nevertheless I wondered why it was named that way.

 When you think of the USA,  things that come to mind first are the Hollywood, first man on the moon, the stars and stripes on the American flag, skyscrapers, BBQ parties, the statue of Liberty, rednecks, cheerleaders and American football, well anything, but tradition.

Athens on the contrary is a small town of traditions. It hosts the oldest university in Northwest, the architecture is preserved to fit the Greek-styled two-storied buildings, the first Christian church in Athens proudly displays the date on its wall.

 Athens takes pride in its history, hosting weekly the oldest Farm Market in the state, Athenians still shop locally and resist occurrence of Starbucks, instead choosing local coffee shop that serves caffeine with conscience. 

Obviously, globalisation didn’t leave Athens aside, bringing Apple stores, thousands of overseas students, international cantines and Russian language classes in town. But when it comes to tradition, Athens shows its best.  Athenians smile at you nicely, take their time to greet you and make sure that guests notice every tradition that Athens has to cherish. 

The memorials of Native American and Hopewell cultures once nourished in this land, surrounding Athens are another silent reminders of what can happen to a culture stripped of its traditions.

Likewise contemporary Athenians, first permanent European settlers, who arrived in Athens in 1797 and chartered the Ohio University in 1804, named the country for the ancient center of learning, Athens, Greece, so that centuries after, people, like me would travel to Athens, Ohio to study and to remember how to strive and cherish the traditions.

P.S. And following the newly acquired American tradition, Happy July 4th, everyone ;)!

Nargiza Ryskulova 
Kyrgyzstan 

IIJ director leads lectures, consultations in Kazakhstan

By Lindsay Boyle

On April 22, Institute for International Journalism Director Yusuf Kalyango embarked on a 13-day academic trip to Kazakhstan.

Each weekday, Kalyango led two 90-minute lectures and one 90-minute consultation in the Faculty of Journalism at the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, more commonly known as KazNU, in Almaty. Attendees included undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty members.

Kalyango’s lectures were incorporated into the Role of Televised (Visual) Media and Democratization (TV News) course, and included topics such as improving story telling in television packages, global news coverage, and reporting conflicts on television.

The consultations were in regard to the course High Education, Professional Development and Research Opportunities in the USA. They covered areas including the future of journalism in the digital age and how to go from research concept to publication.



On the final Friday, May 3, Kalyango also held a workshop: Teaching and Grading with Multimedia Online Tools in Classrooms and Seminars.

KazNU Rector Dr. Mutanov Galimkair Mutanovich and OU President Dr. Roderick J. McDavis recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the two schools.

The Vice Dean of the Faculty of Journalism, Karlyga Myssayeva, welcomed Kalyango at KazNU and took charge of his academic schedule and extracurricular activities. Karlyga Myssayeva is an alumna of the 2012 Study of the U.S. Institute at Ohio University. Kalyango’s lectures and consultations at KazNu were part of the IIJ-SUSI post-Institute activities.



The SUSI summer institute is funded by an annual renewable grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Study of the U.S. Branch in the Office of Academic Exchange Programs. Scholars from all over the world come to the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University to be exposed to journalism practice and media institutions in the United States.

In his free time, Kalyango traveled around the country with Myssayeva and others. He had dinners full of Kazakh traditional foods, visited Astana — the capital of Kazakhstan, ventured into Kok-Tobe — the highest point of Almaty, and explored other attractions offered by the city of Almaty.

He also attended the 2013 Miss Kazakh National University pageant, and watched classical and modern ballet as well as comical shows at theaters including the Modern Kazakh State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Abay.

IIJ to hold fourth consecutive SUSI summer program

By Lindsay Boyle

This summer, the Institute for International Journalism administers the fourth annual Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI) on Journalism and Media.

The SUSI summer institute — in which scholars from all over the world come to the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University to study journalism and media — is funded by an annual renewable grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Study of the U.S. Branch in the Office of Academic Exchange Programs.

Following the 2012 conclusion of three successful programs held in Athens — where more than 50 scholars from more than 40 countries attended numerous sessions covering an array of media-related topics, visited various media outlets and garnered several cultural experiences — the U.S. State Department renewed the program for the IIJ, meaning that this summer’s program is the first of three more.



Sixteen scholars are participating this year, from the following countries: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, India, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Romania, Ukraine, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

They will travel near and far, being immersed in diverse cultural and media environments. Destinations include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, The Budget newspaper in Amish Country, Google headquarters in San Francisco, CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., and many more.

Additionally, daylong excursions, such as the Tecumseh! Outdoor Historical Drama in Chillicothe or the Little Cities of Black Diamonds tour that spans multiple towns in Southeast Ohio, allow the scholars to further understand the region.



Sessions held in Athens will continue to cover topics such as electronic and new media, media systems in scholars’ countries and the role of news in a democracy, generating intriguing discussions and evoking thoughtful and lasting reactions.

Overall, the purpose of SUSI is to foster mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and citizens of other countries around the world.

The program will conclude after the scholars spend nine days in Washington, D.C., including three full days at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference.

SUSI 2012 wraps up in Washington, D.C.

By Lindsay Boyle

The 2012 Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI) on Journalism and Media program concluded on Aug. 17 in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.

The SUSI summer institute — in which scholars from all over the world come to the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University to study journalism and media — is funded by an annual renewable grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Study of the U.S. Branch in the Office of Academic Exchange Programs.

OU has successfully hosted the program for three consecutive years.

The SUSI scholars spent their last four days in D.C., where they visited a variety of both media and cultural locations, as well as attended a debriefing at the U.S Department of State.

Media visits included tours of and discussions at NPR, The National Geographic headquarters and museum, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Voice of America (VOA), and The Newseum.

At NPR, for example, the scholars talked to digital news editor Erica Ryan — who is an OU alumna — about political and international coverage, as well as issues regarding bias and objectivity.


SUSI scholars pose outside NPR with digital news editor Erica Ryan.

Scholar Dr. Murad Abdullah said the visits to The National Geographic and to Voice of America were his favorites. He said he especially enjoyed an exhibit at the National Geographic Museum that displayed many videos and materials about Muslim inventions and discoveries between the ninth and 11th centuries.

Abdullah said he found Voice of America to be interesting because he did not know there was a U.S. radio station devoted solely to broadcasting to the rest of the world.

“I came to know that (Voice of America) is targeting particular countries to preach and promote some of the U.S. values and principles,” he said.

The scholars also visited many cultural landmarks and buildings in Washington, D.C., including the White House, the Capitol Building, monuments and Smithsonian museums.

On Thursday, Aug. 14 — the scholars’ final day in the United States — they traveled to the U.S. Department of State to undergo a final evaluation of the 2012 SUSI program, and to receive their certificates of completion. Kevin Orchison, program officer for the Study of the U.S. Branch of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, conducted the informal evaluation and handed out the certificates.



Several of the scholars said that the evaluation went well, including Abdullah.

“I enjoyed the discussion with members of the State Department as they showed great concern — first, to understand the possible problems we might have encountered and, second, to take our comments seriously in order to develop the program in the coming years,” he said.

On Thursday evening, the scholars shared Ethiopian cuisine during a farewell dinner at a restaurant in Georgetown — a historic district in D.C. filled with shops, restaurants and other entertainment. Toward the end of the night, each of the scholars stood up and gave a farewell speech to an attentive audience.

Abdullah described the farewell dinner as bittersweet, because he enjoyed the company of the SUSI scholars and the program directors and assistants, but was sad to know it was the last time they would all be together.

“The speeches delivered were influential, and it was hard to see some colleagues shedding tears in that farewell dinner,” he said. “I consider my participation and involvement in the SUSI program the best experience that has ever happened to me.”


SUSI scholars enjoy a farewell dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant in Georgetown.


During the 2012 SUSI program, two newsletters, called Global Spotlight, were created to help capture the scholars’ experiences.

To view the July issue, click here.
To view the August issue, click here.